I think this artist may have been told that the primary character was a 14/15 y.o. girl,
Ahem. This is a Baen book; the cover artist got the rough draft to read. I know that he did so, twice, because he then wrote to us with questions.
but may not have realized that her physical appearance should be akin to that of an 11 or 12 y.o. Terran female.
He may well have realized this. However. Artists must convey the reality of the eye. If he painted a portrait of Theo as she "actually" looks, several things would happen:
(1) Readers would assume it was a children's book, because of the "little girl" on the cover (not all potential readers have ever heard of a Liaden or read a Liaden book. We hope.)
(2) We might very well find ourselves in a similar position (http://ursulav.livejournal.com/833981.html), which is a place we'd rather not be.
There have certainly been plenty of conversations over on the Theo_Waitley community about how thus-and-so is Not How It's Done Here, as if that justified it being "wrong" everywhere and for all reasons, to remind us that people -- even SF readers, sometimes (and, yes, even SF authors) -- have a hard time leaving their preconceptions at home.
It's our job, as writers, to try to shake up preconceptions, yours, ours, and theirs. It's the artist's job to get people to pick that book up off the shelf so that it can stick to their fingers and they have to buy it to get out of the store.
I think that cover's going to do really well for Theo.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmmag
Re: Coyster
Date: 2008-11-28 12:56 pm (UTC)Ahem. This is a Baen book; the cover artist got the rough draft to read. I know that he did so, twice, because he then wrote to us with questions.
but may not have realized that her physical appearance should be akin to that of an 11 or 12 y.o. Terran female.
He may well have realized this. However. Artists must convey the reality of the eye. If he painted a portrait of Theo as she "actually" looks, several things would happen:
(1) Readers would assume it was a children's book, because of the "little girl" on the cover (not all potential readers have ever heard of a Liaden or read a Liaden book. We hope.)
(2) We might very well find ourselves in a similar position (http://ursulav.livejournal.com/833981.html), which is a place we'd rather not be.
There have certainly been plenty of conversations over on the Theo_Waitley community about how thus-and-so is Not How It's Done Here, as if that justified it being "wrong" everywhere and for all reasons, to remind us that people -- even SF readers, sometimes (and, yes, even SF authors) -- have a hard time leaving their preconceptions at home.
It's our job, as writers, to try to shake up preconceptions, yours, ours, and theirs. It's the artist's job to get people to pick that book up off the shelf so that it can stick to their fingers and they have to buy it to get out of the store.
I think that cover's going to do really well for Theo.