Hello! My name is Jennee Vorel and I am currently a senior at the University of Vermont majoring in both English and Sociology. After I graduate in May I plan on moving to the great city of Boston. What I will be doing is yet to be determined, although I have hopes of working in publishing or a related field. Anyone interested in the publishing industry itself, check out English 212's web page. It has some great links and talks about the UVM English Department's Editing and Publishing seminar. The following is a brief synopsis of my paper which I wrote for English 212.

 Having an interest in the subject of book cover design and publishing itself, and knowing only what I had learned from a textbook, I chose to talk to someone within a creative department of a publishing house to enhance my understanding of this field. Luckily I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Preston Thomas of Beacon Press, a very successful, independent Boston publishing house, about the house that he works for and what goes into designing and making book covers. By actually going to the heart of the publishing world I was able to learn a lot about what goes on in creating and producing a book.

Perhaps if one reexamines the old adage “you can't judge a book by its cover,” he or she might discover that it is not entirely true. It can be argued that in many cases a book is judged by its cover. Having no previous knowledge about a particular book one must only rely on the reviews, the synopsis of the subject matter, and of course what the cover looks like. It is the cover that draws that person to pick up the book in the first place. Even if the book is excellent, it does no good if he or she does not even pick it up. Also one is more inclined to buy a book that looks better than another book. Take the multitude of Shakespeare's Sonnets produced by different publishers that an individual can buy. One publishing house might not sell its copy of the Sonnets while another will because their cover was more pleasing despite the fact that they cost the same. This is why cover designers have to put time and effort work into what they do. They know that a good cover could possibly make a good book into a great book.
 
It was a tremendously valuable experience to visit Beacon Press and talk with Preston about what it takes to design covers and what goes on at Beacon. I give a lot of credit to those people that design book covers now for I realize what it takes to make one. It is certainly not as easy as it might seem. There is a lot of thought and hard work that goes into each cover, and I know that I will not look at a book's cover the same way again.

 
 Here are some  cool links that reflect some of my other interests. Check them out!

Otternet
 
 
 Walt Disney World
 
   Stowe Mountain
 

 
Thanks for Visiting!!!!