Book Covers are the first words of a book. It is a way of communication to a lot of readers.
No dubiety can be made when I say that book covers are very essential marketing tools. From the very beginning of its birth, the author of a book loses their authority over their own book upon how to dress it. Imagine being a parent and not being able to dress your baby or not being able to take a first-hand decision for it. Obviously, if aesthetically done, book covers make the book smarter and sharper.
Needless to say that book covers, along with blurbs can work wonders for a newbie in the "writing business". At that point, the young writer could care less about how or what the cover represents about the book as the anatomy of that cover is not in his hands. But book covers often turn out to be a disaster too. Just like out of nervousness one tries to impress but gives the wrong impression, a lot of books have had that experience through their jackets.
There are hundreds of titles that have changed their outfits for the sole purpose of sale. Yet the author would gladly say that he/she had approval over the clothes. I, myself can only imagine the power of creating a cover that does both, speak to me and my writing as well as says, "I am a good book! Read me!"
While I have tried tirelessly to create the right cover, someone always has something to say. And it's not good. It's almost impossible to be happy with a cover that I have created. Every time I'm happy with the book's outfit, my confidence is kicked back to the ground by one reader.
There's no doubt that a reader has more use of a book than just read it! It's the library designing. What book sounds good and would look good on one's library?
On Wattpad, my scuffle has been material although intangible. A lot of books that are sorted to be "hit" have the most hideous covers in generations. They know the trick: handsome shirtless man, six-pack abs or dark skies.
The reader's who often criticise my book covers are all literally generic fantasy/ fiction readers. Like there's nothing beyond. Not to mention their taste in reading includes either Y.A. novels or fantasy and general fiction. They have almost never read a collection of personal essays. These genres usually have all the attractive cover illustrations. Such a reader of the previous essays in this very book once said that "in a book like this, you write the pros as well as cons." But I was too polite to let her know that books like these are not after-school homework essays. Personal essays are different. So should I really be influenced by a comment on my book cover by someone who has no understanding of various genres and their representation?
Perhaps colourful or graphic covers are not for serious readers? Essay books don't deserve such an honour. Serious books have to be black and white.
A lot of my book covers are the absolute result of exhaustion. I'm obviously not advocating a certain kind of book cover. What I really want to say is that book covers don't need to be accustomed to something other than the book's contents. I don't naturally hate book covers. They are the face of my works.
YOU ARE READING
(What if).. Books didn't have covers?
Random"I write to facilitate myself with my deepest emotions." How much can a book cover hold or represent? How authentic can the artwork of a book jacket be? What stories do they tell? Do these covers bear the artistic weight of their books? Through dee...
