Musing Mondays – July 20, 2009
Today, Rebecca at Just One More Page asks:
Do you feel disappointed when the cover’s don’t match the story? Have you ever been completely misled by a book cover?
I haven’t looked at book covers for hints as to the content inside ever since I stopped reading Hardy Boys mysteries a few decades ago. There are beautiful book covers out there, and I respect the craft that can be applied towards designing a book cover, but I do not look to the cover of books to give me any insight into what the author of the story has created. Not to say that they can’t provide it, but I’m not looking at them for it.
I also don’t take covers into consideration when discussing the merits of a book, as I generally consider books covers that have anything more than the title and author name in simple font on there to be advertising. Even, or rather especially, those wonderful book covers with layers of images that are so evocative and artistic and loaded with meaning are mainly a means to sell the book. Last weekend I listened to “The Age of Persuasion” on CBC Radio One, and he mentioned this bit about print ads which applies equally well to book covers:
A great print ad created by the agency Crispin & Porter illustrates the point. The ad was for the agency itself. and showed two identical photos of a guy hitchhiking with a sign.
On the left, the sign he held said “To Jacksonville.” Under that photo it said “Sales.”
On the right was the identical photo, except the sign said, “To Mom’s For Christmas.” Under that photo it said “Marketing.”
Now if you were to discuss movie trailers, I could certainly go on about disconnects between some trailers and the atmosphere/genre/style/content of those movies.
© 2009, A Few Minutes With Michael. All rights reserved.
Thanks to Mishel at mis(h)takes
Thanks to Deb at Bookmagic
14 comments
I admit that I am drawn to a book with an interesting cover and I may check it out—which the marketing people want me to do—but the cover alone seldom sells me.
Of the books I do buy, the cover art often has an error or two in it. Example: the cover of Richard Bachman’s Blaze shows a child’s mitten, when in fact the “child” is an infant.
Charlie´s last blog ..Review: Collected Short Stories of William Faulkner
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Michael Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
You know, I was just wondering – do ebooks come with an image of what the book cover would be?
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Charlie Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Amazon’s Kindle does (in 16 shades of grey), but I don’t know about other download sites and services.
Charlie´s last blog ..Review: Collected Short Stories of William Faulkner
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Remember the times when CBC Radio used to play ONLY classical music? egads I miss those times……
Karoline´s last blog ..Mailbox Monday 7/20
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Michael Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
You can still get your fill of classical on CBC Radio Two, if that’s what you’re looking for. A bit too much for me.
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Hello, Michael!
I’ve read somewhere that some publishing houses make several versions of covers for a single book. This way, they’re able to reach a wider market.
While I don’t really object to that move (since it gets more people to read), what I do find frustrating is that some publishing houses totally mislead their potential customers. Case in point, since chick lit is the “in” thing these days, they come up with chick lit covers for classics such as the novels of Jane Austen.
Peter´s last blog ..This goes to the top of my wish list
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Michael Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Hi Peter, I’d be concerned if they wanted to put “Aurora Alegre del dichoso dia de la Gracia Maria Santissima Digna Madre de Dios” out with different covers. How big can that market be?
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This is a great Musing Monday’s topic. I admit that I do buy books based on covers but I don’t look at the cover for clues about the book. If I read a really interesting review of a book I will buy that book based on the review and not cover.
Gee does that make any sense?
Cindy S.´s last blog ..Mailbox Monday/ In My Mailbox
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Michael Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
That seems to be fairly common, so makes sense to me.
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Hi Michael! I had heard that about Pope Joan but had not had time to look for the website to see what that was about. Thanks for the link! I have updated the post.
Sheila DeChantal´s last blog ..Morning Meandering
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I agree cover are a form of advertising really, but I still love a nice cover and I think it really can add to the pleasure of good book.
One issue I have with e-books…one of many issues….
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Michael Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Apparently the Kindle allows you to have cover images, albeit only in 16 shades of gray.
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Interesting topic. I don’t tend to pay much attention to the covers ever since I noticed that the girl on the front of a book I was reading had blond hair, but the main character was a brunette. Pretty pictures, but nothing to do with the book. I like to read the back blurb and if it sounds interesting, then I’ll read the first page.
Alexia561´s last blog ..Book Review: Stray by Rachel Vincent
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Michael Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
That’s how I go about it as well, if the book is not one that I’ve heard of.
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