Following Bloomsbury’s Whitewashing Cover Fiasco ‘09-’10 (Justine Larbalestier’s Liar and Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass), readers were able to make some small positive change resulting in the publisher’s book jacket retraction and subsequent re-issuance of new, race-conscious covers.

This is great news. Awesome news, in fact. And, as a community of vocal, impassioned readers, we should be proud. But, if the controversy surrounding Magic Under Glass has shown us anything, it is that COVERS MATTER. The whitewashing of Liar and Magic Under Glass are not isolated incidents – this is a problem that has pervaded the industry for a very long time, and continues today.

Thus, we have decided to start a monthly feature called “Cover Matters.” The motivation for this feature is not because we think we are influential or on some sort of blogger power trip. Rather, we simply care about covers and books. A cover is a book’s first impression; it’s the equivalent of eye-contact and a smile from across the room. Covers can be an important factor in noticing and deciding to purchase a book. Beyond the first impression, we reflect on covers whilst reading and after finishing a book too.

We want this feature to dedicate more separate space to a topic that has always intrigued, irked, and befuddled us. In these posts, we plan to touch on not only racist cover practices (as with Liar and Magic Under Glass), but other cover issues too (covers in poor taste, misleading or completely inaccurate covers, and, of course, covers that manage to get it right). We are writing these pieces because we do care about cover issues – whether they be about whitewashing, slenderizing, homogenizing, etc. Cover Matters does not have any agenda beyond creating a space for an ongoing discussion of book covers.

We plan on getting guests (bloggers, authors, publishers or even cover artists if possible) to join us for these monthly pieces, with the following question in mind: Do covers matter?

In closing, we’ve got a few cover-related issues around the web that we’d like to bring up.

Firstly, we’d like to draw attention to a post over at Bookshelves of Doom that takes a look at The Mysterious Benedict Society books. It seems that while the illustrations within the book are accurate and depict a character named Sticky as “a skinny boy with light brown skin, anxious eyes (though perhaps the anxiety came from not yet having recovered his breath), and a completely bald head,”

the covers of the books show a skinny, bald, white character instead:

These books have been around since 2007 and are published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. You can contact Little, Brown here:

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publicity Department
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
publicity@lbchildrens.com

We encourage everyone to write to Little, Brown and share your feelings concerning these covers.

What else can you do, if you’re interested in these cover practices, beyond writing letters and blog posts? Well, you can also send a message via sales – and sign up for the Persons of Color Reading Challenge.

All you have to do is commit to reviewing as few as 1 and as many as 25 (or heck, more if you feel like it!) books from a POC author or featuring POC characters. You can find book and author suggestions HERE, and link your reviews to the challenge HERE. We are definitely on board and will make a conscious effort to review qualifying books this year.

Thirdly, as a direct result of the Magic Under Glass situation, a facebook fan group has been created, called Readers Against WhiteWashing with the following mission:

Whitewashing

* Fails to accurately represent race and diversity
* Says people of color do not matter
* Denies readers positive and diverse representation

RAWW is committed to public criticism of publishers who misrepresent characters.

We again encourage everyone to sign up and check it out.

Finally, we’d like to close our inaugural Cover Matters post we have a question for you, dear readers and please feel free to speak your mind:

Do covers matter to you? If so, how much? If not, why?

Welcome to another Sunday edition of our Smugglers’ Stash & News.

First up, we’ve got some fan-freakin-tastic news.

Bloomsbury Retracts Cover:

On Thursday afternoon, Bloomsbury officially announced that they will no longer be printing the offending cover of Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.

Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of Magic Under Glass. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.

As with Liar, Bloomsbury is retracting the cover and will issue a new one.

Author Jaclyn Dolamore has posted on her blog that the new cover is underway, and it will be featuring a model of color:

You may have seen my vision of Nimira in my book trailer. I hadn’t shared this image with Bloomsbury at the time the cover was originally conceived (the trailer wasn’t created until November, after the book was done) but we’ll now be looking at models who look more closely like her, which I’m very excited about!

To everyone that posted about Bloomsbury’s racist cover practices, to everyone that tweeted about it, to everyone that called or wrote the publisher demanding change, thank you. You have all done it. As a community, we were able to make our voices heard, and together we were able to cause change. We are so incredibly happy and proud to be a part of this awesome, vocal, dedicated group.

But, as Ari of Reading In Color and the folks over at Bookshelves of Doom remind us, this one cover at Bloomsbury is not an isolated incident. Whitewashing of book covers is a practice that pervades the publishing industry. With that in mind, and because this is something important to us, we’ve decided to add a new feature to The Book Smugglers called “Cover Matters.” Starting on Monday, we plan to post at about cover issues at least once a month. We hope to be able to even have guests over for interview – bloggers, authors, maybe even a publisher (hey, it’s worth a try) – to go with the posts.

In Other News:

Lots of news today! First, if you haven’t heard, there is going to be an honest to goodness Book Blogger Convention this year! This will be a one day event, uniting book bloggers from around the world in New York City. The con will take place on Friday, May 28, 2010 at the NYC Seminar and Conference Center in New York City – which is pretty cool for folks that might be in town anyways for Book Expo America (May 25-27). Some of the topics to be covered include: Professionalism/Ethics, Marketing, Author/Blogger Relationships, Building Community, Writing/Building Content. While Ana won’t be able to make it, Thea has already registered for BEA and plans on making it to BBC as well! So, any other book blogger types that are in the area or planning on flying out, let us know! Bonus, the good folks running the convention have an awesome giveaway right now – book bloggers can enter for a chance to have their registration fee waived! Only one will win, but it’s worth entering, especially if you’re watching your budget. Registration for the con is currently open and available for a discounted rate of $90 (until February 14). So, hop to!

In other slightly belated news, the ALA has announced literary award winners for 2010 last week! Here are the big winners:

John Newbery Medal (for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature): When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Newberry Honor Books: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Randolph Caldecott Medal (for most distinguished American picture book for children):
The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney.
Caldecott Honor Books: All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon; Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman

Michael L. Printz Award (for excellence in literature written for young adults):
Going Bovine written by Libba Bray
Printz Honor Books: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, Punkzilla by Adam Rapp, and Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award (recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults): Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
King Author Honor Book: Mare’s War by tanita s. davis

We are thrilled to see that the Printz went to Libba Bray’s AWESOME Going Bovine, which we reviewed last year. Also, Thea’s ecstatic that Rick Yancey’s truly excellent novel The Monstrumologist was honored as well.

Also, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2010 Top 10 List of Best Books for Young Adults. And the titles are:

Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (Reviewed HERE and HERE)
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker

We’re thrilled to see Sarah Rees Brennan, Catherine Jinks and Laini Taylor honored on the list – and we’ve got a few books that we desperately need to read nowNowNOW.

This next item on the list is just really freaking awesome. Neil Gaiman (aka Ana and Thea’s writing GOD) has teamed up with comic book artist Jim Lee, letterer Todd Klein (who did the lettering for Neil Gaiman’s epic Sandman series) and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and have put together a limited print run of an illustrated poem, “100 Words.” (Click to enlarge)

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You can purchase a copy online via Neverwear.

Finally, one last bit of news. Last week, Thea finally got off her slacker-butt, and set up a Facebook Fan Page for The Book Smugglers. You can find us by clicking the handy button above (which is also in our left hand sidebar). Our posts automatically update there, and we’ll also pop in to make other bookish announcements. The reason for the page? Well, we received a few comments in our recent survey asking us to syndicate our feed over at Facebook, and…voila! Hope you all enjoy it.

This Week on The Book Smugglers:

On Monday, Alexandra Bullen, debut author of young adult fantasy novel Wish stops by on her blog tour, talking about what inspires her and you will have a chance to win a copy of her copy. Later, we will have our very first post in our new feature “Cover Matters,” in which we will take a look at whitewashing on the covers of books.

Tuesday, Thea reviews one of her most highly anticipated books of the new year, Robert Jackson Bennett’s apocalyptic-style/historical fiction/horror novel, Mr. Shivers. Also, Harry of Temple Library Reviews will be here, giving us a guest review of Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur (the first book in the Damask Circle Trilogy)

On Wednesday, we give you a double shot of Carrie Jones! First, we give a joint review of Need, and then later in the day Thea reviews the second book in the young adult fantasy series, Captivate.

On Thursday, Ana reviews Dia Reeves’ dark young adult debut novel Bleeding Violet. Her post will be followed by our first Guest Dare of 2010: Renee of Renee’s Book Addiction caves to the pressure (ours and her husband’s) and reads the first book in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring.

Finally, on Friday we close out the week with a joint review of – squeee! – Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh.

Phew. It’s a big week. Again. I’ll leave you with this awesome picture that I think encapsulates Ana and myself at times perfectly. Until next week…

A Bit of Background:

The Internets are full of rage again as Bloomsbury Publishing finds itself at the center of yet another book cover controversy. Remember the furore surrounding the cover of Liar by Justine Larbalestier? When readers found out that the intended cover of a book featuring a black protagonist was this…

…the outcry was so deafening that publisher issued its mea culpa and replaced the offending cover with this more acceptible one:

But, alas! It seems that Bloomsbury did not learn its lesson and has triggered the burning, fiery wrath of the interwebs once more. In the sage words of La Brittany, oops, they did it again.

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore:

As Ana pointed out back in December when she posted her review of debut YA fantasy novel Magic under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore, another grievous instance of whitewashing has occurred. Magic Under Glass has a dark-skinned protagonist, and yet its cover features a white-skinned girl.

This time, unfortunately, the cover made it to publication, slipping past the attention of readers and bloggers. Perhaps Magic Under Glass remained under reader-radars because author Jaclyn Dolamore is a newcomer (and without the significant online clout that Justine Larbalestier & Scott Westerfeld have). Now that the book has been published, however, YA and other book bloggers are up in arms. Some are even calling for a complete boycott of Bloomsbury books.

Now, we agree that what Bloomsbury’s marketing/sales/publicity department is doing with its whitewashing of book covers is a heinous, inexcusable, racist practice. We absolutely agree that we, as bloggers, have an obligation to stand up, make our voices heard, and speak out against publishers that perpetuate these acts. As Anna North of Jezebel aptly points out, it seems that publishers like Bloomsbury are buying into the “self-fulfilling prophecy” that “black covers don’t sell.” (Or at least, they don’t sell BIG)

We agree that something must be done to put an end to the systemic de-colorization of novels. But boycotting the publisher – and, by proxy, the book – will not help matters. Quite the contrary. If you stop buying the book, the person most adversely affected is the author – the one person in this whole mess who has absolutely NOTHING to do with the cover (in fact, the vast majority of authors have little to no say concerning what their covers will look like). And why would you want to hurt the one person that actually wrote the awesome diverse, dark-skinned heroine in the first place? Not to mention the fact that, whitewashed cover aside, Magic Under Glass is one damn fine book. Ms. Dolamore’s work should be appreciated, her efforts celebrated – she should not be punished or threatened because of the poor judgement and practices of her publisher.

A Call For Action:

Instead, we call on YOU, dear readers, to speak up with us. Instead of boycotting Bloomsbury Publishing, we encourage you to CONTACT the publisher and make your voice heard. Join Reading In Color’s Open Letter to Bloomsbury Kids USA. Start a petition to get the publisher’s attention. Do whatever you can to make the message clear: we DO NOT approve of your whitewashed covers, and we demand change.

RE: Covers, In General:

It is clear that publishers pay less attention (what an understatement!) than they should to book covers – it is a problem that we are constantly complaining about here at The Book Smugglers. This is not by any means, an issue that is relegated to one genre or to one issue. Gender, race, size, genre, you name it – problems with covers abound everywhere. Consider:

Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea Cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore) – in which Ged, the protagonist, is a young man with red-brown skin (in a world populated mostly by people that are red-brown, brown, or black). These covers (and the SciFi miniseries based on the books) are obviously a little off.

Everything Beautiful by Simone Howell – (a book that works because of its gritty realism) in which protagonist Riley is an overweight young woman, and yet on the US cover (again published by Bloomsbury!) is portrayed as anything but overweight.

And this is to say nothing of other book covers that are constant in their inconsistencies. Lise Haines’ Girl In the Arena portrays a cover model with long dark locks and a gladiatrix costume – when the main character, in fact, shaves her head very early on in the story and rocks the bald buzz cut for the rest of the book (including her stint in the Arena). Diana Peterfreund’s Secret Society Girl shows a model with long dark hair in prepster clothes – while protagonist Amy had short hair, and wouldn’t be caught dead in those clothes. Don’t even get us started on the myriad Urban Fantasy covers that have absolutely nothing to do with the material within.

And you know, the more we think about it, the more we realise, that this is a problem that is a concern to us readers because it reflects what we do and who we are as consumers. Because publishers only put those out because they think the alternative will not sell – a judgement based on what they assume we will buy. Just a bit of food for thought.

The call for war is laudable. We do have reasons to be up in arms. Shout! Write a blog post! Start a viral video campaign on Youtube or on your blog. Write a letter complaining to the Publisher or an email supporting the writer. But, for crying out loud, do NOT stop buying books.

Sayonara, Week 3, and konichiwa to Week 4 of Smugglivus! Before we delve into the goodies we have lined up this week, we’ve got a few announcements.

A Glory-ous Giveaway:

Sarah Kuhn, author and one of the fine folks that run the geektastic Alert Nerd blog, has a short sequel to her debut novel One Con Glory out now! “My Epic Win” is available in the new edition of Grok #5: Retcon. In honor of the release, Sarah is offering a wicked cool giveaway contest – the theme is favorite comic book kiss and/or favorite comic book couple. As for me, well, I don’t think it gets any better than Bigby and Snow from Fables (and since I’m traveling right now and can’t scan The Kiss panel, I’ll just give you my favorite moment between the two of them and the cover for Fables Vol. 8: Wolves):

Guh. They make me all squishy and warm inside. SO, if you’ve got a favorite comic book couple or kiss, head on over to Alert Nerd and leave a comment (or if you prefer twitter, tweet your entry @SarahKuhn. The prize is a copy of Sarah’s excellent One Con Glory (reviewed HERE by both Ana and myself) – and, even better, if you already have read/own OCG, you can still enter for another groovy book-related prize. The contest runs until December 22 at midnight (pacific), so get over. Now.

In other cool geek news, dunno if you’ve seen it yet, but holy rusted metal! The Iron Man 2 trailer is out! Yowza!

In other news, Ana and I are famous! Well, not really. But you can catch us guest blogging over at Opinionated, Me? about our holiday reads (or our lack thereof), and at Grasping for the Wind about our favorite fantasy reads of 2009 (and most highly anticipated fantasy reads of 2010).

Ok, now down to business.

Giveaway Winners:

We’ve got two winners to announce – first up, Kate Noble.

The winner of a copy of Revealed is…..

Also, our giveaway of Raiders’ Ransom is officially closed, and we have one lucky winner to announce! Drumroll please…

Congratulations! You know the drill. Send us an email with your snail mail address (contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com), and we’ll get your prize off to you as soon as possible. Thanks again to all that entered – and hey, remember that we still have TWO excellent giveaways still running:

The ARC Giveaway courtesy of Little, Brown (US) and Sarah Rees Brennan’s Silver Dagger Charm Giveaway (of The Demon’s Lexicon) are still up and running. You have until December 26 at 11:59 (PST) to enter – so get those comments in!

This Week on Smugglivus:

Later today, we have two guests lined up. Susan Holloway Scott (whose post should have gone up yesterday but our site was down at the scheduled time!) with her favourite reads of 2009 , followed by Erin Galloway, publicist for Berkley and NAL with a list of books coming out next year from those imprints.

Then, we bid our guest authors adieu, thankyouverymuch, and say hello to some of our very favorite book bloggers. This week, and for the remainder of Smugglivus, bloggers will be stopping in and sharing their favorite reads of 2009, and what they are looking forward to in 2010. Kicking off the week, we have the prolific Aidan Moher of A Dribble of Ink. Then, Danielle of Opinionated, Me? stops by with her best (and worst) of the year. And later in the day, Ana gives her review of Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.

On Tuesday, our guest bloggers are Kristen of Fantasy Cafe and Lusty Reader of Lusty Reader. Then, later in the day, Thea reviews Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet.

Wednesday, Thea gives a double review of A Rush of Wings and In the Blood by Adrian Phoenix – two of the titles in her ongoing, edgy Urban Fantasy series. AND we’ll also have Adrian Phoenix over for the day – she’ll be around to answer YOUR questions. Plus, we’ll be giving away TWO complete sets of autographed books from Adrian Phoenix, so make sure to stay tuned.

Thursday, we have guest bloggers Rhiannon Hart of Rhiannon Hart, Angie of Angieville, and Doug, the SciFi Guy over. Later, Ana reviews Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale.

On Friday, Katiebabs of Babbling About Books, and More! gives us her rundown of favorite reads. Following that, Thea reviews Kelley Meding’s debut Urban Fantasy Three Days Till Dead. Finally, what would Christmas be without a giveaway? We have a Very Special Christmas Giveaway planned (there will be many, many books up for grabs).

Saturday, we have two more guest bloggers to close out the week – Jessica of Racy Romance Reviews and KMont of Lurv ala Mode.

Phew. It’s another action packed week, so stay tuned!

~ Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Smugglers