Exit Velocity: Book Covers

In the world of publishing, it’s a truism that the cover sells the book. I’ve been hearing this for at least forty years — but that doesn’t make the advice stale or untrue. On the contrary, covers absolutely help sell books. The cover must convey something about the book’s genre, tone, or mood. It reflects what the book’s promise to the reader is. 

Imagine, for example, the covers of historical fiction romance novels and the covers of war/military novels. The former almost always show upper-c...