What is it about a book that grips you and makes you pick it up, buy it, read it? Is it the blurb on the back? The title? The picture on the cover? Word of mouth or previous gems by the same author lining your shelves?
Despite the saying about never judging a book by its cover, people do it all the time. Though the author often doesn’t have a say in the cover design, or at least not a final say, covers can go a long way in promoting a book.
I’m guilty of picking up a book or clicking on a book’s picture on amazon.com because of the attractive cover. That, along with the title, are what first pique my interest. Then comes the blurb on the back. That’s the make it or break it deal for me. And sometimes those do as little justice for the actual story as a poorly crafted cover.
It’s also known that covers are just as important to the author as the reader and probably more so. I can’t help but think of Anne and her beloved story-turned-Rollings Reliable Baking Powder Advertisement:
“What do you think a mother would feel like if she found her child tattooed over with a baking powder advertisement?” (Anne of the Island)
But, as I digress, I wanted to pay tribute to some of the many beautiful covers out there in the “This Week’s Best Cover” section to the right. I have such a list of covers that I think are simply lovely enough to frame and mount as art. Everyone invloved in making such book covers are artists. The first week’s “best cover” is Second Chance Bride by Jane Myers Perrine.
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ReplyDeleteI confess, covers catch my eye, and I judge books by them. Title makes me pick it up or pass it over. Unless it's referred by a friend or something I go looking for, in which case it doesn't matter to me at all.
ReplyDeleteNancy: I think covers are definitely important. It's a marketing tool all the way. Titles are important, too. The good thing is that what catches my eye might not catch yours and vice versa. So everyone is happy with something.
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