Recently, my boys had a discussion (a heated one…) about whether or not you should judge a book by its cover. My youngest was adamant that you shouldn’t – it’s a lesson we’ve drilled into him at home and which his school is keen to impress on them. Although this was more in the context of people rather than actual books, but he made some good points. My eldest, however, was equally adamant that a bad cover meant, in his experience at least, the book would be bad. This is a perfectly normal argument for my boys to have – if they can possibly find something utterly bizarre to take contrary positions on, they absolutely will. Nevertheless, it got me thinking. I am a complete sucker for a pretty cover and regularly have to be talked out of buying books I already own (sometimes multiple copies of), simply because I’ve found another beautiful hardback edition. Every author knows, readers do judge by covers – it's what first catches our eye and makes us decide whether or not to read the blurb. It may not be the thing which makes us ultimately decide to buy the book, but it makes us give a book a chance.
I asked my eldest if he could give me any examples of where bad books have bad covers and he gave me the name of a popular author whose books are sometimes thought to be poorly written. He also gave me a couple of other examples, which he felt were too clearly aimed at one gender or the other and as he pointed out, I’ve always taught my kids that there is no such thing as ‘books for girls/boys’, you just read whatever appeals to you.
It’s also something I consider carefully when it comes to my own books. I am very lucky that for my novels, I have a superb cover artist who takes my rough sketches and creates the most beautiful piece of art. Because she has designed the whole series, she knows the vision I’m aiming for with the covers and is able to perfectly capture the image in my head. Indeed, the latest one was shortlisted by the PageTurner Awards as being an excellent example of a historical fiction cover. I’ve also had multiple conversations with my publishing partner about whether or not to change the copy of my first book ‘Unforgettable’ because I’m not sure the cover really sells the content. Her argument is that it’s a really pretty cover and it’s clearly a romance novel (she’s right, it is!) and mine is that if I put Blackpool Tower on the front, it makes it more obvious where it’s set and people might be more inclined to buy it. We both make good points – both criteria are important, we just have to decide which one works.
I decided to choose a few personal favourites from amongst my own books to show how a good cover can really sell a book to potential readers.

Although I struggled with Dracula, this wasn't because of the quality of the book, but because of my overactive imagination and inability to read more than a handful of chapters without having nightmares. This cover is a particularly lovely one. I think the reason I like it so much is because although it is clearly meant to be Dracula's home, it also reminded me very much of Whitby Abbey, which is the building I most associate with the book. The background design is striking and it took me a while to realise that what I had initially thought was flashes of the sky, was in fact bats. It focuses the eye of the observer on the castle and reflects the inevitability of how events in the plot unfold.

The final book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King contains the climax of the story, where the battle for Gondor takes place. This cover is a representation of the the White Tree of Minas Tirith and the banner style of the title makes me think of the heraldic type banners which proclaim the entrance of medieval kings. The delicate lines hark back to the hidden army Aragorn is able to summon in order to give them an advantage and the contrast between dark and light illustrations are symbolic of the ongoing battle betweent he forces of good and evil.

This is one of a whole series of classic books in this style of cover. The Chiltern editions all use floral imagery and give almost nothing away about the contents. I think it's clear it is a romance novel, but beyond that there is no clue as to the plot. However, what it does have, is reflective and shimmery embossing and silver gilt edging to the pages. This is always a winner for me - it brings back memories of childhood and some of the books on my grandmother's shelves, in whose company I spent many happy hours as a young reader.

This is one of the Wordsworth Classics harbacks and this is a particularly nice one. It truly reflects the book's 1920s Jazz Age setting, capturing both the Art Deco decor and fashion and the sumptuous glamour of the age. The characters in the book are very much part of America's high society and the gold lettering of the cover reflects this beautifully. The fan clenched in the fist demonstrates some of the underlying tension of the narrative as it is concealed by a facade of politeness and gaiety and the mismatched patterns on the edge reveal the chaos which ensues through a series of botched love affairs and misunderstandings.

Greewitch is the third in the Dark Is Rising sequence and is something a bit different to some of the others. It very much captures the spirit of old Cornwall, where folklore and magic converge in ancient rituals whose roots are mired in mystery and often not fully understood by outsiders. I think the blue tones of the cover capture that chilliness and the lone figure on the headline shows Jane's isolation within the book. The swirling illustration of the wind brings back memories of standing on similar clifftops all along the Cornish coast, while the wind howled around us, whipping up the sea below and it is easy to tell that this book contains a sense of foreboding and is going to keep the reader in a state of uneasy suspense throughout.
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