Do you buy a book because of the cover? Or does it influence you only a little bit? I love covers, but all book covers do not have to have the same style for me to like them or to buy them. Here are the latest two covers for my Revolutionary Faith books. The cover artist is Roseanna White. I think she does an awesome job bringing my heroine to life. What do you think?
Of course, I am going to admire my own covers! Yet, there are so many more than I can study and appreciate for their own beauty. I do like an idea of what the author wants to portray about the heroine or the hero, as in Keely Brooke Keith’s Uncharted series or Tamara Leigh in her Middle Ages novels. The colors, costumes, houses, flowers, hair styles all draw me to participate in a visual image. Also, I can formulate my own picture through the author’s words.
Here are two other favorites: one takes me into the fairy tale world in Melanie Dickerson’s The Orphan’s Wish and another into the 2nd century in Lynne Gentry’s Healer of Carthage. In both I obtain a glimpse of the foreign worlds and times.
Does the cover have to be a photograph or realistic drawing with a person or people for you to enjoy the cover? Not for me. An example is Kristy Cambron’s Lost Castle novel with a view from an old stone window. Diana Gabaldon’s early covers for her Outlander series did not have the photo of Jaime on the cover for them to sell. I would buy anything by her no matter what was on the cover.
Other books, especially older ones or ones focused on an image the reader would conjure in his/her imagination, include Jane Austen’s novels and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.
I love a nice aesthetic cover, but the words are what truly mesmerizes me.
What do you like to see in a cover?
I like a cover that gives me a glimpse of the story. I like color and a fresh approach. So, yes ,I do judge a book by its cover! So my hat’s off to brilliant cover designers!!
I do think that covers are very important. If I am to choose a book without a recommendation then the cover is crucial. I usually prefer a cover of a scene rather than a person. I think it is more mysterious that way. I think it is also important how bookstores display the materials that give us the experience walking through the store. I am also a coffeetable book collector, therefore the cover is what I display. Your covers are wonderful, Mom!!!