Today I want to talk about how I often commit the biggest of bookish sins: I judge a book by its cover. I can’t help it, some parts of book covers just make me cringe. Funnily enough, when I was writing this post, this popped up in my Twitter feed:
It seemed very appropriate! Now to share what really puts me off a book cover – and I’d love to hear your opinions too! I won’t be using actual book covers to illustrate this point, as it seems unfair. Disclaimer: proceed carefully, some images may ruin your eyesight. You have been warned!
1. Half naked figures
No no, of course I didn’t just want an excuse to post a half naked photo of Mr. Fassbender… no way… But in all honesty, if I see a book with a semi-nude figure, or several (normally entwined) together, then I’m probably not going to touch that book. Chances are it’s a romance or erotica which are two genres I never read. Bonus (minus?) points if the heads/faces are cut out of the picture…
2. Certain fonts
If you use Comic Sans then yes, I will judge you. Hard. Every time I see that font, I cringe – I don’t even like having it on my blog to demonstrate how rubbish it is. Above is just a small selection of fonts that always scream ‘unprofessional’ to me. There are PLENTY of free fonts available for commercial use that look so much nicer than the ones that come with office packages, or you could spend a little to purchase the commercial license for a font. Also, if you’re going for a ‘typewriter’ style font, there are many more choices than Courier New. Typography is important, people. It can really change an image.
3. Some colour palettes
I found a book with ALL of these colours on the cover the other day. This, combined with a very amateur Photoshop job just made it look hideous. I know people can perceive how different colours go together in different ways, but sometimes there are certain shades that just don’t work together. Which leads me onto my next point…
4. Clashing font & background colours
I just… no. I don’t know why some people think this is a good idea?! Combine with a horrible font for bonus points!
Yep, I’m pretty judgmental when it comes to book covers. I don’t like really ‘girly’ covers either, like a woman with lots of shopping bags or makeup etc. In general, I tend to prefer more abstract or ‘dark’ covers, or ones with artwork rather than photographs.