Never Judge a Book by it’s…

You’ve obviously heard the old adage of, never judge a book by it’s cover. We all do it. Don’t lie. You’ve done it. I’ve done it. The first impression of your book is the cover. Even if you buy an E-book, you look at the cover first. It can catch your eye or make you think twice before reading the blurb on the back.

The cover of your book is the introduction to your story. Yes, the back has the blurb, but the first thing they see if your book cover. Think of it as dating. You want to set a good impression. Make a bold statement. The first thing you see if the person’s face. Their smile, their hair, their eyes…You take everything in with your eyes first. If you don’t like what you see, then game over.

As a child I remember my grandma and mom reading bodice busters. You know the ones! Scantily clad woman and the man with his shirt open ravishing her with his looks!! Some of the covers I liked better than others. Why? Sometimes I didn’t like the man on the cover. He was too dark, too smarmy. Mostly those covers all look the same. With that being said you KNEW what type of book they were reading. It wasn’t for the plot.

Set your book apart. Give me a glimpse of your story from the cover. Yes, I can read from the title for a little hint. But the cover gives a little more. Case in point, over the summer I picked up a book with a fairly benign cover. Friends were raving about this book. Just looking at the cover it did nothing for me. I would have skimmed right over it. Then reading the book, I tried to figure out how the cover fit the book. The book was about an Mexican immigrant coming to America and her ‘struggles’. Yet the book cover was blue and white. It did nothing to indicate anything about the story. With that being said, I don’t think the cover has to give everything away. I do think the cover should reflect the story.

The blurb gives you an overview of the book. So if your story is set in space with a hunky alien, by all means have that on the front. If your writing a BDSM book maybe a black cover with a whip, feather, leather, something to reflect the BDSM story. Think about what you want to say with your book cover. Draw me in. Make me swoon with your book cover. Make me yearn to read your book. I will want to figure out how this picture fits in with your story.

Look at the two pictures below. They both tell a different story. So if you are writing an apocalypse story, don’t use the picture on the right. That doesn’t tell me about your story. Even if you start out in a bright sunny world and then fall into chaos. The cover should reflect the plot of the story. Zombie apocalypse – maybe some rotten teeth and decaying flesh. Not a meadow with flowers. Get what I’m saying?

Now go forth, write amazing stories and put glorious covers on the front!!