Articles about the importance of book covers almost invariably begin by quoting the old saying that “one should not judge a book by its cover” and then they go on to point out that people in fact do.
In fact, it often appears as though covers are the be-all and end-all of any work of literature as far as a large segment of the ebook consumer population is concerned. This illogical value that appears to be placed on book covers tends to call into question just how much the modern ebook consumer market really values literature for its own sake and seems to suggest that what most people are really interested in is fads as well as visual or personality cults. The act of reading the actual stories thus seems to be nothing more than rituals of social initiation that are merely tagged on to the superficial phenomena themselves.
But are ebook consumers generally as infatuated with covers as many indie authors think (and are themselves)? Do ebook readers really place the kind of absolute be-all and end-all value on covers that many indie authors tend to place on them?
There is some indication that authors – particularly indie authors – might be overestimating and exaggerating their importance. From Writers on the Reality of Book Covers � Writer’s Edit:
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online publishing and self-made authors complicate the importance of cover design. Book covers seem to matter less when browsing and purchasing online… the number of stars on a review or the discounted price can be the clincher for the online-book-buyer and this means that a knock-out book cover may not be as vital as once thought.
Regardless of the extent to which this is the case, one thing I’ve been noticing for quite some time is that there is a good deal of obsession over covers among many indie authors to the extent that many of them seem to see them as status symbols and a good substitute for high quality writing. There also seems to be some misconception regarding the psychological role that book covers play as well as a failure to distinguish between their informative and aesthetic aspects.
For example, it is common to see ebook covers, especially in certain categories, with graphics that are obviously of high quality but the images themselves being cliched, boilerplate and lacking in any creativity. And then there are certain categories that appear to be full of ebooks with high-definition cartoon posters slapped on them. And, amazingly, many of them are listed under “horror”. However, romance appears to be one genre in which cliched and repetitive covers are not only not minded at all but are the actual trend. Once you see one romance cover, you’ve basically seen a million of them: A poster of a pair of models in romantic pose. And if it isn’t that, then it’s a poster of a male model’s six-pack. There is rarely any attempt to convey, image-wise, what is actually unique about each particular story. And it never seems to matter.
Ironically, this tends to serve as additional evidence that cover pictures are not really as important as many authors tend to think, and are, to some extent, a marketing gimmick that has taken on a life of its own.
What a lot of authors (and blog articles) seem to get wrong is assuming that the book cover is more important than the story itself at least as far as sales are concerned. Perhaps for a certain segment of the book consumer population who are highly superficial and are not actually genuine lovers of reading, it may be. But for most people who like to read, it is really the other way round. If a book simply isn’t interesting, no amount of beauty, professionalism or glossiness in the cover will save it. At best, some people might buy the book simply for the cover image because it is so good and they can’t get the image anywhere else by itself. And when it comes to ebooks, of course, one can always just right-click and save the image and move on. The bottom line is that a story has to be good first. Only then might the cover image enhance it or act as a bonus. A good book does not need a gorgeous cover image or even any cover image at all to be enjoyed and valued, though it certainly helps to have one.
To some degree, cover images essentially play for adults the role that pictures play for children in children’s books. As we all know, people never completely lose their childlike nature. The difference of course is that while children require pictures throughout their books, adults require at least one: the one on the cover. And the less imaginative and more superficial a person is, the more they tend to value and rely on cover pictures. Still, as mentioned, a beautiful or interesting cover image can enhance one’s overall experience of a particular book, though it doesn’t mean that people cannot enjoy books without them. Even as a child, I remember reading hard-cover and leather bound books that had no cover images, and I doubt that my enjoyment of the stories would have been any less if they had had them. At the same time, there are certain books I read in which the cover images, for one reason or the other, certainly enhanced my enjoyment of them. It depended on the nature of the story.
And whenever we are too lazy to read the titles and blurbs of books (and I’m saying this tongue-in-cheek), we need cover images to give us information as to what the book is about or at least tell us something important that we can expect to find in the book. In this respect, the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” becomes relevant. Of course, the information conveyed by the chosen image has to be as interesting and captivating as possible in order to maximize market competitiveness of the book.
It appears that what counts as aesthetically appealing or informatively stimulating in book covers tends to vary somewhat from one marketplace (i.e. society) to the other. According to this article: Why Book Covers are So Important
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Design principles are not the same the whole world over, leading to, for example, simpler designs on many UK covers, with more frequent use of negative space, and more detailed designs on US covers that cram in more imagery, potentially speaking to different cultural perceptions of “value for money.”
There appeared to be a demonstration of this fact sometime ago when I posted a link to a particular short book of mine on a certain forum and got some reactions to it. It was apparent that for some people, a simple image of a malevolent face in a dark background was no good and they seemed to consider nothing short of a hodgepodge of telltale images as being indicative of a good cover. At the same time, though, it’s not really clear just how much this was actually the factor. I say that because the unfortunate manner in which people had gotten to that link (due to the nature of the thread) had undoubtedly predisposed them into being overly judgmental and negative in their perception of the cover, and it is very doubtful that their perceptions of it would have been the same if they had seen it in different circumstances. One reason why I know this is the simple fact that I had shown the same cover to many people (some without even telling them I was the author) and not only did they not see any problem with it, but they even found it quite interesting and impressive. And these were people who were quite used to seeing ebook covers. I nevertheless politely refrained from expressing any disagreements since I knew that once people’s perceptions have been adversely shaped by context, there is not much you can do about it. I did nevertheless later change the title and blurb of the book in response to the reactions, though not for the reasons given.
To be clear, by no means am I suggesting that the cover could not be much better or of much higher quality. But what amazed me about the thread was the apparent tendency of some people to see any book cover that is short of glamorous as therefore ‘terrible’, as well as a seeming intolerance of any type of cover that doesn’t conform to a particular mould or trend. In fairness, though, it does make sense if what one is concerned with is a book cover’s ability to attract as much customers as possible and lead to sales. But even then, it seems that this is an example of what I take to be the fact that indie authors generally have an exaggerated perception of the importance of covers as well as misconceptions as to the psychological role they generally play and what makes them appealing or not.
The issue of ebook covers having to be “professional looking” is an interesting one. And it is one that is taken so much for granted by indie authors that it has become a law in itself. A professional looking cover is certainly a no-brainer as far as increasing or maximizing the market competitiveness and sales of a book is concerned. But the idea that it has to not look homemade in order for anyone to buy it is absurd. What really matters is that it is interesting and nice looking and conveys the right ideas to a potential buyer about the story. Of course, a cover should not look ugly or incoherent or that would turn many people off. But ebook readers are more tolerant of self-made books (including their covers) than most authors tend to think. They mainly want to be sure that they are not ripped off or their time is not wasted. Ultimately, what matters most is how much a book is marketed.
The argument typically used to support the idea is that “a professional looking cover is suggestive of a professionally written work of literature.” My addition of those two clarifying words “of literature” should make it more obvious than it otherwise would be that that argument is deeply nonsensical. First of all, the fact is that the vast majority of people with jobs – even part time jobs – can easily afford to invest $100 for a beautiful and professionally done cover that will make their precious and beloved book competitive. And that’s just being conservative. It actually isn’t difficult at all to get it for much less than that (as little as $20 for pre-made designs) if one looks around. That argument might have worked in the early days of indie publishing before authors caught on to the importance of great-looking covers for boosting sales. But the argument no longer works because now pretty much everyone is doing it – at least those who are serious about indie publishing and hope to make money off it. Therefore, a great looking cover hardly proves anything as far as the actual book is concerned.
Of course, the biggest danger in this type of thinking is that it would prevent otherwise talented authors who for one reason or the other cannot afford professionally designed covers from publishing and promoting their work. And it’s a ridiculous kind of restriction given that they are dealing with a literature market and not a market for posters.
There are a lot of indie authors who need to think about and remind themselves what the average ebook customer is shopping for at the end of the day. And they will realize that it is good (or great) stories. Remember: if they fall in love with your cover, they can always right-click and save. They don’t need to pay $3.99 for it.
Thoughts and Perspectives 