Most Readers Still Judge a Book by the Cover

[Hayes Design and Editorial Service]

As a designer, I'm often fascinated by the terrible covers I run into. I understand that this is the age of self-publishing, but a cover is not the place to skimp. Personally, I will not purchase a book with a horrible cover. It makes me seriously wonder about the interior. So, how do you feel about a horrible cover?

[Amber Stults]

The first thing that gets my attention in the bookstore is the cover. Then I notice the author and title.

A horrible cover is not a good way to attract new readers.

[Lacresha Hayes]

I love a beautiful cover. It draws me in. A good cover beckons to the reader to pick the book up and read it.

[Eileen Thornton]

My novel, The Trojan Project, is a thriller. Therefore the cover shows the deadly green cloud that hangs over the Cheviot Hills in England. Something pretty would not have done at all.

I think the front cover should represent what the book is about and the back cover blurb should follow on from that by giving more information. But not too much! Just enough to get the reader hooked. At the end of the day, that is what we are all after.

[JaWar]

A cover is meant to immediately grab the target readers attention, get people to flip the book over to read back printed material, read through the table of contents and ultimately purchase the book.

A fantastic book cover is paramount, as the book cover should be used in marketing, promotions and publicity material.

Self-published or not a book cover should immediately grab the target readers attention.

[Prophetess Allison J. Cross]

Me too the cover speaks volumes, I have designed book and cd covers, one in particular I did not care for but it is what the customer wanted and she absolutely loved it and wanted it that way. I gave her what she wanted. What is your opinions on that when you run into those types of situations.

[Hayes Design and Editorial Service]

Allison, the customer is always right, even when they are wrong. Truthfully, as long as they are paying for it, there's nothing you can do.

I've had situations where I refused to do a cover because I didn't want that horrible thing running around with my name on it. LOL! It's hard, but I believe if you can show most authors that their cover is not very marketable as it is, then they listen... many times.

I saw a very neat idea some time ago. If you design covers, put up a blog and let people vote for a couple of days. After a few votes, you will kind of know if you got a hit or not. This is what we are now doing and many other designers.

[Prophetess Allison J. Cross]

Great Idea I never thought of that... thanks

[JaWar]

Excellent idea of "test before you press" concept. This type of market research probably takes minimum cost, but the upside is extremely valuable. Thank you for sharing.

[ForstRose]

As a reader and reviewer, covers are not neccesarily the deciding factor in purchasing or wanting to read a book overall however if the cover doesn't get my attention to start with in a good way then the book is likely to be rejected from consideration. If the cover gets my attention then the back cover synopsis, type of book and initial few pages of the actual manuscript along with what reviewers say are usually the things I look at.

While I don't go on cover alone it is what gets a book in the door with me so to speak.

Melissa

[Morgan Mandel]

If I like a cover, I'll really try hard to find a reason to read the book. Sometimes I just can't justify it though.

If it's a lousy cover, I won't even try to look it over unless it was written by a friend.
Morgan Mandel

[Barbara]

I agree that the cover is really important. The cover I was first offered was awful. I ended up designing my own. So how do you think I did?? It has been very well received since the book came out in April. I would be interested in your thoughts. Hugs, Barbara

[Terra Little]

I can relate to this topic, as I just recently started a discussion with a similar theme on another forum. I agree that a book cover does tend to influence whether I pick up the book, but only insofar as my outlook if I choose to give it a try. If the cover is IMO "bad," then I might wonder about the book's content and probably assume that it is the same. Otherwise, the cover doesn't really have to leap out and grab me around the neck. I'm more of a back cover blurb kind of person. Also, the title can help attract interest, too. Then too, we have to remember that what is horrible to one person might not be horrible to another person.