Judging a Book by Its Cover

While we’ve all been told to never judge a book by its cover, the fact is that many people do. According to a survey done by Booksmugglers, 79% of book buyers say that the cover of a book plays a decisive role in their decision to purchase the book.

Booksmuggler's survey

Covers are an essential part of books, giving that first impression that determines whether a potential buyer will pick up a book or walk right on by. That is why authors and publishers put a lot of thought into their covers, making them works of art that convey as much intent as any painting.

Book covers are so important to the success of a book that a plethora of companies including the New York Times, Penguin Random House, and Goodreads have created a list of the top best book covers and many websites offer tips on how to design an appealing book cover.

Potential buyers expect the book cover to be an accurate representation of the book. However, in order to make a book cover appealing, sometimes the cover ends up having little to do with the story inside. Many books have multiple covers to try to reach out to a wider variety of potential readers by marketing the covers to different audiences.

So how well can you judge a book by its cover?

One book with multiple covers is Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee.

The horse and specks of blood on the first cover give a sense of adventure reminiscent of westerns. It attracts potential buyers that enjoy adventure and action. However, this is a false promise. The characters' short journey is not the main focus of the book and horses play a minor role. The other version with the Barbarian girl is a more accurate, if somewhat less exciting cover. A good part of the novel focuses on the relationship between the narrator and a barbarian girl. In addition, the clean cut square image, subdued color scheme, and academic font give the sense that the novel has academic value, suggesting that readers will have their views widened.

The covers are designed to attract two different audiences and therefore increase the book's perspective buyers. However, in doing so, one of the cover's must focus on a small part of the book rather than representing the novel as a whole. This false advertising could actually reduce the book's perspective buyers by causing unhappy buyers to give the book bad reviews when it fails to meet their expectations.

Good book covers reflect the story inside, the target audience, and the type of book.

Brandon Sanderson's Arcanum Unbounded does just that. The book cover features a figure cloaked in mystery, typical of a fantasy novel. The figure holds a book, implying secrets and hidden knowledge. The novel itself contains the previously unknown side stories of his other books and the hidden history of their worlds. In addition, Sanderson's name is larger than the title of the book. This is a book meant to be read as a companion novel to his several series, not as a stand alone; the target audience is people who already know his name and therefore are likely to pick it up based on the author over the title.

Even simple book covers like this one for Fahrenheit 451 contain a message about the book's contents. The designers want viewers to focus on a single object or concept- such as burning books- that is crucial to the story. The vivid contrasting colors bring forth associations with fire (red), life (white), and death (black) while the bold font suggests a serious topic.

Some book covers give accurate representations of the story they contain. Others do not. However, all book covers are designed with the intent to attract potential buyers' interest. In short, they are marketing tools. While you may not be able to judge a book's contents based on it's cover, you can uncover what it's author or publisher wants to convey about the book. Next time you pick up a book with an interesting cover, realize that it was not chosen randomly and take note of the message it conveys and why it appeals to you.