by Emma Jackson

Today is the cover reveal for my witchy romcom, Careful What You Witch For, due for publication with Orion Fiction in autumn this year. I’m lucky that my editor keeps me in the loop and asks me to get involved in the design brief. It went back and forth between marketing and the designers a few times because the original idea to have pink and other layout aspects made marketing concerned it would look too YA. I totally appreciated this, as I wouldn’t want to try to sell an adult romance book to the Young Adult audience. I’ve been fairly horrified lately that some book shops near me seem to be connecting the dots between Tik Tok being a young persons platform and the romance novels popular on it and therefore shelving books in their YA sections which really shouldn’t be!

Now, I’m not a censorship type of person at all – I was reading adult books by the time I was ten, as a lot of bookworms I know tend to. And, to be perfectly honest, if a young adult got hold of Careful What You Witch For, I wouldn’t be worried about them being traumatised. I write romances that focus on characters over-coming emotional issues and building healthy relationships. Yes, there is sex – but consent is important, and it’s a part of life. Better to see an example of enthusiastic consent in a book, than stumbling across Andrew Tate on the aforementioned TikTok. But, I do also think it’s important for adults to be aware of what media their kids are consuming and be on standby to talk with them about things that might crop up that they’re uncomfortable with – so shelving books in the appropriate area of a shop seems a no-brainer. There’s an element of trust involved and it gives adults a steer if they’re buying for their kids.

All this did get me wondering about cartoon covers and their creep into fantasy romance. They’ve been popular for a while in contemporary romance, and I’ve seen a few in historical romance too, but the rising interest in cosy and contemporary romantasies seems to be pulling the trend into the sub-genre too. What do you think of them? Do you have any favourites? Or do you miss the days when there was a brooding man and a badass woman model on the cover? Does a cartoon cover automatically make you think the contents will be more light-hearted or low-spice? I’d love to know your thoughts. And here’s my cover in case anyone wants to see! (It’s available for pre-order here)