Book Covers

“Don't judge a book by its cover” - American Proverb

I have a friend who just received a cover for her book and she's not pleased with the outcome. We've been having a dialogue about it and it really got me to thinking: how much does a cover impact sales?

I know for some readers, it can make or break a story. I'll use my DD (yes, I know she's not a romance reader -- yet -- but she's an avid reader). Some time ago, she received both "Penderwicks" books as a gift. She thanked the person, and then they landed on her shelf... forgotten. Here are the covers:




Finally, months and months later, we were cleaning her room. She's not allowed to pile books willy-nilly on her bookshelf, so we had to make room by getting rid of books she doesn't read. I suggested the Penderwicks books. "You've never even opened them." She said, "The covers are boring." I replied, "If you're not going to read them, let's get rid of them." She panicked. "I'll read them right now."

And she did. Finally. And LOVED them, rereading them regularly. But if I hadn't shoved her into a corner, she wouldn't have opened them EVER. Because of the covers. She hadn't even looked to see what they were about.

Now what about me? If it's an author I love, the cover won't matter (except that I'll either love it or make fun of it -- either way, I'll buy and read the book).

BUT ...

I'm a rather visual person, and a cover can make or break a sale for me for a new author. A good cover can make me at least pick up a book and look at it (or, it's an eBook, click through and read the blurb). I still may not buy it, but I may do more research. I see somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 covers a year via LASR/WC because I touch every review we post. I also have hundreds more books and stories that I see on my own. There are some really great covers out there and I'm intrigued by many of them, enough to look into them further. Some make me downright embarrassed for the author though. We have one review done on a book with a man, a woman and a dog ... and it's the most poorly Photoshopped cover I think I've ever seen. It looks like a five y.o. went through a magazine and cut out pictures using safety scissors and then pasted them onto a random background. The book may be fantastic, but I honestly can't get past the cover, and will probably never buy it because of that.

There are some amazing covers out there, ones that would entice me to buy a book. Like this:



I think this is the best cover Allie got for any of her books. IMHO, it's amazing (so is the book, BTW).

Take a look at two different covers for one of my stories. The Wild Rose Press updated their older covers to make them more clearly NOT their free reads and what a difference it made.

Here is my old cover for "Magic":



And here is the updated one:



Which would you be more likely to at least give a second glance to?

And now... YOU weigh in. Does a cover make a difference to you?

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You Are Humor

You love to laugh at life, and if possible, get others to laugh along with you. You believe there's always a humorous side to everything. And your sense of humor ranges from upbeat to very dark. You are outrageous and very honest. You're often the only one willing to say what everyone else is thinking. You are witty and verbally talented. You like to play with words and say things in interesting ways.

What Kind of Book Are You?

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