“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
It’s the old saying we’ve heard over and over again. And it’s
right. We really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Just because weird things
are happening on the outside doesn’t mean there isn’t a really good story on
the inside.
But let’s face it – we judge books by their covers all the
time. Humans are visual creatures. We see clothing that we like, we buy it. We
see an attractive person, we want to go talk to them. So it’s only natural that
a quality cover is going to entice us more. Even if there isn’t actual judging
going on, it’s the cover that’s going to catch your eye first. It’s what will
draw you in to read the back of the book or take a peek on the inside. So
despite the old saying, a cover is important.
And judging does happen whether we like it or not. Though to
be honest, it sometimes doesn’t come as a surprise. Whether you work at a bookstore
or just happen to be moseying through one, when you see a bad cover you think, “Wow.
What were they thinking?” which may be followed up by something along the lines
of, “If they didn’t care too much about how the cover looked, how much work did
they put into the book itself?” This is actually something I’ve seen from
publishers of all sizes – including big ones. Once and a while a book will
arrive in the store and I’ll just have a head-scratching moment. Did they not
care enough to spend the money to make this book look good? Did they think this
cover was good enough? Or do they
actually think this cover is good?
In fact, we’ve all seen those sudden gear shifts a publisher
makes with covers. I like Sarah J. Maas’s books as a good example.
This is the first cover. I’m not saying it’s bad at all. It’s
pretty good as far as covers go, but personally it didn’t really catch my eye
when it first came out and sales were less than stellar (actually, if I
remember right, I don’t think we sold any at all).
This is the second cover. I believe it was the UK version as
well (and remember thinking, “Why didn’t they use that one here? It’s awesome.”),
and when Maas’s books went to the paperback, this is what we got. I found this
to be way more intriguing and we
actually sold the books this time. I’m not saying the purchases were due to the
cover – for all I know people didn’t want to pay the money for the hardcover
but were more willing to shell out for the paperback (which is often the case
for many books – there are still people waiting for Insurgent to come out in paperback). In Sarah’s case the publishers were smart and
kept going with this design with subsequent books, all of which are selling –
including the hardcover versions.
Unfortunately if you get picked up by a publisher, you have
very little say in how the covers come out. You’d think that by now publishers
would listen to what authors have to say about covers – particularly when it
comes to accuracy – but that isn’t the case. Which is why we still get “Wtf?”
covers appearing on shelves from time to time.
If you’re going to self publish, this is why it’s extremely
important to take time to find a good cover artist who will do what you ask and
for a reasonable price. While this post isn’t a plug for my cover artist,
Regina Wamba, I will say that she’s pretty damn good at what she does. (The
opposite is truer; if I were smart I’d keep my mouth shut about her. Why?
Because popularity may not only mean the occasional price increase, but also
longer wait times for kickass covers.)
The proof is in the pudding. My first book was only an ebook
and sold at just $3.99. With a 70% royalty rate, that meant I earned about
$2.79 for each book sold. That cover cost me just under $400. My goal, since
that was my first ebook let out into the wild, was to simply make back that
money. She did the cover twice until it was how I wanted it. And yes, I made
back the cover cost and added a little extra cake to the pan. Did the cover
help? I’d like to think it did. The book itself was released during the final
edge of the heyday that was paranormal romance. Granted, that genre is still
popular, but not like it was when Twilight
was in full swing and publishers everywhere were scrabbling for paranormal romance
books (both teen and adult). That’s also precisely why I requested dark blue
colors. That was simply the style that you would see. The Teen Paranormal
Romance section of Barnes & Noble (which has since changed to just Teen Romance)
was essentially a wall of black and other dark colored book spines.
The point is, don’t sell yourself short on the cover. If you
have a publisher that’s offered something ugly, you can always try to fight it –
your agent should be more than willing to help you because they want the book
to succeed, too. They’re working for you, and sometimes a bit of a fight can
work. If you’re self-publishing, even if you’re on a budget, don’t go cheap.
Take a good, long look at covers on the shelves of the bookstore and think to
yourself what you like and what turns you off. Shoddy photoshop? A book you
realize you read and the main character looks nothing like the person on the cover?
Make sure to choose a cover artist that will provide you with a cover you want and
approve. Don’t expect magical sales because the cover is, after all, just the
skin. It’s what’s inside that counts (among many other factors in the book
world) – but at the very least you’ll have something that will make people
look.
