According to ancient wisdom – we’re not supposed to… but we do it all the time.
Book lovers will stick with a favourite author and just buy everything they write (hence the groaning noises coming from my bookshelves). But what about finding new authors – people we have never read before?
Personal recommendations count for a lot – but without a recommendation, I think it’s down to the covers.
Whether I’m in a book shop or online, a great cover will make me at least pause long enough to check out the book blurb. At that point – I am on the road to buying the book. A good blurb will have me reaching for my credit card.
So – I thought I would post some book covers I really like – and maybe a few I don’t.
It seems strange to think there was once a time when I had not read Terry Pratchett. Now he’s on my automatic buy list and I’ve visited the discworld many, many times.
For me – the Josh Kirby covers are wonderful. Before I’d read a single word of that first book – the cover had already taken me into the world. I even have a framed, signed poster of one of the covers in my house.
The Twilight books are the sort of thing you either love or you hate – but I don’t think anyone can doubt the impact of those covers. I thought they were great… particularly the first one. Obviously the publishers thought so too… there are many copycat covers on the YA shelves.
Even more controversial – Fifty Shades. I confess I haven’t read the books. I started, but they were not to my taste. The covers, however, were very striking… and again that style has been copied many many times on similar books.
I am not a fan of covers that show the faces of the hero and heroine. If that picture is not how I see them in my mind – then my enjoyment of the book is lessened.
YA covers are great. Do publishers put more effort into those than others? I don’t know, but it seems to me a lot of YA covers are far more interesting than a lot of adult covers. Here are some that really caught my eye.
Bu contrast – the modern UK romance cover really doesn’t do it for me. There is a sameness about them. No book seems to stand out – and I’m always looking for the stand-out books.
Also deserving of better covers – the amazing Robyn Carr. Love her books – but the covers leave me cold.
Finally – and I guess this comes under the heading of shameless promotion – I love the covers done by Choc Lit – my own publisher. It was one of the things that attracted me to them. The covers fit the genres – but don’t conform to the stereotypes. I love both the covers they have done for me. Here are a few of my favourites among the other Choc Lit titles.