We’re all familiar with the mantra about not judging a book by its cover. However, in its most literal sense, most of us do in part judge actual books by their covers, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I feel it is a duty of whoever publishes a book to ensure that the cover is one on which the book can be partly judged. When we are selecting a book to read, whether it’s a hard copy printed book, or an e-book, part of our assessment process involves looking at the cover. For me, what I hope to get from the cover is an idea of the mood of the book, not necessarily a pictoral representation of part of the story. I want to get a sense of whether it is going to be dark and chilling, light and funny, complex and thought provoking; the description of the book can tell us those things too, but I believe it more if I’ve felt it through looking at the cover.
Publishers do of course recognise the importance of the cover image, and they invest a lot of time and resources into that. Of course they don’t always get it right, but they do at least understand what needs to be done. However, having read several self-published books, I wonder sometimes whether enough time and effort has been spent on the cover by those who self-publish. I don’t mean that to sound critical, but on more than one occasion, I have enjoyed reading a self-published book much more than I thought I would; and part of my expectations for the book were based on my impressions from the cover. I feel it’s a real shame if those who self-publish go to all the trouble of making sure their book is as good as it can be – weeks, months, maybe years writing it, followed perhaps by editors, and proof readers, and beta readers, and then they potentially let the whole book down by having a cover that either doesn’t look professional, or doesn’t properly reflect the story.
“But wait!” I hear you cry, big publishing houses generally have much more money to spend on getting the cover images done than self-publishers do. Of course I understand that, but even within the parameters of operating on a shoestring, I do think there is more that some self-publishers could do; I don’t say ‘all’ because many do find a way to get it right. For instance, if their book has been edited/proof checked/beta read, then I feel it’s essential that those who read it are asked for an opinion on whether the cover does proper justice to the story. Maybe many do that already, I don’t know. Another idea is to contact a local art college, and see if they could put you in touch with any recent graduates who may be looking for work for their portfolio; you may be able to come up with an arrangement whereby the graduate designs your cover, is credited within the book, and then gets a percentage of the profits if there are any.
I haven’t been through the self-publishing process myself, so I’m perhaps being unfair on judging those who have, but I’m expressing what I’ve found as a reader.
As a reader, have you noticed a mis-match between the cover and the book itself with self-published books more than with traditionally published books? If you have self-published a book yourself, I’d be interested to hear what process you went through with the cover design?
Limebird Writers 