Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover?

[Jaclyn]

I hate to say it but if I'm in a book store or rummaging through Kindle, I may judge a book by it's cover AND it's title. These are the two things we see first, much like when people say we "eat with our eyes." It has to be visually intriguing to pick it up and turn over to read the back.

[Julie]

Marketing professionals say that a browser in an 'e' book store gives less than three seconds to each cover. So, yes, an arresting image on the cover does matter, I think. I have recently changed the cover I was going to use on my next book, because, even though I liked the one I had chosen originally, ( via a 99designs competition ) I didn't think it suitable for marketing the book. I wrote about changing both the blurb and the cover at http://www.thestorybazaar.com/visuali... and http://www.thestorybazaar.com/reading...
I can't attach the before and after here, but, if you take a look, let me know what you think.

[Zee]

I look/browse a lot by covers whether it be in Netgalley or Edelweiss when I'm requesting galleys, or when I'm in the Kindle store (Recommended for you section shows just covers - remember that!) and also when browsing newsletters like Bookbub or Freebooksy. So a cover has to catch my eye before I even look at the title and then the genre. I guess humans are visual creatures, esp more so in our times of short attention spans, so the first impression aka the cover matters.

[Mary]

As I read through all these great comments, I am struck by the notion that you REALLY have to know your audience. I think specific readers have an expectation of what a "pleasing" cover should look like. It's probably more subliminal than anything else. I think I like covers that hint at a darkness within the story. Even if it's mainstream fiction. What can I say? I like secrets.

[Alicia]

Mary wrote: "As I read through all these great comments, I am struck by the notion that you REALLY have to know your audience. I think specific readers have an expectation of what a "pleasing" cover should look..."

Mainstream is the hardest. NO real conventions (though there are a lot of beaches and waterways), and you have to avoid signaling any other genre. I have noticed that people tend to be seen from behind, rather than in full face (like Romance).

But I use an Amazon Wish List just for covers of other mainstream books, and it's all over the place for everything. Different writers have gone for branding - sometimes with images, sometimes with fonts (avoid Romance, or SFF fonts).

An interesting process, if you learn to do your own (it took me every minute of three months). There is guidance online - mostly for genre.

I've licensed a font I like - it will be my 'brand' font. I had to go through thousands and thousands of photos to find one mysterious photo of a woman that worked for me - and I couldn't afford the high resolution license fee, so that required a lot more work. That 'darkness' you mention.

The audience I've attracted so far have never said anything negative about the cover of Pride's Children, so I suppose that means there were no turnoffs. But I keep my eyes open.

[Zippergirl]

Hi Julie,

I've been following your saga the last few days about the title and cover for your book. I was just wondering if you had any feedback regarding your use of a foreign, unfamiliar word for your title?

My mind was wandering before I fell asleep last night, and I kept coming back to the (sterling) silver rings in your story. One of my favorite books ever was the White Gold Wielder, and of course, one of the most memorable images of the LOTR marketing was the shimmering golden ring. I would expect younger readers to respond to "bling."

Your book has captured my imagination, the setting is evocative of mystery and intrigue. The new blurb is a home run.

Zip

[Julie]

DJ Zippergirl wrote: "Hi Julie,

I've been following your saga the last few days about the title and cover for your book. I was just wondering if you had any feedback regarding your use of a foreign, unfamiliar word fo..."

Thanks Zip,

I'm glad you like it! ( I was really proud of the new blurb. )

Strangely, aside from Lyn's original comment that the word Reconquista meant nothing to her, no-one has mentioned the fact that it is, in fact, a non-English word.

I liked that it wasn't English - for me it leant an aura of the exotic to the book ( and I mean to translate the book into Spanish anyway ).

I was tempted to call the book 'The Silver Rings' and have them on the cover ( the rings are pertinent to the plot ). I remember from my own childhood a book called The Silver Sword about a group of child refugees from Nazi Germany which, though set at a different time and in a different place, is not unlike my story. But then I liked all the five prospective names for the book.

In the end it was the Spanishness of Reconquista and the fact that it described that particular period in history that convinced me . Plus it was the elusive, one-word title which no-one had ever used before. And it came out top of the poll. So....

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now the book's just got to live up to the blurb!

Julie

[Al]

Here's a related question: "Should a book cover have a tag line on it? And if so, how long should it be?"

A tag line is a very short sentence to entice the customer to read the blurb. Examples from a great author I follow:

Glowgems for Profit:
It’s hard to kill a good legend, especially one that promises unimaginable profit.

Thieves Profit:
There’s honor among thieves, except when serious profit is involved.

Profit and Loss:
Respectability yeilds it’s own profit. Too bad it’s so boring.

Initial Profit:
In chaos there are opportunities for initial profit.

That Which is Human:
War isn’t about meaning. War is about nasty little fights where men get killed and all that matters is who survives.

Dancing in the Operating Room:
Life and love in the Trauma Unit

[K.P.]

even if you get a professional cover done but no one likes the art you're still screwed with that logic. :/

[Al]

K.P. wrote: "even if you get a professional cover done but no one likes the art you're still screwed with that logic. :/"

Granted. The artwork comes first. I was just asking what people think of taglines in addition to good artwork.

[Wade]

Yes

[Zee]

There are definitely conventions at play, genre-wise and also regarding the tone of your book (for example, chick-lit and other cozy comedies will mainly have a cartoonish cover).
But conventions also exist across markets. I recently had a book translated and out in French, and I had to research the covers for the France market and still make it look like it's the same book as the English version (if you wanna see, they're here and here ) It all very much depends on the market you are targeting.

[Julie]

That's interesting. I am going to translate my book into Spanish ( once the English version is out there ). I'll have to look at Amazon.es YA section, to see what the Spanish publishing conventions are. Thanks.

On tag-lines, I didn't originally have one for my book, but my cover designer picked out a sentence from the blurb, saying it was an obvious tag-line which would 'hook' readers. It's 'Not all of them will make it home'. I thought this was a stroke of genius.
Julie

[Al]

That's a real "grabber" of a tag line, Julie.

[Vincent, Group Founder]

Good job, Pierre :)

[Zee]

Julie wrote: "That's interesting. I am going to translate my book into Spanish ( once the English version is out there ). I'll have to look at Amazon.es YA section, to see what the Spanish publishing conventions..."

Do that, Julie! It's worth taking a look. :) And I love that tag line, too!

[Pierre]

Jaclyn wrote: "I hate to say it but if I'm in a book store or rummaging through Kindle, I may judge a book by it's cover AND it's title. These are the two things we see first, much like when people say we "eat wi..."

Exactly. Well said.

[Pierre]

Vincent wrote: "Good job, Pierre :)"

Thank you, good sir! :)