This was so interesting! And it made me think of my covers in a new way. I've never seen these insights shared before, but they make a lot of sense. Thanks for this.
Thanks for this, Doug. I found 5 particularly interesting. I honestly thought it was about the readers. What do you think shapes retailers’ expectations?
Thanks for this, Giovanna. One would think, right? I wish I could say I had a simple answer. All of us--authors, publishers, retailers--pretty much share the same aims, but I think booksellers have much the most proximate relationship to readers. Of course, individual readers will react to covers in different ways. But retailers are able to see a lot of different readers navigating their stores, and in particular the ways those different readers react to book covers in real time. So I think they tend to have the most nuanced and informed perspective on how not just individual readers, but readers in aggregate respond to covers. And that experience shapes their ideas of what makes for good cover design for different kinds of books.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Doug. I realize it’s a complex question. I was thinking about Italian cookbook covers in particular, as that’s something I’ve been paying more attention to lately. Many seem to follow a fairly simple, minimal aesthetic (sometimes with a vintage feel). It makes me wonder: are readers drawn to those covers because they genuinely prefer them, or because that’s the style they’ve been shown, again and again, as what “belongs” to that category? In other words, is it really reader preference, or a kind of learned expectation reinforced by what retailers say works? Just something I thought about while reading your article. Thanks again for this interesting piece.
We go deep here at What Publishing Is. This is one of those topics that excites strong feelings from authors, for sure--but not always in ways you'd think.
Oh yea. I’ve represented hundreds of cookbooks and never once has an initial cover concept been perfect on the first go around. It’s an evolution that takes so many elements and goals into consideration.
I loved this piece. It was really interesting to think about the covers I've been drawn to recently and compare them to your observations. Thanks for sharing!
Agree 1000% about looking at comps. A book's cover ought to help carve out its position relative to others in a category, and helps to convey the author's tone and appeal to a potential reader ... among many other things. A series that has a uniform design approach, like the Fitzcarraldo example, can do that because they have established what the brand stands for, which is a fairly unusual situation.
This was so interesting! And it made me think of my covers in a new way. I've never seen these insights shared before, but they make a lot of sense. Thanks for this.
Thanks so much for this--"never seen these insights shared before" very much what I'm going for here, so I'm glad to learn this post landed that way.
Thanks for this, Doug. I found 5 particularly interesting. I honestly thought it was about the readers. What do you think shapes retailers’ expectations?
Thanks for this, Giovanna. One would think, right? I wish I could say I had a simple answer. All of us--authors, publishers, retailers--pretty much share the same aims, but I think booksellers have much the most proximate relationship to readers. Of course, individual readers will react to covers in different ways. But retailers are able to see a lot of different readers navigating their stores, and in particular the ways those different readers react to book covers in real time. So I think they tend to have the most nuanced and informed perspective on how not just individual readers, but readers in aggregate respond to covers. And that experience shapes their ideas of what makes for good cover design for different kinds of books.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Doug. I realize it’s a complex question. I was thinking about Italian cookbook covers in particular, as that’s something I’ve been paying more attention to lately. Many seem to follow a fairly simple, minimal aesthetic (sometimes with a vintage feel). It makes me wonder: are readers drawn to those covers because they genuinely prefer them, or because that’s the style they’ve been shown, again and again, as what “belongs” to that category? In other words, is it really reader preference, or a kind of learned expectation reinforced by what retailers say works? Just something I thought about while reading your article. Thanks again for this interesting piece.
So much to say about covers! What a helpful post for authors.
We go deep here at What Publishing Is. This is one of those topics that excites strong feelings from authors, for sure--but not always in ways you'd think.
Oh yea. I’ve represented hundreds of cookbooks and never once has an initial cover concept been perfect on the first go around. It’s an evolution that takes so many elements and goals into consideration.
I loved this piece. It was really interesting to think about the covers I've been drawn to recently and compare them to your observations. Thanks for sharing!
Agree 1000% about looking at comps. A book's cover ought to help carve out its position relative to others in a category, and helps to convey the author's tone and appeal to a potential reader ... among many other things. A series that has a uniform design approach, like the Fitzcarraldo example, can do that because they have established what the brand stands for, which is a fairly unusual situation.