geekySome of my books are pre-cover ARCs. (There are two kinds of ARC. Some, like the ones for Rosemary and Rue, are essentially mock-ups for the finished book; they have front covers, they have back covers, and they look like books, except for the big "NOT FOR SALE" printed all over them. Others are basically bound manuscripts, with plain heavy-paper covers, and look more like the spec scripts that sometimes show up in specialty bookstores. I don't know if there's a technical term for these, so I just call them "pre-cover ARCs" and have done.) These are always interesting, because it means I'm reading them based on nothing but the back cover blurb.
How much does a cover matter? We're always told not to judge a book by its cover, but how much does the cover really matter?
It matters a lot.
The book I just read (which will not be named, because dude, you do not slag on other people's cover art; it's simply not okay) was in a genre I'm fairly fond of; I have an ARC not because I was asked to do a pre-review, but because the book is already out, and so the ARC got shoved off on me. No objections here, as I always buy books that I enjoyed in ARC—I consider it my part of the social contract. "I liked your book when I saw it in an advance form, so here is some money." Much like buying a book I enjoyed when I got it from the library. Anyway:
I had actually seen this book on store shelves, and totally failed to notice it in any meaningful way, because the cover was so non-appealing. I glanced at it, shook my head, and glanced over it. I didn't even realize I'd seen it—when I finished the ARC, I went to the bookstore, hunted down the book, and was gobsmacked to realize that it was "oh, that one." I would never have given the book the credit it deserved, judging solely from the cover. Which would have sucked.
(I realize that giving a positive, if vague, review, and then failing to name the book, is really annoying. I promise to review the book later, when it no longer auto-associates with my kvetching about its cover art.)
Covers matter. Covers matter a lot. More and more, I'm coming to realize that a good cover can make all the difference in the world between a book getting snatched off a store shelf that same book only getting read when somebody shoves it into your hands.
What covers do you especially love, or hate?
May 14 2009, 17:34:44 UTC 8 years ago
Okay, this one may be controverisal, but I love the covers to the Twilight saga. They honestly have very little to do with the books, but they are so bold and graphic that they are unforgettable. I actually picked the first one up and read it because I had seen so many teenagers toting it around the high school and the cover was so intriguing that I couldn't resist.
I've loved a lot of Stephen King's covers over the last few years...Cell and Duma Key come to mind immediately as colorful and eye catching. I disliked the cover of Just After Sunset, as I thought it bland and reminiscent of Christ-lit books.
May 14 2009, 18:15:22 UTC 8 years ago
I found them little more than a hack attempt to be pretentious, and had passed them up the first time I looked at them. And cheap. No artist got paid for those covers - stock photos and some CGI time, at best. (Artwork ALWAYS costs more than photographs. Ask anyone who worked at TV Guide.) Even the human being was omitted after the first cover!
Then I was told I needed to read them, and I did - the first book. Once.
The writing inside was worse than the covers, and I happily packed it up and mailed it away to someone who wanted it.
I have bookcovers for paperbacks that make me cringe to read them in public - it's an old habit. Should go look under a few them - it's almost a given I will 'meh' most cover art, just give me something I can stand to read!
Please to be doing away with the lavender foils script that cover the entire cover - that's a turnoff.
If your characters look at me from the cover of the book - WIN. Thousand yard stare without any good reason? Not so much.
May 14 2009, 18:27:42 UTC 8 years ago
http://www.shelfari.com/groups/10472/di
May 15 2009, 01:57:52 UTC 8 years ago
I'm totally with you on the covers of the King books.