Monday, November 14, 2005

Covers & Voodoo

Let's talk covers. Why? Because they're endlessly fascinating. Some are so beautiful as to be artworks in themselves, while others...well, you know the author is out there somewhere sticking pins into a voodoo doll to avenge themselves.

As a reader, I know that a cover makes no difference in my buying habits if the author is already on my autobuy list. I might wince at an unfortunate cover but I'll buy it nonetheless. And okay, if you splash a half-naked hunk on the front of a book, I'll probably be enticed to pick it up.

I'll also go for evocative covers, like my own stunningly gorgeous *g* cover for Craving Beauty, that give me a sense of time and place about the book. Deserts? Yup. Wild jungle? Oooh yeah. Moonscape? I'm there.

What don't usually catch my interest are the historical covers with "things" on them. I'm talking about the elegant, sometimes embossed covers with a hairbrush, a mirror, flowers or a ribbon or three. I don't know why, but my eyes just pass right over these covers. Maybe because I'm too much of peon to appreciate them, or maybe because they're too subtle for my blunt sensibilities. This doesn't mean I don't read these books - one of my favorite authors has "things" covers. It just means it's going to take something else to attract me to that author and their work.

So the question is, how much do covers affect your buying choices? A lot? Not at all? (And as an aside, how many of you have voodoo dolls?)

5 comments :

Anonymous said...

I think covers have a lot to do with impulse buys. If I've read the author before, it really doesn' affect my purchase. I'll buy it whether or not I like the cover.

Titles also influence my purchase. :)

Gorgeous cover, btw.

Nalini Singh said...

Hi Laura,

That's a good point about covers that show you something new each time. I've seen a few of those, too and they're fantastic (but so rare).

Good luck with your own cover! :)

Nalini Singh said...

Kendra, I totally agree with you re titles. I can't say how many times I've looked up a book just because I heard someone mention an intriguing title.

I like your cover, too btw. Very evocative. :)

Diana Peterfreund said...

I love the Craving Beauty cover. In general, I *am* a cover whore. I'll totally buy a book because of the cover, If I'm excited byt eh book, I'll buy it DESPITE the cover.

The "item" cover doesn't usually do it for me either, with one exception. Robin D Owen's are so gorgeous that they break all the rules.

Nalini Singh said...

Cover whore?! I love that term! *g*