• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

What do you look for in a book cover?

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Pretty much. I get the AI hatred but at the same time, good grief. Apparently folks are going after Mark Lawrence, as if he had any hand in it.

In one tweet, it almost looks like the cover was pulled by the artist to keep from tainting the contest even though he provided Photoshop files and other stuff... But I'm not following real closely.

YEP! Bob The Wizard's cover has been pulled.
They are wanting him to prove its not AI? Does this go in a the category of why we cant have good things?
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Well without evidence ill have to trust his honor.

Not wure they should judge the cover anyway. The author is unlikey to have made it and the artist may not know they are competing.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Really it's just for fun and a good promo for the artist. Entertainment while the real judging hasn't begun yet.
Well without evidence ill have to trust his honor.

Not wure they should judge the cover anyway. The author is unlikey to have made it and the artist may not know they are competing.
 

Pegzy

Scribe
Honestly, the book cover might catch my eye but the description of the story and reviews draw me in way more than the covers. I can't tell you how many books I've looked at that have beautiful covers but the description and story itself sent me running. As an avid reader of fantasy romance, I don't like my book covers to have half naked people on them. It screams to the world, hey I'm reading a smut book, lol. Not sure how much help I was but ultimately everyone has different tastes in art. Book covers are art, it will appeal to some while repelling others. I don't know how many people actually scan the cover before reading the book description. My copy of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit has an awful cover that depicts a fat middle aged man holding a sword. Still read the book, it didn't deter me at 18 years old, I only cared about reading a good book. Robert Jordan's book covers always bothered me because the artist seriously overaged the characters, I think.
Agree. No one would buy a book for the cover. But an eye-catching cover doesn't hurt. But what catches the eye depends on the eye and the brain behind it. I recently checked out the covers of best sellers in my genre as well as others. I didn't like most of them.
As agents say when they reject your query, This is a subjective business. It's both subjective and a business. Covers cannot be too far away from one's potential readers. I suppose.
Personally I like non-busy covers which manage to convey a message. Lidia Yuknavitch's Thrust, Emily John Mandel's Sea of Trnquility, and John Banville's Singularities are recent examples. Less sometimes can be more.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Agree. No one would buy a book for the cover.
Well...I cant say I have never done so...

It is funny though. Many books I have liked had covers that would not attract me. And yet...I am about at the book cover stage myself and I am weighing every aspect of it likes its most important.
 

Pegzy

Scribe
I guess when it is ours we want to cover all bases. And we all believe, somewhere deep within us, that covers have an impact on sales.
Or maybe it's the literary version of Sunday Best.
 
Attracted yes. But would you buy without reading the blurb and possibly the first few paras?
Done it a few times and have been pleasantly surprised! Usually on Kindle though, 99p deals, and also on my recommendations, so not too far removed from what is usually read anyway! Sometimes a title catches my eye too and I just dive in.
 

Pegzy

Scribe
99p would not be too bad, I guess. I prefer physical books and the ones I want to read are often costly, especially when bought in plural. 🐶
To get back to covers, I also like ones which give an indication of what the genre is. Not like enough to buy, but like in an abstract sense, because it is useful.
 
I disagree. The cover is one of the most important marketing options available to an author, if not the most important one. A cover can make or break a novel. For plenty of reasons.

For starters, open up a random Amazon page showing books. Like it or not, that is where most people these days buy their books. What do you see? Covers and titles (and reviews). That is all you have to draw a reader to your book page, where you stand a chance of actually selling that book. If they don't like your cover, they aren't going to click on your book, and they aren't going to buy it.

Then, when you click on a book on Amazon, scroll down the page. Again, you see more covers and titles from related books. Again, someone will only click on it to see if they like it, if the cover is attractive to them. Same thing again.

The next reason is a lot more subtle, and one you might not even notice, and that is priming. Priming is when you are subconciously put in a certain frame of mind. A cover does that. If you like a cover, and you then go on to read a blurb, you will already be positively primed towards that novel and you'll be a lot more likely to like the blurb and thus buy the book. If you see a novel with a warrior standing against a mighty dragon, and you then read that it's a romance story set in New York you'll hate the blurb no matter what. But if the blurb delivers on that warrior fighting the dragon, then you'll be very likely to pick up the book.

Now, can a cover alone sell a book? Not likely. There are always exceptions of course (like Finchbearer mentions), but in general it's only step 1. Selling a book is a funnel. And the very first step in that funnel is almost always the cover. Have a bad cover, and people will simply not enter your sales funnel, or do so with a negative idea about the rest. Have a good one, and you'll easily move people to the next step in the sales funnel.

Anecdotal evidence supports this as well. Sanderson tells the tale of the first Mistborn novel, which had a terrible cover. It sold terribly. When it got a new cover sales went up, a lot. A lot of indie authors tell of the same thing. Like it or not, people shop with their eyes first, and they definitely judge a book by its cover.
 

Pegzy

Scribe
I disagree. The cover is one of the most important marketing options available to an author, if not the most important one. A cover can make or break a novel. For plenty of reasons.

For starters, open up a random Amazon page showing books. Like it or not, that is where most people these days buy their books. What do you see? Covers and titles (and reviews). That is all you have to draw a reader to your book page, where you stand a chance of actually selling that book. If they don't like your cover, they aren't going to click on your book, and they aren't going to buy it.

Then, when you click on a book on Amazon, scroll down the page. Again, you see more covers and titles from related books. Again, someone will only click on it to see if they like it, if the cover is attractive to them. Same thing again.

The next reason is a lot more subtle, and one you might not even notice, and that is priming. Priming is when you are subconciously put in a certain frame of mind. A cover does that. If you like a cover, and you then go on to read a blurb, you will already be positively primed towards that novel and you'll be a lot more likely to like the blurb and thus buy the book. If you see a novel with a warrior standing against a mighty dragon, and you then read that it's a romance story set in New York you'll hate the blurb no matter what. But if the blurb delivers on that warrior fighting the dragon, then you'll be very likely to pick up the book.

Now, can a cover alone sell a book? Not likely. There are always exceptions of course (like Finchbearer mentions), but in general it's only step 1. Selling a book is a funnel. And the very first step in that funnel is almost always the cover. Have a bad cover, and people will simply not enter your sales funnel, or do so with a negative idea about the rest. Have a good one, and you'll easily move people to the next step in the sales funnel.

Anecdotal evidence supports this as well. Sanderson tells the tale of the first Mistborn novel, which had a terrible cover. It sold terribly. When it got a new cover sales went up, a lot. A lot of indie authors tell of the same thing. Like it or not, people shop with their eyes first, and they definitely judge a book by its cover.
That is a very useful post. I'm waiting for the proof of my cover so I'll bear your post in mind about priming and sales funnel especially.
I think what you mean is that the initial judgement is made via the cover. More would be needed generally for the final judgement.
 
I think what you’ve pointed out prince of spires is interesting in terms of Amazon and Kindle books, because I like to scroll through and look at potential books to add to my wish list. You can also download a free sample of any chosen book, and that is incredibly useful, because if the first few pages don’t draw me in, then the chances of finishing the book are fairly low. With technology these days you can pick and choose more consciously, but this may also make the book cover even more important, and strong writing crucial.

I always keep this in mind for my own writing that the beginning needs to be strong, because I imagine any potential reader to do the same.

Insofar as me being the exception, I wouldn’t say that’s the case - I usually get an idea for the kind of genre and book that are the kind I enjoy reading by looking at the cover and I light read the brief description, then I download a sample and go from there.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I guess when it is ours we want to cover all bases. And we all believe, somewhere deep within us, that covers have an impact on sales.
Or maybe it's the literary version of Sunday Best.

Well...it just seems undeniable that book covers have an impact. I am sure there are many cases where they did not have the effect one might expect, or some looked passed them to get to the rest. But at a minimum, I want the book cover to do the work of helping to sell, and not the work of pushing people away.

I'm gonna shoot for the best one I can get. (You know...and still be relevant to the entire package that is the novel).
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
I've bought books because I thought they would look good on my shelf, and I've passed up on books because their cover was too hideous to be confronted with on a daily basis. Covers clearly matter.
 

Gospodin

Troubadour
Clarity - I want an intriguing, bold image, but the moment I have to squint through an image that's too busy, especially if it's also competing with the title and other font work, it gives me the initial impression of a narrative that will be confusing.

One Title - At the risk of the brickbats, and praying the trend has run its course, I want to see a single title, not a mini-cladogram festooning the cover with confusion.
 
Top