Is Cover Art Worth The Ink & Paper?

 

How much value does one place on book covers? Are they as important as the content or the title? What inspires you to pick up a book off the shelf if you haven't heard of it before? As a reader, how important is cover art to you? I just started thinking about this after giving my response to Jaidis Shaw's thread at Nurture Your Books. I personally think book cover art can make or break your first impression to the reader. Thank God  covers are not the only means of marketing books otherwise there would have been many a book left undiscovered. As I say that J.R Tolkin's book covers come to mind. The copies I have leave much to be desired as they are so lacking in creativity in my opinion. I have been drawn many times to picking up titles I never would have considered just because of the cover art. So I for one, vote for the group that says its crucial that a lot of thought goes into them, certainly as much as that which goes into the title. I remember buying my first set of The Twilight Saga series. I'm one of those who catch on very late when it comes to trends and frenzies. I think the first 4 books were already out before I made my way to the shops and that was only because I wanted to read the books before watching the movie first which had just come out. I walked into Exclusive Books and caught site of  them all artfully displayed with all sorts of Stephenie Meyer paraphernalia surrounding them. I tell you by just looking at them I was sold. Who could resist such imagery?

So if you were or are a writer, when creating a book cover what would you take into account? For example do you go  for hand-painted or digital covers? Do you hire a professional photographer or graphic artist or take a more DIY approach? Would you prefer a direct link between the cover and the contents or use the cover art to(for lack of a better word) overtly insinuate what the book is about? Would you get a friend to do  a paint job for you and hope we don't pay attention to the cover when it hits the stores? How would you or do you invest in this part of your project?



Here is one example of a covers that led me to parting with a few quid. What do you think?

No. 1 McSweeneys 23

When the book is covered.

Cover removed and laid out.

Inside of cover

What I love the most about this cover its its handmade feel and newspaper effect. I found it so interesting I confess I never even read the book blurb. I just thought I'd love this on my shelf.  I've had it for a couple of weeks and just figured out this morning that its a collection of short stories. Foolish perhaps I know but we're not judging my abilities to reason here. The point is the author got the sale.



No. 2 My Journal

Even journal publisher's are merciless these days. I paid what I consider to be an obscene amount of money recently for this one because the cover is so beautiful and intricate. I have many other journals at my disposal and have therefore not as yet figure out what to use this one for. I wish I had friends who write, this is the kind of things to give as a present.

No. 3 Captain Underpants

My son is in my substantial debt because yesterday while at the bookshop he fell in love with this book. I know he loves comics but I suspect he was further pushed to an  "Imusthaveit" state by the cover. Let me try to explain. Its in hard cover and the whole picture is covered in some kind of reflective almost fibre glass like plastic that has a rough surface. Every time you move the book around Captain Underpants changes positions drastically. What hope does the poor reader have. That's almost like asking a sweet toothed child if they like candy.





Some of my blog friends whom I think got it right:







I love this cover because it looks strong and uncluttered. Polished is the word. It definitely gives the impression that you'll be thrown into some kind of gangster filled underworld and yet for me I also expect romance because to have such a strong, hot virile male on the cover would be a complete waste if he has no love interest. I mean look at that neck, I can just see her fingers caressing it.

I simply love this cover. I especially love the colour scheme used for it. Myne did a brilliant job I think. Everytime I look at it I see it I feel like love is effortless, calm and warm. I really think it was a stroke of genius to rather focus on the richness of the sand for overall effect rather than the blue sea which I am sure would have taken away from the message this couple means to communicate with its audience.

I entered a blog giveaway and was selected as the winnder of this book which I am really happy about because I really loved the cover even before I stated reading. Its one of those that if it were on a bookshelf, I would have picked up. Well done Belinda.

When I first saw this cover there wasn't an immediate connection between us but the more I looked at it, the more it grew on me. Having read teh book made me also realise it really is a great piece of work because it links with the entire story. Its like a puzzle, you only fully appreciate how clever this cover is when you get the whole picture (read the story)

I could go on forever, but I'll leave room for your opinion on the following the questions I asked above.

Please send links for your favourite blogger/writer book covers  which you think should have been on this list because I'd love to create a page we can refer to.