| We all do it. Enter the book store, slowly look around, tap our fingers over one cover while actually looking at all the other books. Until that moment. There. In the corner. You are the metal spoon, it is the magnet. Then you read the back copy and sometimes you take it home and sometimes you don’t. But what is it about that initial reaction? What had you pick that book up instead of the first thirty you saw? When I moved to Europe I was fascinated with the fact that most of the book covers were very boring. Back in the early 2000s (book covers are WAY more Americanized now) you could barely tell what genre a book belonged to by it’s cover. I was baffled to realize that I could walk in and walk about WITHOUT BUYING A BOOK! I Know! Try doing that now in Half-Priced Books. It’s like taking candy away from a four year old that just realized what halloween is and how awesome Nerds taste. This so affected me that I realized at one point that almost a year had gone by without me buying a book. I was so psychologically drawn to a cover. It completely upended my idea of how I bought books. Translation: I thought it was quite interesting that I, in fact, DO judge a book by it’s cover. What is it about a book cover that draws us in and hooks us right away? One answer is that it tells you the genre, right? But then after that a lot has to do with your personal taste and the assumptions you make due to the colors, words, textures, fonts, etc. on the cover. There are certainly some terrible covers out there. Especially in the self-published field. And there are some really great ones. But we all have differing opinions on what makes a cover great. What are your opinions? Do you think the cover of the book influences your book choices as much as it (apparently) does mine? |
Bottom line is that book covers matter. They actually matter a lot. And there’s more to them than just a pretty picture. You want a cover that will captivate people, let them know more or less what the genre is and keep their attention long enough to read the back copy. Take your time when choosing a book cover. Make sure it’s right for your story. Make sure the fonts are right, the colors, the way it looks from far back. Take time to browse other books in your genre. Don’t rush the process. Make sure you do it right.