Does a good book really needs an eye-catching cover?
First of all, we have to make a distinction between a good book and an excellent book. Are you unable to write but your deep desire is to be a writer? Don’t worry! Crash your piggy-bank and invest in self-publishing! The relationship between an author and his publisher has never been more pleasant. Or, if the one being pinky and rounded is your Wall Street banker, you can pay a ghostwriter.
So, the 99% of the books published each year can be good books or bad books. Then, if it’s a lucky year, somewhere in the world an excellent book can be published.
This publishing overdose forces us to make our choice into a bookshop also trusting in our eyes.
Here is my answer: a good book needs an excellent cover.
I don’t know exactly why, but most of the Italian publishers and authors seem to don’t understand how much an eye-catching cover is important to save their business. They privilege a medium close-up picture of the author instead of an illustration, even if the author is not particoularly attractive. This is why when I bump into a good book cover I do not resist to take a picture! Below a few examples of well designed book covers.
A book cover can be evocative (content driven), provocative, ironic, playful or simply well designed..
*italiano*
Un buon libro ha veramente necessità di una copertina accattivante?
Innanzi tutto dobbiamo fare una distinzione tra un buon libro ed un libro eccellente. Sei un analfabeta ma il tuo sogno nel cassetto è di diventare uno scrittore? Nessun problema! Rompi il tuo salvadanaio rosa e investi nell’autopubblicazione. La relazione tra un autore e il suo editore non è mai stata più armoniosa. Oppure, se ad essere rosa è il tuo bancario di fiducia di Wall Street, puoi assoldare un ghostwriter.
Dunque di questi tempi, il 99% dei libri pubblicati ogni anno può essere un pessimo libro o un buon libro. Se si tratta di un’annata fortunata da qualche parte nel mondo potrebbe anche essere pubblicato un libro eccellente.
Ecco quindi che la risposta viene da se: un buon libro ha bisogno di una copertina eccellente.
Non capisco bene perché, ma gran parte degli editori e autori italiani non sembra aver capito che una copertina accattivante potrà non salvare l’industria editoriale, ma quanto meno li potrà aiutare a pagare i contributi dei loro collaboratori. Loro invece sembrano essere particolarmente attratti dai mezzi-busti degli autori anche quando gli autori non sembrano essere particolarmente attraenti. Ecco perché, quando vedo una bella copertina non riesco a resistere all’impulso di fotografarla! Sotto una serie di esempi di copertine di copertine di libri ben riuscite.
La copertina di un libro può essere provocativa, ironica,evocativa (riferita al contenuto), giocosa o semplicemente ben illustrata..
PROVOCATIVE BOOK COVER DESIGN
Cover of the #book Nairobi Heat by the kenyan writer Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, edited by the indipendend brooklyn-based NY publisher Melville House under the Melville International Crime series. | Check out on Amazon
IRONIC BOOK COVER DESIGN
CONTENT DRIVEN BOOK COVER DESIGN
ILLUSTRATED BOOK COVER DESIGN
Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, edited by the London-based indipendent publisher Serpent’s Tail | Check out on Amazon
#books #publishing #london #british #uk#serpent #book #design #literature #read#beautiful #creative #graphic #graphics#illustration
Pictures by Federica Pazzano
Check out the books on Amazon by clicking the images below:
Beautiful book covers! After working in bookstores of a decade and then in school and public libraries for several years after that, I will concur. Book covers are important. I judge a book by its cover, and I’m not ashamed.
If you’re not willing to pay for decent cover art, that probably means you’re not willing to pay for decent editing either. A bad cover tells me that you’re not taking yourself seriously as a writer, and I probably shouldn’t take you seriously either.
I’m sure there are some excellent stories hidden behind ugly covers. And there are quite a few bad stories out there with amazing covers. But because the market is currently over saturated with books, readers need some quick way of determining how serious this author is about putting out something worth reading. The cover is a very easy way to stand out and be noticed.
Sorry. I could go on forever. I’ll just say I have an author friend who told me that if you’re going to self publish — you can get away with doing just about everything yourself for free. But always hire a good editor and never do your own cover unless you are already a professional cover artist.
Excellent article. Preach on!
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Thanks a lot for leaving you comment and for your appreciation!
Of course if you self publish you don’t have to take under consideration other’s suggestion. But I’m sure that the role of a publisher is also to help you packaging you product at the best. The problem is that most of the publisher (in Italy first) don’t have any clue about marketing, even if their activity is not only editorial but also commercial. Anyway, I totally agree with you: a book is both a content and a commercial object, and it’s always surrounded by its competitors on a bookshop. So, the most attractive it is, the most potential it has!
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