Covers sell books. As a traditionally published author, I have little to do with the covers on my books. I have been asked what I'd like to see, and sometimes I get what I want, but more often than not -- I don't. (Same goes for titles.) Big time publishers have whole marketing departments that study what people like.
For instance, my cover for
A Crafty Killing is very nice. It's pretty, and it's got a nice logo at the top right-hand corner. But it's not what I envisioned, mainly because the cover artist painted something out of a New England village, and my story takes place in Western New York--two very different regions. Will that matter to the average reader? Probably not. But it also features a ginger cat, when the cat in the book is a brown tabby. Through the magic of Photoshop, one of my readers changed the cat -- whoa! I wonder if my publisher can do a little Photoshop magic as well. (I think I'll ask.)
I've put several of my short stories on Amazon. One of them is doing really well. (
I've talked about it before here.) The others? Not so good. And I think it's the covers that are holding them back. Or at least, that's what I HOPE is holding them back. So it's back to the drawing board time.
I thought the cover for
What I Did For Love was kinda neat. Sweet. (It involves a woman falling for a man accused of rape.) But apparently it's also boring for the reader. I'm thinking of changing it to see if sales pick up. Here's the current cover on the left.
I'd do something with this picture for the proposed new cover. What do you think you'd like better?
(And if you need to make the decision based on the story itself,
you can read it free here -- just scroll down the page to find the link.)
And while I'm on the subject, my friend author Doranna Durgin has the same dilemma and you could help her out, too.
Check out her blog post on the same subject.
Bottom line, how much influence does a cover--and the title--have on your decision to buy a book?
ooh, I like the heart-shaped handcuffs; the image tells me that this is an unforbidden love.
ReplyDeleteI'm very visual and the first thing I notice when I see a book is the cover and then the title. This particularly holds true if it's a new-to-me author.
I agree w/Dru (love the heart-shaped handcuffs!) -- titles and cover artwork can either entice me or turn me off (esp. if the author is new to me). I like titles that are clever plays on words or are quirky-interesting. And, conversely, if the title is crude or violent or boring (all of them quite subjective to me and I know that doesn't help an author at all!!), I won't even pick the book up to look at the cover. I prefer artwork covers as opposed to actual photos as the cover, probably because I'm unconsciously equating the inside of the book with a made-up reality that I want to explore instead of a world that might just smack too much of cold, hard LIFE. Does that make any kind of sense or should I seek out a therapist? (A favorite author, perhaps for a soothing read?)
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, I've really enjoyed the covers of your Booktown books and the proposed covers of your newest series look to continue in that vein. Titles and covers seem to drive most authors to gray hair and strong drink so ... here's to Cover that Gray and single malt smoothies!
I know the old saying, "Never judge a book by its cover" but I have to confess that I do - esp. for authors I haven't read before. I, too, prefer drawings/paintings to photographs, which for some reason I find a little cold. I like them to have some relevance to the story too. (The different color cat would probably bother me as I got into the story.) I'm glad cozies are getting away from skulls being hidden in the cover artwork! I find covers interesting and quite often turn back to study them as I read. It is one of the things I really miss when I read on Kindle. However, if I like an author, it would not influence me. And like Laurie, I also enjoy your Booktown covers!
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