McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Does having a professionally done cover ever help *sell* a book?

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the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Tasmin21 on February 27, 2007, 11:56:15 AM ---Now, established authors please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it possible to add some kind of "approval" clause into your contract?  ie:  I can't draw a lick, so I can't design my own covers, but I would like to have SOME say so in the artwork on my books some day.

--- End quote ---

To my knowledge most of the big publishers in the US are very hardline about not giving authors cover approval, having been burned by authors making such a fuss as to delay book releases significantly a couple of times.

[beatle mania]:
Hm. It depends. My sister bought the book Nightlife merely because the guy on the cover was hot.

On the flipside, the drawing of Alec on the cover of Luck in the Shadows looks nothing like how he is described and is ugly, but the good things I heard about the book overshadowed that.

I think the art and the name have to be snazzy or the reader will likely look to the next book, personally, but it all depends. A professionally done cover isn't going to do crap if it doesn't pop.

alben5k:
Covers make a big differance. Bad cover art turns me away form a book, I don't have a rational reason other than 'instinct.' If I don't feel right about the book, why would I spend $5-$15 on it just to test the theory?
I usually do most of my shopping on Amazon, but that's only for books recomended to me, so cover art in that respect doesn't really matter.
When I do go to my favorite bookstore down in the mall, they don't have a place for me to sit down and try the book. And anyway, I'm a bad judge of whether a book will be good without reading a chapter or two. I am terrible that way, so if my instincts say 'nay' I stay away... Ooh, now I can write a poem on books.

I always judge books by their cover,
I like to say I'm a book lover,
but if my instincts say nay,
I will stay away,
and run like the wind for some cover.

Hrm, it could use some work. I used Cover twice in that poem... What else rhymes with cover? oh well, I just made it in like 2 minutes.

The short answer to your question is yes.

Mickey Finn:
Covers make a big dif, but are not the only factor, as evidenced by Lois McMaster Bujold, who used to have horrible covers, and now is either tied or right behind Heinlein in the "number of hugos" contest.

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