So, my novel will be published in February, and it needs a cover. It's likely to be one of these three.
My publisher, Tom, says that covers are very important. That they sell books. That people really do judge a book by its cover.
I can't recall a book's cover ever influencing my decision to purchase it, nor an album's cover now I come to think of it. I'm not contesting that such things go on, I just can't see it.
I do like a good cover. I'm looking at one for John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. I much prefer this grotesque Ignatious J Reilly, the book's protaganist, compared to the comic version that's on most editions. But I didn't know who Ignatious J Reilly was when I bought the book, and I bought it because my friend had told me it was his favourite book, so any cover would have done.
I would welcome your comments on which cover you think is best - the first, second or third - and what you think it says, if anything, about the book.
52 comments:
They're all shit
Hiya,
I hate 1
I like 2, but it’s a bit busy and cryptic
I’d go for 3. Big, bold and ballsy.
Cheers
M
I like the first one - don't like the yellow one, it's too busy. The last one is a bit boring. The black and white city sketch is my favourite.
Hey Lee
This was tough as I dont know what the book is about, but I am TOTALLY drawn to the lime green one.
I like number 1 but, I think it has been done already, I feel like I have seen it all before. Number 3makes it look like a classic but a
tad dull.
For me number 2 looks like a best seller and I am drawn to it. I can't really explain why - but I feel I can see it on the shelves - does that help?
Sophie x
I think that you will appeal more to younger audience (20+)with the
yellow graphic and more to an older audience (30+) with the black and white city scape graphic.
Judgements on covers are important to look into. The simple graphic is what i would expect readers of the Times would go for. Old school readers. (50+)
Only you know your target demographic for the book. Pick a winner but my vote goes yellow!
My view is that you should be able to identify the book from its cover in the most reduced circs:
as thumbnail (on amazon)
across a bookshop
from the spine only
For this reason, 2 is the only one I'd go with. But think about the spine...is it really going to help you with standout?
Best (and back to the kitchen)
M
You'd sell more copies if you had a picture of me on the cover...
Hey
Me and Gaw both like the first one best (it was close with the second one but we do prefer number one ultimately). Phew!
Jen x
Hmm, interesting question. I like them all of course.
Normal reaction possibly, but I'd print/publish/hang on the wall the first one, not sure if that is because how I first received the book and printed it out - because I'm a devil for the original.
Like a song first heard by whomsoever, is never quite the same by another even if its the songwriter.
Incidentally, do you read Laura Barton Hail Hail Rock and Roll. Magic stuff have been reading it forever it seems. Grauniad every other Fri. back page usually
Sure I know you know........
Love peace and fish
Iainx
Cover should be a chessboard with unusual pieces really and set on a cityscape square like times sq in NY but hey whattdoiknow?
I will shut up rightnow buddy
Vaya con dios
Hey,
I like the first one and the third one. The first, because it looks (somehow) like the work of a confident established author. Who knows how or why I feel that, but I do.
The second (green) cover looks to me like a non-fiction book. Probably a popular-science book.
The third is classic. Makes you want to pick it up. The title is so strange and provocative that it alone will make people want to see what's inside. And there's a certain ballsiness about the spareness of it.
Good luck!
Well, on first glance the first one (Black and White New York sketch) is the most appealing, but your publisher might have a point about Joe Public responding to different covers in different ways.
I quite like the man / city / stream of consciousness scrawling sketch on the green one, but the typography is a bit aggressive and spastic. I know that a designer is likely to say that the "urban(e)" and "cut and paste" thing is intentional and artistic (God knows I've used those excuses before), but in this case I think it just ends up looking a bit like a well-meaning, day-release exercise with the mentally ill using scissors, glue and an old copy of the highway code.
If they insist on the green (or another colour), I see no reason you couldn't use the top design on a green background or coloured paper stock...
I still prefer the black and white though.
Hi Lee,
Yeah book covers, ouch. Your publisher's right, they sell books without a doubt. I've seen many books bomb because of jackets only for the U.S edition to turn up with a different jacket and they fly of the shelves.
I like the nyc one best but something doesn't quite sit right. Not much help, sorry!! You can issue a dead arm over a coffepintjuicetea.
love ya
xxx
The 3rd one
Perhaps because it is the one on the hands of the people in the post
below
But also because typography always trumps graphics (it's classier,
doesn't try too hard, looks like a modern classic before it's barely
been out)
I prefer first or second covers. First just tips it. Great ideas by the way.
Marcus
number 1 - with the city - definitely
The buildings are best, but they're still very conventional and old-fashioned.
Speak to Jules.
I prefer the first one... although it does look a little like the cover to the Beastie Boys album To The 5 Boroughs
http://www.amazon.com/5-Boroughs-Beastie-Boys/dp/B00021LRWM
The green one is my least favourite.
I like the green one – it would definitely make me look twice in the bookshop. Can’t be any more specific than that.
the third one. minimalist. I like it. The first one is ok, but the colour on the second looks rather sickly
Of the 3, I prefer the top cover.
It's hard to be sure without having read the book, but it's the most aesthetically pleasing and draws me in more than the others.
the top one. easy.
The illuminous yellow one I like the illustrations plus you might as well stand out...
Hi Lee,
Two votes from us for the New York cover,
Cheers,
Colin
To be frank – I think all the designs are insipid … sorry to be brutal but you asked
Just a precursor to my comments, I worked in a bookshop for 2 years (Books etc) and then worked in publishing (Reed, Lonely Planet) for 2 years so know a little bit about the trade.
Without a doubt the middle one. It’s purely commercial but you want something that people will just pick up because the cover stands out, that one does and the others don’t. The others will simply fade into the bookshelf, yours will stand out.
Will also be easier for people to describe if they’ve seen it eg ‘it’s the book with the bright green cover’ it might seem silly but hardly anyone who comes into a bookshop remembers the title of the book they are looking for but can usually describe it and if the bookseller recalls it (which they will with that cover) then it could be sale that could have easily been missed.
Also, as a bookseller buyer, it again would stand out to me (they often sell on cover alone) whereas the others just don’t. Let me know what you go for.
I like the first one the best. Just because it's New York and i love that goddamn city and obviously it features in the book. Is that reason enough?
My friend Daisy would pick the green cover as it leaps out at her more.
The green is more interesting and eye catching - quite cool and funky really!!
L
X
Green one for me….
Hi mate,
For what its worth...
Cover 1: Feels like I've seen it on a million different book covers. Looks almost like a book you'd read as part of the school curriculum. Still looks good though.
Cover 2: Not a fan - too.. erm... green. :-)
Cover 3: The old KISS theory - works every time! :-) Jazz this up a little and its the winner. Maybe move title up and add a little piccy of something underneath?
Cheers,
Jason
I really like the first one...
Hiya Big Boy,
I prefer the lime green cover. I can't quite give a rational justification for this, except lime green is the colour I always see with my eyes closed! The 'rough-sketch New York skyline panorama' seems to me a tad hackneyed in our post-9/11 vision of reality. The original version is presentable, maybe even sublime in its minimalism, like a well placed and polished piece of Zen gravel in the proverbial Garden of Delights.
Hope this is of use to you.
Lots of Big Ones,
xxx
the green one by far - the text on the front draws the interest - no contest. and i have been attracted to books/cd's etc. by the cover - no shame. If i don't know the author i wouldn't look at the book if the cover doesn't stand out.
if you don't go green you are a useless cunt - i'm not standing on the fence.
...or the 1st one (white with drawing) , i like that too
I like the first one lee because it looks more attractive and could excite a reader, like a funky traveller story - the last one is too serious
cuidate mucho
karina
I didn't rate any of them that much. Sorry. Does Idle Tom the publisher think they're all decent? Bill
I like the third one, the plain cover with quirky type, great work, C
The yellow made me both excited and sick which is what a good book cover should do.
How about a picture of a gay fish.
I'd go with the first one.
I like the typeface and the cityscape gives a nod to what's inside...black and white retains the starkness of the third whilst looking as though you've thought about the cover.
The yellow one is too confusing and bile isn't your colour.
No 1 straight out suits the book and will appeal to a broad audience. Colours are dangerous, as in - I hate that one, but others like it. Good Luck. Damon
The yellow one over the other two every time. They both look like they're taking themselves far too seriously. Mind you none of my books have ever troubled the best-seller lists and I've had strong views on all my covers.
good luck with it
J
i prefer 1 but fear it might get lost in a bookshop. A splash of colour on one of the buildings might lift the cover.
2 will probably work better commercially (a change from largely white to lime green has helped one of our series this year)
3 will look the part in city lights bookstore in san francisco but you might want a broader market.
I reckon the middle one.
Dear Leeas someone who designes book covers - I can put in my 6 penneth
I love the simple typography of 3 although think that could be richly embelleshed with some striking pantone colours - keep it simple but just use some colour - this is something done allot on the continent and I strongly advise you to look at a couple of book covers I took photos of in amsterdam this weekend - photos are in my photos section of my facebook so please take a look as there were some beutiful ones there.
Apart form that no 1 although not having read the book I dont know what the cover illustration means but I like it - depends how you want to come across - 3 says to me - serious author - intellectual - this has something so asy - although without the colour on te typography it looks a bit self - published at the mo - although dont let that disuade you -
3 is my favourite - 2 no!
hope that is ok help and look forward to reading it. take care and good luck
matt
First.
First is dope.
Then 3. 3 is classic.
2 is 90s.
I too got the version of ....Dunces with the super-ugly Ignatious. I too got it because a friend of mine said it was his favourite book. Now it is one of mine, thanks to all that business with the hotdogs.
Anyway. FIRST!
(PS - my lil bro says he will have some time in the coming weeks for animation if you wish)
@!
The black and white is the most elegant and intriguing. Thing is, I dont know if their story is either elegant or intriguing. The yellow one was way too busy and the third was blah.
Good luck,
Palm Springs Gal
Definately the third cover...it's ambiguity is right for a first novel. It says nothing about the books contents - which is good i think.
It has a classic look.
hey Lee, not really feeling any of the covers, sorry...but maybe after I've read the book... can I get hold of a copy yet?
I have to say I prefer the first one.
The last one did nothing for me.
I definately judge a book by the cover.
I agree the second one had a certain stand out appeal that would influence a younger reader, and the spine is important depending on how it's stacked. But it made me slightly nauseous between the colours and the lines.
The first one would make me look.
p.s. I'd definately love a flying gay fish in the NY scene, pencilled in as part of the doodle! I think that would trip the balance. Maybe a standing fish in a suit and bowler hat looking up at the skyline!!! bring in the fish..
one curious thing I've observed about the votes here is that most people like number 1, but they agree that possibly OTHERS might like number 2... and that's damn dangerous when we all like number 1! but then we're an older crowd, but probably your readership.
Get the jolly fish in the picture and all will be well with number 1
I always choose a book by its cover, then I read the synopsis at the back and then flick through quickly
I hate the last one
The second one is good but too much like vomit
The first one is artistically the most competant, but the style and form have been used in other books
The cover should reflect the content and title of the book, these do neither
I would start again
The book is zany and funny and the cover should be the same......
start again
Hi Lee - Nick here. My book comes out the month after yours on Legend, and I've been scratching my own head re cover. Of yours, I prefer 3 by far, but I'm wondering what it says about your book. Does it "do what it says on the tin"?
Then I read all the comments, and there's no clear winner. It's a quandary.
I've picked up many a book for perusal on the strength of cover and/or title - then put most back after reading the blurb, but they at least got their 15 seconds - so the cover matters.
Suspect I'm as confused as you are, and the bookshop guy and designer here, who should know what they're talking about, pick different covers! But 3's my fave IF it fits the content. Augh!
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