Never Judge a Book by its Cover

Gosh, how many times have we all heard that expression? Used in relation to just about everything? And sometimes even about actual books? 🙂 With the explosion of self-publishing, there are a lot of books out there these days and getting your book noticed is becoming more and more difficult, I think. There are also a vast range of covers. Some professionally done and others…not. Some done really well and others…well, not so much O.o. Of course, that’s just my opinion.

I really do buy into the ‘never judge a book by its cover’ sentiment, but the reality is in this climate, a book’s cover has become even more important in the increasingly competitive world of attracting readers. A cover is often the first impression someone has of an author’s work. It has to be eye catching as readers are scanning the many hundreds of books at the online sites or on a bookshelf, give an idea of genre at a single glance, and it has to entice the reader to want to take a second look. And a third. And ultimately buy it. Of course, not all readers buy new authors simply on cover, but I do think for most, it plays into the decision to some degree.

I found several links out there that profess to have the worst covers of all time and I thought I’d share just a few of them:

http://www.2spare.com/item_93579.aspx
http://sobadsogood.com/2012/06/15/10-worst-book-covers-in-the-history-of-literature/
http://www.boredpanda.com/worst-book-covers-and-titles/
http://gizmodo.com/5905986/the-worst-book-covers-of-all-time-have-destroyed-my-faith-in-humanity

Did anyone spew anything onto their computer screens looking at some of these LOL? Yes, some of those covers were horrid. And downright terrifying. And yeah…extreme. The thing is, these are more the exception. There are a lot of good covers out there. And many really great ones. As an author who publishes through a publisher, covers are something I have little control over, but I’ve been fortunate so far. I haven’t shuddered at any of my covers—far from it—and I think I really lucked out with my most recent release, Rise of Hope from Carina Press. I do think it’s eye catching with the color scheme, I think it screams ‘paranormal’ and the hero…well, he’s not half bad to look at, right? Some might even say it channels a young Ryan Reynolds. 😉 And of course, I hope that it will be intriguing enough to new-to-me readers that they’ll go that extra step. Perhaps read the blurb. Check out the excerpt and let the writing sway them.

So..what do YOU think? How important are book covers in the buying decision process for you?

I’ll choose a random commenter through Monday 11:59 pm Eastern, to receive a book of their choice from my backlist J.

About Kaily

Kaily Hart, a seemingly straight-laced mother of four, left corporate America and a high-powered, lucrative career to be a stay at home mom. Right… That lasted about four weeks, during which time she realized she had a deeply repressed dream—to write. And (gasp) romance at that! Who knew? By day, Kaily plays conservative wife and soccer mom, but at night crafts hot and steamy tales of romance and love with gorgeous heroes who wouldn’t dream of leaving the toilet set up. Ever. She’s smart and sassy, at least in her own mind, and is creating as many happy ever afters as she can, one hot story at a time. Kaily never would have thought she’d be doing this, but now that she is? Well, you couldn’t pay her enough to do anything else.

Kaily’s books, PICTURE THIS, PAY UP, PLAY ME & POINT BLANK (yeah, she has a thing for book titles that start with ‘P’), are all currently available from Ellora’s Cave. Her latest release RISE OF HOPE, book 1 in the Fabric of Fate series, is now available from Carina Press. You can find out more information about all Kaily’s books here and read more about RISE OF HOPE here.

If anyone would want to contact me (which I would love by the way) or just keep up with what I’m doing, you can find me all over:

Web – www.kailyhart.com
Blog – http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart
Twitter – http://twitter.com/kailyhart
Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/kailyhart/