Comments on: Cover Matters: An Introduction

By: Peter Marino

Peter Marino — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:13:01 +0000

No offense taken! (I didn’t draw it because the only thing I can draw is a bath…)

By: Ari

Ari — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:06:09 +0000

Looking forward to reading this new feature, thank you for it! I agree while whitewashed covers are especially hurtful so are covers that have skinny girls on them when the book is about someone who is fat. And why aren’t there more guys on covers? Covers do matter, and I think anyone who won’t admit that is foolish. You can’t see the summary of a book from the front, in order to read it you must first spot it and then pick it up. Attention is caught by the title and cover (sometimes a title is enough, sometimes not). If I’ve heard a book is great, I’ll pick it up regardless of the cover, but if I haven’t heard of it then I need an eye-catching, accurate cover (best example, I’d heard good things about Magic and Misery by Peter Marino but it has probably one of the worst covers I’ve ever seen. *No offense Mr. Marino!* haha, but I read the book and I really liked it. I would not have picked it up were it not for book reviews and bloggers.

I’m glad Little & Brown is changing the cover. I hope eventually, authors will get to help plan their covers (if they want) and then we won’t have these issues.

By: Kelly Metzger

Kelly Metzger — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:17:23 +0000

I look forward to reading your posts about the covers. Not only does the inaccurate representation of persons of color bother and disappoint me, so many covers are unattractive for other reasons. Typography, color, and style are so important to the cover composition. The visual art of a cover is just another way to communicate with the readers.

By: Gerd D.

Gerd D. — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:11:42 +0000

Well cover sure do matter, most of all with unknown authors.
Let’s face it: You can publish “Do Adroids dream…” under whatever cover you like and the only difference in buyers will be a preference for which they think will look better on the shelf, but looking for a new author, well, if the cover doesn’t speak to me there’s a good chance I will not bother picking the book up unless it has that one marvelous, puzzling title that makes you instantly intrigued.

Now, would “Liar” speak to me more with a white model on the cover?
I’m honest with you, I’m as shallow as they come, long as she’s beautiful I can’t care less.
(There’s a stupid reason I started Tanya Huff’s Quarter’s series with Book 2)

I also most probably wouldn’t have picked up Nancy A. Collin’s Sonja Blue series if it hadn’t been for the beautiful (first edition) German covers (The White Wolf covers are sure no selling argument IMO).

But I do judge covers more from a age perspective, I find it fun to see how you can pick up certain used books and tell their publication date by the cover style used.

By: hwm

hwm — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:49:54 +0000

I’d be interested in what booksellers have to say on that topic. A cover’s primary job is it to sell the book to the book chains. Grabbing the reader’s attention comes second. Accurate representation is tertiary.
I’d also like to hear some numbers. What were the projected sale numbers for Liar before the cover change and how do the actual ones measure up? Did the internet outrage cause a spike in numbers? Jusine Larbalestier mentioned on her blog that Liar doesn’t sell all that well despite the free press it got.

By: katiebabs

katiebabs — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:16:38 +0000

What a great idea! I posted the link on my side bar. The first thing you see when you come to my blog.

By: Elise

Elise — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:09:02 +0000

Yes! Covers do matter. It irks me when covers don’t correctly portray the books and the characters. Creating an accurate and eye-appealing cover doesn’t seem to be THAT hard of a thing to accomplish… but apparantely it is. I love the steps you are taking to make the shelves more colorful!

By: Monday Morning Stepback: Auto vs. Buddy Blogging, and a few more Pics « Racy Romance Reviews

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:35:01 +0000

[...] swifter or decisiver than the Book Smugglers. They’ve just debuted a terrific new feature, Cover Matters. In their words: We want this feature to dedicate more separate space to a topic that has always [...]

By: KMont

KMont — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:51:31 +0000

Great intro to the new feature, ladies. You have to judge a book by its cover, you just do. As someone pointed out, I belive it was here in another post, covers are a form of advertisement. If it’s false, it should be addressed.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:13:18 +0000

We all like to think we don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but we do. Working in a high school library I know that a bad cover kills a book’s chances of getting read. I definitely get frustrated if a cover is misleading. I wish the authors had more say in their book’s covers.