I teach in a public school and we're having a door decorating contest to decorate our doors as book covers. Personally, I'm thinking of some Kurt Vonnegut cat work 😛 but it made me question book covers. Aside from maybe Gatsby, I can't think of a specific book cover as an iconic book cover. Obviously that's a character flaw I'll have to work on. In any event, any suggestions for awesome and iconic book covers.
2012 Q4: R
2016 Q3: SHM
2019 Q2: HM, Q3: HM
2020 Q2: HM, Q4: SHM
2021 Q1: HM, Q2: SF, Q3: SHM, Q4: SHM
2022 Q1: SHM, Q2 RWC, Q4 RWC
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3:Nope Q4: WIP
Hey,
the book covers for Dune, Handmaid's Tale, and Inkheart immediately came to my mind.
V42: Q4-SHM
V43: Q1-Pending | Q2-In Progress
"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
— W. Somerset Maugham
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
SFx1
HMx6
R/RWCx6
Hmmm. The problem is 'iconic' doesn't necessarily mean I like them, but this is instantly recognizable at least to me:
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
"...I also miss almost 100% of the shots I do take."
- Gideon Smith
Writers of the Future:
2026 Q1: P Q2: TBD Q3: TBD Q4: TBD
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: HM Q4: HM (resub of 2024 HM)
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2026: 18 submitted 2 acceptances
2025: 163 submitted 10 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2026 goals: a. 2025 Novel submitted to agents/publishers b. Draft 0 of a new novel c. Speak at a con on panels d. Write 3 serious shorts NOT for WOTF e. Submit something, somewhere, every month
As opposed to this one which, while not 'iconic' in the sense everyone would recognize, I do think personally is awesome 😉
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
"...I also miss almost 100% of the shots I do take."
- Gideon Smith
Writers of the Future:
2026 Q1: P Q2: TBD Q3: TBD Q4: TBD
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: HM Q4: HM (resub of 2024 HM)
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2026: 18 submitted 2 acceptances
2025: 163 submitted 10 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2026 goals: a. 2025 Novel submitted to agents/publishers b. Draft 0 of a new novel c. Speak at a con on panels d. Write 3 serious shorts NOT for WOTF e. Submit something, somewhere, every month
Given they change by edition, I wonder if there are that many iconic book covers, compared to music album covers, for example.
Where books have an advantage is authors often use the same illustrator, particularly for a series.
In that sense, I think some illustrators have built up an iconic body of work, especially Josh Kirby for Terry Pratchett with his Discworld covers. "I only invented the Discworld, Josh created it." - Pratchett.
Another two that come to mind are Beatrix Potter for Peter Rabbit (which she also wrote) and Quentin Blake for the various Roald Dahl books.
35: - R R R | 36: R HM R R | 37: HM HM HM SHM | 38: HM HM HM HM | 39: HM HM HM SHM | 40: HM R SHM SHM | 41: R HM SHM R | 42: HM R R HM
5 SHM / 15 HM / 11 R
I like the original John Christopher Tripod series covers...
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
Catcher in the Rye comes to mind for me. When you image search it, it's mainly that one cover. I'd say Handmaid's tale too, but there are quite a few variations, though they all have the iconic handmaid on the cover.
v42: - - - HM
