Judging a book by its cover:
fans, publishers, designers and the advertising of books

Edited by Nicole Matthews and Nickianne Moody,
Media and Cultural Studies, Liverpool John Moores University

Book covers have long been the preserve of collectors and art historians.
This collection will draw a new range of disciplinary perspectives -
cultural studies, business and marketing, the history of the book and
literary studies - to make sense of book covers in the wider context of
publishers’ publicity and the marketing of books.

Taking its starting point the contemporary marketing of popular fiction,
this collection will focus on the publishing industry from the twentieth
century and beyond. Our aim is to place the book cover and publishers’
publicity in an international context, highlighting the global circulation
of books and ideas about how to market them. We are particularly keen to
bring together accounts of the industrial context of the advertising of
books and discussions of the way readers make sense of the publicity for
books.

Some possible topics include:

- readers’ responses to publishers’ publicity
- libraries and the use of the book cover
- the publishing industry’s marketing mix
- popular genres, fans and negotiations over the book cover
- cover art, self-improvement and the marketing of ‘distinction’
- marketing ‘difference’ through the book cover
- the star author in popular and high brow publishing
- histories of publishers’ publicity: the twentieth century and beyond
- the book cover as an intertextual marketing tool
- international differences in the marketing of books
- convergence in the media industries and the promotion of books

We hope the completed book will be useful, not just for academic readers,
but also for undergraduate students of consumer culture, advertising and
marketing, global media industries, contemporary literary and popular
cultural studies.

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words and a short biographical
note to Nicole Matthews.

Deadline for abstracts: January 30, 2004

Dr. Nicole Matthews
Media and Cultural Studies
Dean Walters Building
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool L1 7BY

Phone: 0151 231 5045
Fax: 0151 231 5049
Email: n.d.matthewslivjm.ac.uk