Judging a Book by the Cover

When I shop for books, my first impression of it is the cover.

Sometimes I know the story already, have been waiting for it, and the cover isn't important. It's rare.

Most of the time I shop for books and I form my "to peek or not to peek" by what I see on the cover.

Everyone has their own preferences. I like dark and moody, mysterious covers.

Others like bright pink girly covers.

Someone else likes reds, another greens.

If I pick up a dark moody cover book, I expect the cover to be reflected in the content. 

If I find I've picked up Sex and the City instead, I'll be pissed.

Just like someone who likes the pink modernist chick lit covers would be pissed to find Dracula between the pages.

First impressions are important.

I was lucky with my covers so far. (Although Smitten's cover was a difficult and lengthy birth, I tell you.)

Howl is my dark moody cover and it suits the story. Smitten, being a lighter book, has a soft feel to it, which also suits the book.

A Passionate Christmas needed to reflect four different stories, without being too specific to any one of them.

I went through about a dozen tries on that one, and we ended up with something we all liked. (Thank God, I was tearing my hair out.)

I did create the cover myself, thanks to our publisher being open to it, and my having the ability to create it.

But it was hard. I had feedback from all sides, three ideas were thrown out immediately, others mulled over, suggestions made…

It came together in the end, but it wasn't an easy road.

We all have our crosses to bear, and sometimes the cover just…sucks.

And other times…other times you get one where you just take one look and go "Yes! Love it!"

"Caedir" (Gatekeepers Book 2) was one of them.

I had a cover before I'd written a single word of the story–and the artist slamdunked me with the cover.

I was in lurve. I took one look at that hot bod and I knew exactly that it was right. Spot on, as I tend to say.

It truly was…yowsa. The green reflects on where the book is set (Ireland). His body is hot, but not with massive bulk…which is exactly how Caedir is in the book. He's not huge. Fitter than most athletes, yes, but he's not an eight foot ape with more bicep than brain.

So yes, I am extremely pleased with this cover.

One of the covers I really liked was Gena Showalter's "The Nymph King". I really, really wanted to read it, just because of the cover. Doesn't happen often, but it happens.

Did you have some covers where you just had to read the book?