Never Judge a Book By It’s Cover…Or Should We?

“Never judge a book by its cover” is advice most of us heard as children. It’s a metaphor, meaning we shouldn’t make assumptions based on appearances alone. It’s excellent advice where people are concerned. Judging someone by their physical appearance is both unfair and unwise. Human beings, as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, should be judged “not…by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The bravest person isn’t the tallest or most muscular. The most generous person isn’t the one in designer clothing. The most beautiful person isn’t the one with face of a Hollywood star.

The same principle is true of dogs. Which breed do you think is the closest, genetically speaking, to a wolf? The answer will surprise you. Geneticists tell us it’s the Shih Tzu, an ancient breed, descended from domesticated gray wolves and bred down to a compact size with the face of a perennial puppy, a soft, thick coat, and the heart of a cuddler. Meet my little wolf, Emmie. If you don’t believe me (and who would blame you?), look it up.

But what about books? Can we judge a book by its cover? Turns out you can—and you’re meant to. The cover of a book is the first indication of its content. An article in Writer Unboxed said “Covers are like that first handshake between strangers; there’s a right and a wrong way to go about it in order to make a positive impression.” (“The Psychology Behind Good Book Design,” September 17, 2017). Book covers give us a glimpse into the essence of a book—or they should.

What kind of book would you expect from a cover showing:

  • A ruggedly handsome shirtless cowboy?
  • A cartoon candy shop featuring a cat or a dog?
  • An urban landscape in black and white?
  • A woman’s silhouette on a foggy bridge?

What does it tell you when the author’s name is in larger print than the book title? What sort of a story would you expect when the title is rendered in a fantasy font?  

And what about the latest trend—book covers in black, white, and red? The success of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club has inspired a slew of covers. The message is clear: If you loved The Thursday Murder Club, you’ll love this book too! And, let me hasten to add, there are some great reads in that group.

When it comes to books, covers are of great consequence because, fair or not, readers will judge what is inside by the appearance of the outside. If the cover is intriguing, readers may go on to scan the jacket copy or read the first few sentences of Chapter One. If they like what they see, they may head to the sales counter. And that’s the goal, isn’t it?

Two final thoughts:  A wonderful story can be hurt by an unattractive or misleading cover. On the other hand, the most eye-catching cover ever created may initially sell books, but it can’t ultimately make up for a mediocre story.
How important to you is a book’s cover design?

Do you have a favorite book cover? If so, let’s see it!

6 comments

  1. I am definitely influenced by book covers. I feel like if someone’s gone to the trouble to give me an interesting book cover, they’ve probably also gone to the trouble to write an interesting book (even though I know the book designer and the author are usually two different people). Right now I’m waiting to see what the cover of my new novel looks like and I’m very excited.

  2. I completely agree! Lately, the message sent by the kind of book cover design is so strictly delineated by genre, that I skip all the ones I know are in a genre I don’t love, and zero in on the ones I do, just based on color, font, and whether it’s an illustration, a photograph, a collage or an abstract. I don’t even have to read the author name or title to know what is going to be between the covers.

  3. Agree that you can denote a lot of information from its cover. The original cover for one of my favorite novels, REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier, has a graphic of looking at a couple walking toward a grand house–but there perspective is through a ‘window’ of jagged branches that immediately denote menace.

    Your collage was so interesting! Talk about following a trend!

    I’ve used a color wash on my Nora Tierney’s to connect the title with the cover; readers of the series will ask me: “What’s the next color?”

    1. Marni, I’ve loved those color-wash covers!
      About covers in general, there are some pretty ridiculous and awful covers out there for some of the classics.

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