As I am in the process of launching a new book, it got me to thinking about covers, naturally.
With The Dog Under The Bed I actually used my own dog as the cover model, partly because he was very cheap to work with, as in some biscuits and a pat on the back and he was happy, but also because it saved costs for royalties. Some covers don’t need much more than this to stand out, but some genres are difficult to pin down, and their covers are many and varied.
It reminded me of some recent covers I had seen on Instagram, for paperbacks and hardback books. Not only were there very colourful, but they were embossed, and the nature of them stood out so much I was very much intrigued to find out more about them.
It also made me thing of other books I have read in the past, and what drew me to them. I thought of Clive Barker’s Weaveworld, and how that cover suggested something interesting within. As it turned out, the cover very much matched my expectations for the read ahead, and it left me with an indelible impression that has lasted to this day. Not only of the cover, but of what I read. So it shows how an impressive cover, as long as it somehow depicts what might lie ahead, can really enhance a book, and draw us to something worth reading.
So I would think in some ways, yes you can judge a book by its cover. Perhaps the better quality of the cover and its artwork, then perhaps the better the quality of the book.
If only that were always true.
I intend to put this to the test with my new book, as I have commissioned a very high quality cover, and hopefully I can match expectations with what I have written.
We will see.
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