The Author BookGuide Series: Visually Standing Out in a Sea of the Same
- Sarah Ickes
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
“One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” is a cliché, right? Unfortunately, regardless of how many times that years-old saying is mentioned or alluded to, readers will often buy with their eyes before even turning the book over to read the summary of the story within; which is why the importance of a book’s cover should never be underestimated.
Although it’s said that copying another’s idea is supposed to be the best form of flattery, it can also make a bookshelf look identical and confuse a potential reader.
For instance…merely a hypothetical example mind you…say that an author with a mostly dark purple background and large white words sells millions of books and is from Wisconsin. Seeing at how successful they have become, other authors from the same state all decide to do the same dark purple background, and the same large white words in order to tap into the sales. Now the shelves in a bookstore give the appearance that they have nothing more than duplicates of the same book, since there’s hardly a shred of difference between them.
As a reader myself, whenever perusing the bookstore aisles, I tend to move away from that notion because what I look for is something that stands on its own spine. And instead of cashing in on the supposed “extra profits,” your title is now losing sales, because readers think they already have your book at home.
Without mentioning specific names, I can recall one incident in particular, where this caused an issue for a multi-author event that a bookshop was hosting.
On the day of the event, during a break when the readers all flooded into the book area to begin shopping, I noticed that one couple accidentally choose two of the same novel in the midst of the crowded space. Upon reaching the checkout counter, the cashier mentioned the doubled book, and the couple thanked her for saying something; as they were under the impression they had grabbed the first and second in the author’s series. The reasoning behind this confusion was from the lack of differences in the covers of the two books; since the shop had both series lists and prices marked above the rows of novels and had the books laid out in order.
While I do agree that having a continuous color palette, along with repeated design elements, makes it easier for readers to identify your books and series, these covers where practically identical. Only the title was noticeably different and was also NOT easy to read. In this scenario, thin yellow words were difficult for the eyes to separate against a sky blue background.
Side Note: It is ALWAYS important to look and see how easy it is to read the book's title on the cover. Make sure to use a simple font with contrasting colors.
An exception to this, because there are always exceptions to rules both written and unwritten, would be if an author has dedicated fans that could likely pick up on the minute differences; and know which ones they’ve read versus those they have not as of yet.
However, in terms of looking to expand your audience, and capture new readers, you’ve lost some of them with an unnecessary level of confusion. I’ve seen incidents where potential buyers dithered between covers that were extremely similar, and ended up not purchasing anything for fear of bringing home a duplicate that would later be returned.
Another complaint I’ve also heard on covers is that they don’t accurately depict what is going on within the storyline.
Anything from the time of year being misleading for those who love holiday-themed books, to having different crops advertised on the front than what the farmhands plants in the novel, to showing a cat on the cover when there isn’t any mentioned in the story, are just some of the issues readers have voiced.
With that being said, I do understand that depending upon the contracts, and what all an author has control on at different publishing houses, they may not have a lot of say on the final design of their book cover. For those who do have a say, however, or are independently published, this is an important matter to consider. Tricking a reader by adding fake elements, or by not including elements from the actual storyline, might not sit well with them.
Now, it is possible that some would ultimately not care, in the event that their fondness for the story outweighs any qualms they have from a sense of false marketing. But, that will not be the case for many of the readers I’ve met.
What does all of this essentially boil down to? An author should visually display his or her story through the cover as honestly as they can. There is nothing wrong with being inspired by what others have previously done, so long as you remain authentically you in the finished product. While certain genres are more inclined toward a visual style over others, such as cozy mysteries are more illustrative and thrillers are more photographic, there is still a large space within those tendencies to make it your own.
Because just like it still holds true in the culinary world of chefs and bakeries alike, people eat with their eyes first; as books are food for our minds and spirits.
Thanks for tuning into my blog series that's all about authors, books, and the inner workings behind the words on the page. For more, stay tuned for May's talk on Distributing to Online Stores and Bookshops Alike.
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