Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Having worked on magazines, helped to establish publishing ventures, and managed publications departments for large, nonprofit organizations, I learned that when a logo is developed, it pays to take a look at it in sizes that range from a postage stamp to a huge banner. That way you know it works regardless how you might use it in the future.
The “Pop” Factor
In the past, when I took my first look at a client’s book cover during the design phase, I’ve asked myself if will pop on a bookstore shelf. After all, you don’t want a shrinking violet of a cover that doesn’t insist the passerby pick it up. But nowadays, as with logos, it pays to look at the cover not only in terms of its bookstore “pop” factor but also in terms of its Amazon pop factor. What does your cover look like when it’s reduced to a tiny version of its original self?
Recently one of our client’s cover was pictured in a trade publication along with five other releases being highlighted in the article. Our client’s cover, which is so intriguing as a trade paper image, died when reduced to a smaller size. The title, the author’s name, and even the illustration were indiscernible.
A Book Cover Sans the Pop Factor
The cover below is a lovely design when seen on the physical book. But when displayed on Amazon, the viewer quickly realizes that figuring out any of the cover’s details will take work. The font is so thin that even the words “bend” and “road” are a bit of a struggle to figure out. The subtitle is totally lost, and the author’s name, which would help to generate sales, really is viewed at eye-examination size. The potential reader can figure out what the image is, but only by studying it.
A Book Cover with the Pop Factor
Here’s one that pops when it’s gi-normous or dinky. The bright colors, simple image and thick font used for the title all work to make the cover pop.
Take a look at the cover of the book you’re currently reading. What works and what doesn’t on it?
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By the way, I’m traveling today; so while I hope to drop in on the conversation a time or two, if I don’t participate, just know that travels have kept me from joining in.
Interesting post, Janet. I’m currently finishing Steven Pressfield’s “The Lion’s Gate – On The Front Lines Of The Six Day War”. Here’s the link that will show the cover image at Amazon –
https://smile.amazon.com/Front-Lines-Steven-Pressfield-Hardback/dp/B00L0D76X0?ie=UTF8&keywords=the%20lion%27s%20gate&qid=1478491312&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2
* On the whole, I think it works; the main title is high-centered on the cover in a ‘distressed’ font, in light blue, corresponding to the blue on the Israeli flag. The author’s name i on black,at the top, in a smaller sans-serif font, and the subtitle is about 2/3 from the top, also black and a smaller sans-serif.
* The background is a black and white photograph whose cropping is biased to place a group of Israeli soldiers in a half-track at the bottom, with another half-track and two M50 Shermans in the background, but still below the title. This is appropriate as the Israeli ‘Super Sherman’ still played a significant role in Israeli armoured formations as late a 1967. It adds the pathos of a valiant nation using outdated equipment.
* Thus, the image is completely below the print; it does make it a tad bottom-heavy; the compositional balance might be improved by adding a dark border to the main title, without losing the distressed effect.
* Overall, the use of the colours of the Mogen David flag – light blue against the ‘white’ sky of the photograph – fairly screams “ISRAEL!”
* For anyone who wants to know about this decisive factor in Israeli history, I strongly recommend Pressfield’s work. It’s a can’t-put-it-down read.
* For what it’s worth, considering the examples you offered, I would be far more likely to pick up “Bend In The Road” than Coughlin’s book. The cover of the latter trivializes an important subject; in browsing I’d find it irritating and would likely dismiss it. The ‘pop’ is rather a damp squib for me.
Your inner art historian is showing, Andrew.
Wrapping up “Blessed to be a Blessing” by Kenneth Copeland. The cover is almost plain with a faint brown background. The subtitle – understanding true, biblical prosperity – is written at the top in a similar brown upon a gold thin layer.
The title is centered with gold serif fonts, with a swirl in the ‘be’. The author’s name falls at the end, block letters, sanserif, gold colors.
I just realized the intentional use of gold and/or chocolate, symbolic to treasure, wealth, riches.
Its simplicity works.
As for the above designs, I’d likely pick ‘Bend in the Road’.
Have a nice trip, Mrs. Grant.
I got “Malign Neglect” by Michael Tonry from the library, so I went to Amazon to see the tiny version. The light bold font stands out against the black background, but the red lines and the tag, “Race, Crime, and Punishment in America” is lost. The black and white photo of shackled hands isn’t clear either.
*Bold font and sharp contrast are key. Back to keep-it-simple.
*Personally, if I’m browsing on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, it’s by topic. Usually, I already have a book in mind. I’ve never made a purchase decision based on the cover icon. The cover might make a difference in a hands-on book store and in the public library.
I looked at the covers on laptop, Kindle Fire, and iPhone. In tablet and phone formats, the images are about 0.75 to 1” tall, which makes the author and title legible. At Amazon, the title and author display right by the image, so the shopper can easily see both even if they are small on the image.
*Like Andrew and Michael, I much prefer the Bend in the Road. The glare on the lens from the sun just peaking over the hills at dawn captures the hope of a new beginning after a dark night. Red line across a smiley face feels like a cover an indie author might have designed without professional help.
*For me, the cover isn’t just a sales tool. It’s part of the experience of reading the book. I like the cover of a novel to reflect the essence of the story. I like to see the theme reflected there as I read deeper into the book. The use of light and dark and color, the facial expressions, the physical positions of people individually and relative to each other that reflect their emotional states: these all make a cover more interesting to me. They pique my interest as a sales tool, and they add to my enjoyment of reading the book. By Thursday next week, I’ll have my first in market, and the cover does everything I look for when I shop.
I can’t get excited about book covers. I don’t know that I’ve ever bought or not bought a book due to its cover, or even been attracted or repelled by a cover. I just don’t care. When I see a bad cover, or one that is obviously less than optimum, I think this is a poor, struggling writer who can’t afford better; let’s see what the book is about. On Joel Frielander’s blog, The Book Designer, he has a monthly e-book cover competition. He typically gets 100 submissions, and posts them all and comments on them. I look at them before reading his comment. Generally I find them acceptable whereas he finds them so-so or awful, with a few good to excellent. So I find myself very out of step with the world on this.
I’m going to have to check that out, David. It sounds both educational and fun.
I’d have added a link to the post, but I’m html-challenged.
I LOVE looking at covers. My covers, other authors’ covers, fiction, non-fiction. Of course, I’ve also been know to choose wine based on the label . . . I just finished Long Way Gone by Charles Martin (soooooo good!) and will confess I’m not totally in love with the cover. It’s a complex image that’s really interesting, but definitely gets lost when shrunk. And I like more color 😉 I also wasn’t 100% in love with my own last cover for the same reasons–not a ton of color and didn’t pop when small. BUT readers have mentioned over and over how much they adore that cover with its folded quilts. So, while I definitely know what I like, I also have a great deal of faith in my publisher!
I love all your book covers, Sarah. 🙂
If it weren’t for my general habit of opening the most recent thing I’ve downloaded onto my kindle, there’s a book on there I probably wouldn’t have read. Its cover features a birch branch and an upside-down chick, and that’s the only reason I could find it back in the library. I can’t tell you the author’s name, or the title, because the author’s name is too small to read, though It is in dark ink, but the title must have been in white on a very pale color on the book in stores. I can’t make it out on the kindle thumbnail at all.
I kind of agree and disagree with everybody! (Maybe I’d make a good politician.) Covers are not “the” draw for me. A cover might drive me away, but it will never be the reason I buy a book. I also rarely agree with cover pundits, even Joel F. The title and back cover blurb and the first page are what draw me in.
. I too prefer Dr. Jeremiah’s “popless” cover to the other cover (even though I understand the shortcomings) simply because I’m seldom drawn in by what I consider either juvenile or playful covers. JMO. (Coughlin’s paperback cover for this same book looks better to me—somewhat—but it doesn’t “pop.”) I will overlook a cover I don’t like if the title grabs me.
. That said, I don’t think Coughlin’s kind of cover is limited to indie authors, on a budget or not. (Coughlin’s book is published by Bethany House Publishers.)
. I’m also not a real fan of “busy” covers. They usually annoy me. However, the cover of the book I’m reading right now, a cover I do consider busy, doesn’t annoy me. It drew me in, and the images fit the title and the story perfectly. The book is THE LOOMING STORM by Diane and David Munson (https://www.amazon.com/Looming-Storm-Diane-David-Munson/dp/0983559082/). Their covers do not seem to me to follow a pattern, but I love them all. (I love the books, too.)
I’m reading Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. That cover drew me in with it’s gray scale waterscape and the beat up shoes with the color. I’m listening to an audio book, The 5 Stages of Falling in Love. It’s a great book, but the cover looks impossibly busy in the small size Audible shows it to me. I don’t know that I would have picked it without someone recommending it to me.
I’m late to my own party, but I just have to comment. I didn’t write this post for us to decide which cover we personally liked and which one we didn’t. I wrote it to showcase what makes a cover work and why some covers don’t.
I get that The Bend in the Road cover has a certain appeal, but in terms of whether it’s a good design, it isn’t. For the reasons I wrote about in the post.
No More Christian Nice Guy is a good design because it accomplishes what a cover should: It hints at the author’s voice (relaxed, not scholarly; kind of in your face and challenging about changing from “nice” to “good”). The bold font, the bright colors, the slashing out of the happy face, all reflect what you’ll find inside the book. It might not be a book you want to read or would pick up because of the cover. That’s not the point.