The Importance of a Good Cover

[Dozmonic]

The one I linked is what we currently sell in Smiths for the kiddy versions. The whole lot of them are like that, distinguished primarily by colour. The spine of each is the colour of the text on the front, dark green for Deathly Hallows. It's a shame that they don't do the books justice really

[JandenHale]

I'm kind of glad I brought this up, because a few folks have pointed out that simpler covers that aren't quite as in-your-face sci-fi or fantasy might do better with the closet fans than a more elaborate one. Something I had never thought about. I'm probably going to be designing more covers along those lines in the future.

[thaddeus6th]

It may matter less as e-Books become ever more popular. However, I do agree that it's a good topic for discussion.

[spider from mars]

As a buyer for a bookchain I really can't stress enough how important the covers are. And not just for self-published guys (although really, it won't even get through the door without a decent cover) - if one of the big fellas presents a book and we don't like the cover, we ask them to change it. Sometimes that's the difference between us ordering 500 or us ordering 2000. If you're self-published and the cover isn't good, to be brutally honest we're not going to spend the time coaching you through it - it just won't go anywhere.

And it's not just about a cover being good. I've loved covers, but upon reading the book (or heck, even just reading the blurb) have realised that it doesn't tell you anything worthwhile about the book. The cover needs to appeal to the person who's going to enjoy the book the most; it needs to tell the customer what they're getting. So no point putting a mass market thriller cover on some literary fiction, and if you've got some good solid sword and sorcery fantasy, then for god's sake get a sword or a shield on the cover somewhere.