IMO a cover is something that, in most cases, the author looked at and approved. And what the author approved to put on the front of their book says a lot about them and what kind of story to expect.
Obviously this isn’t a 100% foolproof method and sometimes publishers put in their own covers without the author’s knowledge or consent, but it’s still useful to know. I believe covers can and should be used to demonstrate the tone and content of a book, and judging them to be completely valid.
lictoriusofthrax on
If book covers are so homogeneous that the author of the article is able to categorize them into basically five styles, how does it follow that you can meaningfully judge a book by them? Seems like covers just follow design trends and they essentially say nothing about the novel itself.
Acupoffiction on
I would go so far to say that it is completely acceptable to judge a book by the map illustrations within the first few pages. The Dictionary of Lost Words has one of my favorite maps. **sigh**
3 Comments
IMO a cover is something that, in most cases, the author looked at and approved. And what the author approved to put on the front of their book says a lot about them and what kind of story to expect.
Obviously this isn’t a 100% foolproof method and sometimes publishers put in their own covers without the author’s knowledge or consent, but it’s still useful to know. I believe covers can and should be used to demonstrate the tone and content of a book, and judging them to be completely valid.
If book covers are so homogeneous that the author of the article is able to categorize them into basically five styles, how does it follow that you can meaningfully judge a book by them? Seems like covers just follow design trends and they essentially say nothing about the novel itself.
I would go so far to say that it is completely acceptable to judge a book by the map illustrations within the first few pages. The Dictionary of Lost Words has one of my favorite maps. **sigh**