Cover Love

I don't know about all writers, but The Cover always featured pretty heavily in my visions of becoming a writer. What it would look like, how I would feel to see it... Even before I had an actual book, I fantasized about having a cover. And now, having been published, I am still excited when I get a new cover - the eagerness never really leaves you, I think.

As a reader (or potential reader), I admit it, I do indeed judge a book. Not necessarily just the quality of the image and font, though I can't deny this altogether - even more important than this is the feel of the elements. Does the cover evoke feelings/images I want to explore further by reading the book? Or does it fail to grab me at all, so I walk away? If I am not in the market right now, does the cover make me remember the book for later?

These things are why it is important to have not only an attractive cover, but one with well designed titles that show up well (in large and in thumbnail), and one that adequately reflects the book. In all honesty, you can have the most beautiful cover in the world, but if it doesn't match the story, it's just not the right cover.

The importance of the book cover has been conclusively proven, I think, by the fact that ebook publishers are still keen on getting their covers right - we are okay leaving physical books behind, replacing the pages inside with a Kindle screen, but we still need that cover to sell it and to consider buying it.

Whether a reader or a writer, book covers are important!

This week, my blog theme is covers - I will be show-n-telling a few new covers of my own, featuring a cover artist, looking over my publishing journey in covers, and asking others about cover design (as writers or designers, but also as readers). So, stay tuned for the Big Reveal of my two new book covers, and some behind-the-scenes details about some of my books!