“It used to be that a strong art director and a strong editor would sit down with you and tell you the direction in which they wanted you to go and then it would be up to you. Now covers are shown to up to 20 people, and they are shown at sales conferences, where the salesman is asked what he thinks of the cover and how many copies he thinks he can sell, at the same time. The bigger the book the harder it is to do an interesting cover because the more chance that somebody won’t like it.”
— Paul Bacon, In Cold Print: Jackets & Jack, 1974