But...covers really do matter. I've been drawn in by covers myself. The first Laura Kinsale I ever read (years ago) was Seize the Fire. I didn't have a clue who Laura Kinsale was, but I loved that stepback cover, so I bought the book. Fortunately, I also loved the book and became an instant fan.
Jennifer Crusie's Maybe This Time is another example of a cover that sucked me in (although by that time I was already a Jennifer Crusie fan, I would have bought the book just for the cover, I think. The floating coffee cup and the heart made me want to know more).
Or how about Rick Riorda's The Lost Hero cover? How awesome is that?
As for my own covers, it's hard to choose a favorite. These past few years I've really been blessed with gorgeous artwork on my books. This cover for To Wed a Rancher was nominated for an award (don't ask me what contest. I received an email telling me that it was a finalist, but since those types of contests require votes and they always feel like popularity contests with the contestants begging people to vote for their book, something I'm not even remotely comfortable doing, I just took it as a nice moment and moved on. I think it's a very pretty cover, but I'm not sure it's better than others I've been lucky enough to have.
And I'm totally not going to mention the few books where I've worried that the cover didn't quite reflect the story. I have, as I said, been incredibly lucky.
So...can you think of any books where the cover just reached out and begged you to pick up the book?
3 comments:
I can't think of a particular cover right now, but a great cover is terribly important.
Anna Campbell's MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. I was sure that I had bought it, but apparently I didn't (after I just finished looking for it or a record of its purchase). I don't read a lot of historicals, but this cover was just so beautiful to me and has stayed prevalent in my mind ever since first seeing it.
I just went back to Google a picture of it, and, after all this time, I am not as enamored with it as I was originally. Imagine that! I wonder if that happens a lot, as usually a cover doesn't mean diddly squat to me!
The funny thing is that a fantastic book can have an unfortunate cover and a ho hum book can have a gorgeous one. So much depends on the artist, editorial input and possibly...I don't know...magic? LOL But while I rarely let a cover sway me too much, there's no denying that a great cover can make a book stand out from the many books readers have to choose from.
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