What catches your attention about a book cover?

[stormiel]

Just out of curiosity, what makes a book cover interesting to you all? What colors do you like? Do you like to see people on the cover? If so, do you like them cartoon animated, realistically drawn? What kind of font do you like for the title?

[Kessie]

For me, it's text and font first, and picture second. The text had better be readable, and it'd better not be Times New Roman or some other default Windows font. Lots of self-pub and small press books use crummy fonts and no text effects.

That's the other thing--text effects like drop shadows, textures, or outer glow--all basic Photoshop functions, all contribute HUGELY to a book's image. I read somewhere that all books should have text in four places on the cover--series name, title, author name, and possibly a tagline, but that one seems to come and go depending on the book.

The picture can be minimalist--like the apple on the cover of Twilight--or a Dragonriders of Pern fantasy painting. I don't much care, as long as it gives me some idea of what the book's about. But the text and font had better look good, and it'd better be readable, or I'm going elsewhere.

[Bethany J.]

I think we all judge books by their covers, a lot more than we'd like to admit! Anything that looks slightly unprofessional makes me put the book down right away: standard fonts, poor photoshop work, bad color combinations, etc.

As to what I like - I do like to see people on the cover, for sure. Altered photos or realistic drawings are preferable; I don't much like cartoon drawings unless that style is fitting for the story (say, a superhero novel). A glimpse of the story's world in the background can be helpful, too.

Fonts - anything curly or cursive will make me wary, because it tells me that the font is either poorly chosen, or the book is about prissy, romantic things. Serif fonts are usually nicer than sans serif ones.

I like to see colors on a cover, too, in a tone fitting of the novel. I'm not drawn to lots of black and metallic tones.

[metalikhan]

Dec 29, 2012 20:18:12 GMT -5 Bethany J. said:

I think we all judge books by their covers, a lot more than we'd like to admit!

Amen to that Bethany!

I don't really have a font preference so long as it's clear and easily read. If the background is too busy, the title & author can be difficult to see.

People -- again, no preference. I prefer art work -- paintings, drawings -- over photographs. I like the covers with the older style watercolor or oil paintings, pastels, and the noir pen & ink drawings and prints. Photos make me think the book should be non-fiction (biography, history, etc); and I literally cringed the first time I saw one of the altered photos for a SF book. It just looked schlocky to me. Techniques have improved since then, so more recent ones do look better.

The only cover color I have a personal bias about is yellow. It makes me think the book is (1) for children (because of some of the books I read as a kid); (2) a technical manual (I've got half a dozen machining books with predominantly yellow covers), or (3) a For Dummies book.

But (confession time) if I love the book but totally, irrevocably hate the cover, I will remove it and re-cover the book myself.

My bookbinding manual has a yellow cover. ;D

[beckyminor]

I will probably draw fire for saying this, but I absolutely hate fantasy books that use a still of a 3D rendered image for the cover. If you're going to put characters on a cover, I say you get an artist who can paint and do it legit. 3D figures almost ALWAYS look wooden, and the tell-tale sign is their hands. I have lost count of how many plastic fists I've seen gripped around sword hilts and expressionless heroes filling covers.

I also agree about 'shopped photos. They almost always look cheesy, mostly because few people who go that route have the budget to put their photo subject in a really authentic, high quality costume.

That being said, I do appreciate a cover with well rendered characters, but a solid icon on the cover works for me as well. And fonts do need to be very legible. My last pet peeve I will add to this rant is that the title needs to be bigger than most new authors and small publishers go with. It should be the most prominent thing on the cover (unless you're a multi-bestseller, then I can see the author's name dominating.) But in my opinion, the dominant text should be just that. The illustration should be secondary, and the fonts should not be squeezed into a small corner so they don't "cover up" any of the illustration. The illustration is the backup singer in this band, really.

[Divides the Waters]

Becky is spot-on with this one.

[stormiel]

I kinda like some of the older Sci Fi covers that have the huge writing. Anything blue and white catches my attention (I don't know why). I also like multiple images, it gives me a sense of what is going on throughout the book.

[Kristen]

Dec 29, 2012 1:51:05 GMT -5 stormiel said:

Just out of curiosity, what makes a book cover interesting to you all? What colors do you like? Do you like to see people on the cover? If so, do you like them cartoon animated, realistically drawn? What kind of font do you like for the title?

I like to see realistic people on a cover, but I agree photos are too reminiscent of non-fiction. Whether they're painted or photoshopped or 3-D rendered or drawn Manga-style depends on the genre, but it has to be done well, and not cheesy. With enough post-production in Photoshop or Painter, a 3-D rendered figure can look really good, but it takes a skilled artist and lots of time, which few publishers seem willing to invest in these days.

I agree with Becky that the title needs to be prominent. It's possible to go way overboard with text effects in Photoshop -- drop shadows and bevels and whatnot. Some designers get carried away.

Joel Friedlander does a monthly E-book cover awards column that's very instructive: www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/08/monthly-e-book-cover-design-awards/

My favorite book cover of all time is the one Holly Heisey and DeAnn Newsome did for Winter -- and not just because it's blue (my favorite color). It really perfectly encapsulates the personality of the heroine and the mood of the story. kevennewsome.com/winter/

[stormiel]

Glad you posted that web reference, Kristen. It looks like there are lots of interesting articles there