Does the Cover Compel You to Buy?
Mary Montague Sikes is an award-winning author, freelance writer, photographer, artist, and teacher who loves to travel, especially to glamorous tropical locations. Because Monti‘s settings include exotic destinations like Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, the Bahamas, and St. Martin, her publisher, Oak Tree Books, created the Passenger to Paradise series for her novels. Her most recent research trips carried her to Los Cabos on the western coast of Mexico, to Yellowstone National Park, and to Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. Inspired by the Ansel Adams-type scenery, she took hundreds of photographs during those trips. Her published work includes four novels, a “how to” book, a coffee table book, an anthology, and hundreds of feature newspaper and magazine articles.
The Fredericksburg, Virginia native has presented workshops on promotion and marketing, painting, and writing to state and national conventions as well as to many local writers’ and artists’ groups. Her paintings are exhibited widely in Virginia and are in private and public collections in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Her art work is represented by Prince George Art and Frame in Williamsburg. She maintains a studio and a gallery at Petersburg Regional Art Center. Sikes holds a BA in psychology from the University of Mary Washington and a MFA in painting from Virginia Commonwealth University.
http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1020636841
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What invites you as a reader to pick out a book and buy it? Does the cover draw you in? Or is it the blurb on the back that entices you to want to read the book?
Those thoughts come to mind as I look at the cover and the back of my recently-released book, Night Watch. I love the cover, but I wonder if readers will like it as much as I do.
Because my novels usually have an exotic setting, my publisher—Oak Tree Books—has created the Passenger to Paradise series for them. The series has its own logo—the silhouette of a woman with her roller bag. It’s the perfect logo for my books because I’ve spent many an hour pulling my roller bag through distant airports.
Night Watch is an adventure/romance set in Trinidad and is based on a series of experiences I actually had when my husband and I visited that island a few years ago. Before we left I had visions of a glamorous escapade like Bogart and Bergman in the movie Casablanca experienced. Foolish me, I even wore heels and a white linen suit to live the part.
As I wrote Night Watch, it was fun reliving the trip to Trinidad. Of course, we didn’t face the dangers my characters face, but we had some pretty exciting and harrowing adventures on the island.
My books usually include a paranormal touch, and this one does as well. But, it’s up to the reader to decide, in the end, if my heroine actually had a paranormal relationship with the past.
I would love to hear how covers influence the books readers buy. I would also like to know from readers of Night Watch what you think about the heroine’s experience.
April 30, 2010
Posted in: Guest Blogs
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21 Responses
I love the dreamy look of the cover of Night Watch. That would get me to pick up the book and read the blurb about it. It is the blurb, though, that will fuel my decision about whether or not to buy the book. Good luck with it!
Pat Batta
Thanks for your comment about the cover. Even with an appealing cover, the blurb is what inspires you to buy.
Thanks!
Monti
Hi Monti,
Have super weekend!
A book cover draws me, but I always read the teaser in the back, that is unless I’m buying a specific author. Then, I just pick it up.
Diana
http://www.texomaliving.com/magazine/expert
I currently have 7 books out in my Margot & Max mystery series. All the covers were done by my Hollywood art director daughter, Annie Sperling. They have created quite a stir, the second one Grape Noir was nominated for best cover at Bouchercon in 2002. I have heard from some readers that they collect the covers! I hope they also read and enjoy the stories. Do covers count? Yes, in my case and, I must add, some covers really turn me off though I don’t know if that would make me not buy a book from a favorite author. I just wonder what the graphic people were thinking!
Interesting comment, Kit. It inspired me to take a look at all your covers, each of which has a unique presence. I love it when you know the author by the cover!
Thanks!
Monti
Initially, I’d say the front cover of a book is what attracts a reader. To illustrate an example, see Monti’s book cover or link to my site http://www.TheWrightScoop.com at Sylvia’s store. I use my photography for book covers and; consistently, readers say it is the front cover that attracts attention but once attracted, the back cover description is important. Using a percise description, an author explains the cover and furthers interest in purchasing his/her book. So, in someways both the front and back of a book cover are important.
If I’ve read an enticing review, if I’ve heard great things about a book, or if it’s a book written by an author I like, I pay little attention to the cover, because I know in advance that I want this book. However, if I’m browsing in the library or a book store the title combined with the cover play a key role in whether I’ll pick up the book or not.
What Monti might have added is that her art has served more OTP books than those she authored. Two perinneal favorites, An Affinity for Murder and Callie & the Dealer & Dog Named Jake owe their images to Monti’s portfolio. Affinity took a corner of a large floral painting and Callie’s was a photograph I stumbled across in Monti’s file–a stunning epiphany. For a third cover, Red Room Rendezvous, Monti photographed the author’s New Orleans home, then rendered it to a painting.
I think many authors try to tell too much of the story through the cover image. I try to keep in mind that the cover is really the bait that hooks the reader into reading that story description. A strong, dominant image is best, IMHO, rather than a lot of nuance and detail.
Thank you, Billie!
Interesting observation about authors trying to tell too much with the cover. I like “the bait that hooks the reader” thought!
Monti
Covers do make a difference because it encourages the buyer to pick up the book and read a little from the content. If the cover is unattractive readers pick up another book with an attractive cover, unless they know the author. I believe the cover should reflect subtly what the text will be about. Color is important.
A good cover draws the eye and convinces the reader to pick up the book. Then the reader reads the book burb, deciding if to buy.
Now a cover does not means a good book and vice versa. But again, there are those who great covers and are good books.
Thanks Jennie and Pamela for your comments!
Happy reading,
Monti
Thanks, Lelia, for having me as a guest blogger. I’ve enjoyed the experience.
Happy reading and book selling,
Monti
Thanks, everyone, for stopping by with some very thoughtful comments. Monti, it has been a pleasure to have you as a guest and I hope you’ll come back some day!
Monti,
While most of my reading is for elementary school children, I always look for the catchy titles as well as an attractive cover. Then I read the blurb about the book. If the cover doesn’t catch my attention, I usually don’t go any further.
Hi Monti,
Yes – a cover does influence whether I pick a book up or not, which is a bit dismaying as a writer since I realize I have no say over my covers. I’ve been fortunate to have wonderful publishers. Color is important, but so is FEEL. Great blog . . . thanks so much.
The cover picture definitely draws me in, especially if it has a mansion with a single light in the window in the background, and a distraught heroine in the foreground…which means it could be a gothic romance, which I love above all other genres. Then I read the cover blurb to make sure it is not about vampires or other other-worldly creatures. I love a paranormal twist of the ghostly variety, though. If it’s a historical gothic, it’s in my arms and I’m headed for the checkout counter!
As I read more and more on my Kindle, I miss the cover picture aspect of selecting a book. I must rely almost totally on the written description and a tiny cover shot perhaps on the website where I find the e-book. That definitely gives the cover far less impact on my purchase decision.
Thanks, Vannetta! I love color, too!
Kristi Lyn, gothics are my favorites. My book, Secrets by the Sea, is a gothic with a ghostly paranormal twist. I don’t like vampires or other-worldly creatures either. Secrets is a Kindle book, but it’s listed with the paperback cover on Amazon. I love it that my publisher has put my novels in Kindle, but Night Watch is not there yet.
Monti
Hey Monti …. My two cents ….
I’m not a ‘visual’ person. The reason I initially pick up a book from the libary shelf or bookstore shelf is the title. Clever, funny, odd, ‘keywords’ for me … I’ll pick it up and read the quick jacket synopsis. That determines if it goes home with me or not. Sometimes I never even notice the cover art unless it is something really unusual.
Judi
If I don’t know the author, I will pass up a book that has an unappealing cover. I probably have missed some great books unfortunately.
If the cover pulls me in, then I read the back cover/flaps to see if the subject matter pleases me.
We have so many choices in books, I’ve also started paying attention to the printed pages. Is the font too small for reading comfort? Are the margins reasonable for the page size? that sort of thing.
All in all, buying a book is more than investing my money, you are commiting personal time and attention. The book needs to be appealing from all aspects.
Keep up the great work, Monti!
Martha Anne
I think this is an interesting question as I have never really thought about what appeals to me to choose one book over the other. Of course, it makes sense that the cover helps tell the story of what’s inside for the reader. The art and title has to draw me in and arouse my curiousity enough to get me to pick the book up and read the excerpts on the book’s jackets to see if it sounds appealing enough to purchase. If there are no catch words or art to make you notice the book, it will be passed over for one that does.
I find Monti’s books appealing as well as thought provoking as it forces the reader to contemplate the possibilities, or the “could it be possible”, that happen to her characters. I like the ideas that maybe, just maybe, we can relive a life again and reconnect with those we love.
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