Hey page turners, today we’re talking (read: I’m ranting) about illustrated covers, specifically for romance books and how they are constantly under attack ⚔️🌶️

Let’s start with some definitions…

Definitions

Illustration: a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video games and films.
Cartoon: a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style.

Book covers

Romance books, specifically new adult and adult romance books, can have a variety of different cover types, as i’m sure we’re all aware of.

We have have the torso of a man, the face of a man, the face of a woman, random objects somehow connected to the plot, pretty stock image with nice typography, flowers… lots and lots of flowers, and of course, illustrated covers.

In a world where books, especially romance books, are under threat in… certain countries, I’m sure there is an appetite for book covers to appear more unassuming and ✨demure✨, hence all the flowers. BUT, I do also think some people just want an illustrated cover and there’s nothing wrong with that.

What’s the best way for your character art to look like your character? By making it up and starting with a blank page. There isn’t anything wrong with illustrated covers in the romance community, whether it’s YA, NA or A - it’s a book cover.

So, why can’t we have nice things?

I saw a post the other day on threads where OP was discussing something not accessible to them and concluded with the fact that said thing can exist without them. I found this so interesting because, yes we live in a world with accessibility issues and we are all (???) striving for inclusivity. As a Black autistic woman, inclusion is important to me but, I do also have times where I recognise that there are things that aren’t for me and can exist without me.

All that to say, romance books can exist without children, lol. There’s been some recent discourse on (you guessed it) Threads, about children attending romance book conventions where most, if not all, of the attending authors write NA and A romance. Should these authors have to tone it down in panels, at their tables, hide their covers, their art, their merch because they’re in the presence of children??? At a predominantly adult event? I don’t know, seems weird to me.

Illustrated covers aren’t exclusively for children’s content and, if this is a belief you hold, that is ultimately a you problem 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️.

Cartoons / animations famously NOT for children

Adult Swim: an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and late-night dayparts. The block features stylistically varied animated and live-action series targeting an adult audience.

Some Adult Swim shows:

Some 18 rated cartoons on Netflix:

So, what is the problem?

If you’re a guardian and you’re comfortable with your ward consuming adult content, by all means, go ahead. If you are not, that doesn’t give you the right to police what other people can do with their NA or A content because you can’t be asked to do some research into the content and its appropriateness.

Naturally, every time this discussion comes up, some one mentions Icebreaker. The last time this discourse was on Threads, I posted that in the book (at least in the UK version) there is an 18+ content note both on the first page and the back of the book. It would also probably take a single Google search to ascertain whether any of these books are suitable for children.

It feels like the romance books are constantly targeted, which is fucking rich given it is the genre that dominates the book industry. Is it because the authors are primarily women? Is it because the readers are too? Is ‘cartoon’ sometimes used in lieu of ‘illustrated’ to try and infantilise the books and the hobby?

That wasn’t rhetorical, the answer is yes, which is probably why we can’t have nice things, lol.

Some pretty illustrated covers

Don’t judge a book by its cover, right? ⚔️🌶️

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My Next Post…

Coming 06/04 and will be another informative TW/CW post exploring some of the nuances between similar triggers

Trinity
just a girl who loves to read 🥰
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