Nudity on covers
This is something that, I think, many naturist fiction writers face. How far can you go with nudity on the cover of your book? Writing about naturism and nude people is one thing but displaying them on the front of the book is another affair entirely. Words in a book are not so “in your face” as the image is that you look at when searching for your next read.
Putting fully clothed people on a book that’s about naked people wouldn’t make much sense, but it’s always tricky to find out where that fine line is.
For example the cover of my book ‘The Unsworth Manor Nudes‘ worried me a lot. How would I depict this? The title required nude people but how well would publishers accept that? Most European countries are quite relaxed, but stores that are America-based often have very strict rules about the amount of skin that can be shown. And I mean very strict. Luckily this one wasn’t a problem.
Writing is much easier than finding the right image
That being said there still are many things to consider when writing Naturist Fiction. Naturism, as we’ve posed several times here already, is just that. There’s too much ‘stuff’ out there on the World Wide Web that brings down the true meaning of naturism and nudism. Keeping our work clear from such interpretations is therefore a priority, as is the importance of keeping the covers ‘clean’ yet clear.
Covering nudity in another way
Robert and Will and I try to uncover (pun very much intended) the concept that nudity is a bad thing.
I can’t understand why nudity is rated at the same level of misery as blood and violence. Perhaps because of the link to strong sexual content, which – as we all know – is something entirely different. That’s sex, and it’s clear how far the world has sunk. When nudity is sex then everyone who’s naked in the shower or bathtub is doing something sex-related, right?
Here comes in what we try to dispel through our stories.
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The variety in books and genres is wide. We try to cover (yes, another pun) everyone’s taste in reading by uncovering (enough said) the true world of naturism, nudism, clothes-free life, whatever you want to call it. That is why I hope that our site is also visited by people who are not that far yet that they will undress for the sheer luxurious feeling of it, but who are curious about this way of life and want to dip their toes in without getting wet. Yet.
The biggest concern with including nudity on the cover is how much you are limiting your ability to advertise or promote the book. My book about a sociology experiment in public nudity includes a nude woman in a classroom on the cover. She is seated, and her arms are over her breasts, so nothing explicit is shown. I haven’t done a lot of advertising, but one of the things I have done is a paid Facebook promotion. A post with just that cover image was rejected by Facebook. Their policy states that: “Facebook does not allow images that depict people in explicit or suggestive positions, or images that show nudity or cleavage – even if portrayed for artistic or educational reasons.”
However, ads with a picture of the book with that front cover fully visible have been approved. I guess a picture of a book with that nudity on the cover is somehow less objectionable than just the picture. And since no body parts deemed explicit by society are shown, Facebook must be objecting to the mere idea of public nudity (although that’s what the book is about).
I’ve seen blog posts from Nick Alimonos, and he has had the same trouble getting Facebook ads for Ages of Aenya, and the nudity on his cover is so obscured by shadows that you have to really look at it to realize the character is nude.
I totally agree with the fact that advertising books with nudity on the cover is difficult.
Of course you bring in Facebook, which is a world on its own. I don’t touch that place with naturist fingers, even when I have kevlar gloves – you can’t do it right.
Still I believe that a book that has naturism or nudism at its base should have a cover that reflects it.
I also believe that Facebook is not the right place to advertise.