Ahh, the old saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” - certainly a great piece of advice when meeting new people, but I don’t think it really applies to actual book covers.

I am a visual person. I am also a graphic design student. I have this annoying habit of dissecting logos, package design and book covers wherever I go (I also count up all the purchases in my head while waiting for my receipt to print out at the cashiers, but that’s another post). 

Recently while shopping in my favorite store, I came upon their new fall book club selection Summer People by Brian Groh. The premise of the book sounds quite interesting, but truly the one and only reason I even picked up the book was the book cover (ah yes, I am a sucker for pretty covers). Now take a peak at these two covers. The first one (with the boat and the woman’s legs) was on the hardcover version. The second cover (with the oars) is on the trade paperback, being sold currently at Target. Which one do you prefer? I love the trade paperback version, but would hardly take a second glance at the cover with the boat. Now, did the publisher decide to change the book cover because it become a Target book club pick, or maybe the first cover wasn’t selling quite as well. I know very little about the book publishing industry, but wonder what the reasoning is.

What initially got me thinking about book covers was a post Lesley wrote recently. Even though she could have purchased the American version of Water for Elephants (with an employee discount no less), she opted instead to pick it up while traveling in Canada. I prefer the Canadian cover and probably would have done the same thing. Are there any book covers that you absolutely love? Any that you wondered “what were the publishers thinking?” 

For a more in-depth look at book cover design, check out Covers or The Book Design Review. 

 

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