How should a book cover be?

Inviting.

Depends on the genre and the readers you want to reach. The idea is for the cover to sell the book to someone who has NEVER heard of it. You want the reader to be glancing across the shelves. Their eyes stick on yours, they pick it up and are fascinated by the blurb. Plop. Into the basket it goes.

That sounds suspiciously like someone else's job.

Not to say I wouldn't balk if the publisher turns up with a bad cover for the book... but, that's not the part of the book I'm particularly worried about. Let the people who know PR and marketing better then I do handle that!

Apparently, a good, clear, geometric pattern is very effective. Something like, say, this;

However Sales and Marketing say it should be.

And if you think you're going to have a lot of input, you should disabuse yourself of that notion.

willietheshakes said:

However Sales and Marketing say it should be.

And if you think you're going to have a lot of input, you should disabuse yourself of that notion.

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That's more true than a lot of people like to think. The "Marketing picked this" sort of cover inspired a little song I saw on another board. (To the tune of She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain)

"There's a bimbo on the cover of my book,
There's a bimbo on the cover of my book,
She is busty, blonde and sexy,
She is nowhere in the text, she
Is the bimbo on the cover of my book."

The cover is a point-of-sale ad for your book.

It should give people the feel that they'll get from reading your book. At the very minimum it should say to potential readers, this is the kind of book you'll like if you like this kind of book.

1. Attractive
2. Tells people what they can expect from the book (genres? theme? mood?)
3. Attractive
4. And the title should stand the 10-foot test. That is, it should be readable and attention grabbing even at 10 feet away.

Frank Frazetta.
He got me out of Hardy Boy Mysteries and into adult fantasy.

Personally, I like fine art, like Vermeer. How could I not want to read Girl with a Pearl Earring?

Cover

I appreciate a well-done cover, but I don't think the cover itself means anything at all to me when it comes to buying a book. Zilch. What I do care about is the title, and then the jacket copy telling me what the novel is about. After this comes the first page. I really don't care at all about the cover art.

This is going to sound pretty shallow, but the cover is one of the first things I look at when shopping for a book, then the title, then the author. A lot of times, you can tell what kind of book its going to be by the cover, because the cover is meant to target a certain audience.

For example, I almost never go for a cover with a couple embracing on it, because I really don't like a lot of romance. If there's a gun on the cover, I usually avoid it, because I don't care for books that are all about suspense. I always go for symbolic covers though, because I love myth based fantasies and riddle books, and they both tend to use a lot of symbolism, or important objects in their cover art.

I figure, the people doing the actual marketing of my book are going to know far better than I do what my audience will look for in a cover. So, I'll just let them deal with it. One less thing for me to worry about anyway.

I might pull a book from the shelf based on the visual message conveyed by the cover. I'll only place it in the basket if the blurb(s) and jacket copy compel me to do so.

But getting a total stranger to pick up your book is a big win. I think Title+Cover is one of the best "ad" for your book. The rest (content, premise, etc.) would help close the deal. But to get to the first handshake would be tremendous, considering how many books are out there sitting, waiting to be discovered.

For the most part, in my non-niche market books (IOW where my name and subject matter count for as much as the cover) the covers make a difference.

Even my editor admitted the 1st cover for my Luanne Jones name pretty much tanked my career with them:Barnes & Noble.com - Sweethearts of the Twilight Lanes - Luanne Jones - Mass Market Paperback

It is a meaningless cover. They did big promo, sell through was bad. The next book never stood a chance (had a great cover, btw)
Too little too late we did a name change to stop the number spiral (book 2 won awards, as a Lit Guild pick, we wanted to protect that in hopes of selling to another, pub which I did)
MY infamous "girl on toilet" cover (which sold better than the Sweetheart's - woman with umbrella on highway)
Barnes & Noble.com - Love and a Bad Hair Day - Annie Flannigan - Paperback - First Edition

And after the change to a new pub:
Barnes & Noble.com - Heathen Girls - Luanne Jones - Paperback
I got a cover with stock art that was, the year before on a YA novel!

They are supposed to be changing it for the mass market edition.

The on topic lesson in what the writer has to do with the cover - be clear about your subject matter - genre stradling is great fun as a writer but it screws things up in marketing. Sweethearts is not a romance and no one told marketing (who wanted to throw people off that the lanes were bowling lanes - decided bowling wouldn't "sell" - oh and bizarre pics of women on highways at night do?) Hair Day is not a chick lit, though packaged as one. sigh. In the end, you have to have a sense of humor and keep writing and consider writing a book that lends itself to a good cover.

or not

Annie Jones
Luanne Jones
Annie Flannigan

maestrowork said:

But getting a total stranger to pick up your book is a big win. I think Title+Cover is one of the best "ad" for your book. The rest (content, premise, etc.) would help close the deal. But to get to the first handshake would be tremendous, considering how many books are out there sitting, waiting to be discovered.

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No argument on any of your post, Ray. I'm a bit sensitive to the whole issue of issue+title=checkout counter. You've seen the final cover for Offspring.

I suppose the fourth quarter of this year will tell the tale.

Jennifer Crusie had an excellent post at her blog recently about covers

http://jennycrusie.blogspot.com/

Personally a cover grabs me first, then I read the inside flap/back cover. But that doesn't mean I walk past books with a less attractive cover. What I don't like, however, is when a cover is completely misleading, e.g. a cartoonish/fun cover on a hardcore detective novel or thriller.

Liam, did you get a good cover for your upcoming release?

LiamJackson said:

I might pull a book from the shelf based on the visual message conveyed by the cover. I'll only place it in the basket if the blurb(s) and jacket copy compel me to do so.

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Oh, absolutely! I won't buy it till I've read the first page, a random one in the middle, and (I'm gonna get slapped for this, but...) the last paragraph. But, as you said, it's the cover that makes me pick it up to read those bits in the first place.

aadams73 said:

Liam, did you get a good cover for your upcoming release?

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One minute I think yes, one minute I think no, and then I think "ut oh!" So, the answer to your question is "maybe...or not."

Bottom line, I've found that I can't really be that objective when looking at my own cover. I can say is that it corresponds with the theme of the story. I guess time will tell if it's an effective marketing tool.

LiamJackson said:

One minute I think yes, one minute I think no, and then I think "ut oh!" So, the answer to your question is "maybe...or not."

Bottom line, I've found that I can't really be that objective when looking at my own cover. I can say is that it corresponds with the theme of the story. I guess time will tell if it's an effective marketing tool.

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Ok, that's a fair answer