Behind The Cover: Romance Heat Levels

By Michelle Lee
BWL Art Director

At BWL, part of the book information an author provides is a genre designation and if it involves a romance, either as the main genre or a sub-genre, they also include the romance heat level.  Now this throws off many people, especially since heat levels, just like comfort levels, vary from author to author, and reader to reader.

Something to consider, I started my career in the erotica field of the spectrum, so my 3 probably differs from someone who has never even read an erotic romance's definition of a 3.

So I have a basic scale that the authors are provided.
1: Sweet  --- 5: Melt your screen HOT

I had hoped that would be enough, but I forgot, not everyone is as comfortable with my level of screen melting.  So for some people, screen melting might be fairly tame to me.  So I still find at times, that authors have problems deciding what deserves a 3, versus when does it tip into a 4.  This isn't through any fault of their own - so please, don't read that into what I am saying.  It all has to do with our own perceptions of things.

So here in plain terms, is what I think of with each heat level designation.

1. We are talking sweet or inspirational romances, or those that only hint at a romance subplot, etc.

Cover results ... NO nudity or any kind!  Full clothing, no embraces that even hint at passion or lust.  Maybe dreamy eyes or holding hands, but that's it.

2. Close the door romances, and those with a bit more of a romance subplot, where a kiss is really all the readers are privy to.

Cover results ... Maybe a shoulder, bare male torso, or a soft kiss.  Nothing majorly scandalous.

3. Now we are getting somewhere - bedroom door is open, but details are flowery or fairly sparse in detail.

Cover results ... Bare skin, maybe an embrace with a more passionate kiss.

4. Details are flowing and clothes are flying. Yeah baby!

Cover results ... Nudity alert!  Might have a partially nude couple, bare torsos on guys, suggestive images, etc on the cover.

 5. These are generally spice releases, but I have seen a couple some through with a heat rating of 5 for a non-spice (generally because the romance is a sub-plot but it is still explicit!).

Cover results ... No holds barred, anything and everything goes on the cover, which matches the characters.  *wink, wink*

Can we tell what covers I still enjoy creating?

Dear Artist: Favorite Styles

Dear Artist

Do you have a favourite style? I know you produce wonderful covers for BWL and I am sure that they are always the absolute best you can do based on the writer's requirements, but you must have favourites. What do you consider to be a five star design for a cover with regards to layout, colour, content, background etc?

UK Lady

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Dear UK Lady,

Thank you for taking the time to ask such a fun question.  Really, it all depends on the genre of the book. 

When it comes to anything from sweets to erotic romances, I like covers that actually clue in to heat level.  I don't like to see, or create, a cover that is sweet at best for a smoking hot story.  Flipside, when a cover is hot enough to melt my monitor, but the story is lukewarm at best.  

For softer historicals, I am a fan of the older Julie Garwood time period style covers - with a castle, a flower, etc.  I LIKE those covers for soft historical romances.  That said, for the hotter works, I HATE that style of cover.  For hotter historicals, I like the ones with a couple on them.

Paranormal and Suspense romances should most definitely be evocative of the genre.  If there is a wolf shifter who is the main love interest, then either the title or the cover should express that in some way.  Same for if the book is set in the year 3125 on a far-away planet.

I am not much into straight horror and suspense and all, because I never feel like I am pulling it off well.  I am a 'fluffy bunny' cover artist - I like creating light, fun, sexy, covers.  So I don't have much insight to offer there.

Young Adult should be FUN and to some degree flirty, even if there isn't a strong romance.  The cover should flirt with the reader ... so a person, or an object, is fine either way on those.

Fiction, just general fiction - either historical or modern chick lit, etc should also be fun or somber, sexy or spooky depending upon the sub-genre.  Again, either people or objects look good to me.

Non-fiction can also go either way.

As for what makes a 5-star cover (to me), well ...

* The font has to match the images, and the images needs to convey/fit the genre

* The images need to actually look good together!  I can't express that enough.  Poor quality photo morphs where images of different characters are just slapped together without blending them into each other in a cohesive fashion just don't work for me.  And let's be real, there are a ton of them out there like that.

* The cover should absolutly, without a doubt, clue the reader in to the truth of the story.  There should be nothing misleading about it (unless the point is misdirection).

* The color choice needs to fit - in all details.

Like always, this post is just my opinion, so mileage can and will vary from artist to artist (and reader to reader).

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If you have a question that you would like Dear Artist to answer, you can leave it in the comment section and it will be addressed (reasonably) soon.

A Study of Men's Facial Hair in Honor of Father's Day

By Michelle Lee
BWL Art Director

If you've been on facebook in the last year, then you have probably seen the results of a study that had been done on men's facial hair and what women find attractive.  Given that the results were only gathered in one country, the scientist in me questions a little bit the overall validity of it, since each culture (and sub-culture, as well as each country) has their own ideas of beauty and what is attractive.  Other "groups" since then have conducted their own "studies", but I am not going to go into all of the various different findings.

Instead ... let's take a look at some different images and see what we, as authors, readers, and cover artists from all over the world think is sexy (or attractive).

Exhibit A:

This is one of the images used in a study of men's facial hair.  Which option, 1-5, do you find the most attractive?

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Exhibit B:

How about in this image, between options 1 and 4?

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Exhibit C:

This is one of my favorite images for looking at a contrast between clean shaven, stubble, and a mustache.  Although the study didn't address mustaches, when looking at male facial hair, it needs to be considered (I think).

Well?  Which one?

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Ok, so let's consider a few different examples, shall we?

How about Ben Afleck?

Bradley Cooper?

Ryan Gosling?

George Clooney?

Liam Hemsworth?

Well?

Some articles on the study:   Article 1   *   Article 2   *   Article 3

If you are interested in reading the actual study article, here is the citation information.
The role of facial hair in women's perceptions of men's attractiveness, health, masculinity and parenting abilities, Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 34, Issue 3, May 2013, Pages 236–241.

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One final thought ...