Do You Judge a Book By Its Cover?

I see that yesterday, Natasha told you about the JABBIC (Judge A Book By Its Cover) contest. We both have covers entered. (Thank goodness we are not competing against each other!) My Brave Highlander's cover is up for scoring in the Historical Romance Category.

I actually designed and created this cover myself. The background features a photo I took in Durness at Balnakeil Bay, where the story takes place. I loved the sunset over the sea. Perhaps one of the more controversial aspects of this cover is the hero's red hair, which I love. Yes, indeed, Dirk does have red hair! And a passionate personality to go with it. :) You don't see too many red-haired heroes in romance, but Scotland has the highest percent of redheads of any other country. A few of these hot, hunky warriors must have red hair. :)

As for Balnakeil Bay, here is one of the sunset photos I took which inspired the cover.

There are some awesome covers in every category of the JABBIC and I have very stiff competition in the Historical Romance category. I hope you will consider voting if you have time. Scoring in this contest takes a few minutes but to me, it was fun to see all the covers and decide which ones I liked best. Click here to go to the contest.

When you are looking for a book to buy, do you judge the book by its front cover alone, or does the front cover have no influence on you? Or maybe somewhere in between? If a front cover catches your attention, do you then read the back cover blurb or description? Do you have to read an excerpt before you decide to buy? Do you steer clear of books that have covers that don't appeal to you, or do you give them a second chance and read more about them?

Best of luck to Natasha and all those who entered the contest!

Thanks!!
Vonda
www.vondasinclair.com

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great job with the cover, Vonda. I voted.

Sandy L. Rowland said...

The cover matters. When I look for a book, I search in the genre I love, but it's the cover that entices me to pick it up or click and read more.

Love your covers Vonda! I did vote for my favorites. Do not skimp on cover art.If you're Indie published getting striking art is a must!

I do judge a book by the quality of the cover.

Paisley Kirkpatrick said...

I suppose my first priority is to go for a book of a friend author, especially one I've read before and I enjoyed reading. I do think the cover is important and poorly covered books seem to turn people off. You've done a great job on your cover, but I think you do a great job with whatever you do. Maybe that's why good covers draw people - cover good, story good.

Gorgeous photo of our motherland. :)

Stephani said...

I do judge a book by its cover. (I love your cover here.) I do, however, judge a book by three things. The first is that if it is by one of my favorite authors I will automatically pick up and buy the book. Secondly, the cover. If I like a cover I will pick up the book and read the back to see if I would like, and third, if I like the title I will again pick it up and read the back. I will say though that one of my PET PEEVES is to pick up a book because of the cover and when reading the story find that the cover in no way resembles the people in the story. (ie: a red head on the cover and the story is about a black haired person.) The fact that you do your own cover is awesome, vs other authors that use art designers (who have no idea of the content of the book) to design their covers. I find this to be very upsetting.

Vonda Sinclair said...

Ella, thanks so much!!

Vonda Sinclair said...

Sandy, excellent way of doing it! I like for a cover to entice me too. Thanks! I'm so glad you like my covers! I agree about the striking artwork being a must. And much as I hate to admit it, I am always judging books by their covers. LOL

Vonda Sinclair said...

Paisley, I agree with you. I'll buy friends books and favorite authors' books without paying much attention to the covers. Where covers come into play for me is for authors I've never read before. I'm happy that you like my cover! Thanks! You say the sweetest things! I think you've hit on an important point--a good cover says to the reader that the story is also good. I'm glad you like the pic of Balnakeil Bay. It's an awesome windswept place!

Vonda Sinclair said...

Thanks, Stephani! I'm so glad you like it! Sounds like our book-buying habits are similar. LOL I definitely agree that the people on the cover need to look like the people in the story. Otherwise it is misleading and just doesn't fit.

ann alba said...

I'm always on the lookout for a highlander, at one time It was only the cover is what caught my attention,
Now i go by word of mouth , The blurb, The Story, The author.
Love the cover & yes Red hair is not just The Irish.

Vanessa Holland said...

I love your cover, Vonda! It's fun to see the original sunset photo. I'll admit covers do play a factor in the books I take the time to give a closer look. I'm more likely to read the blurb or an excerpt if the cover catches my attention, then I'll decide whether it's a book I want to buy. That was fun rating books only by their covers. Thanks for the link and good luck!

Vonda Sinclair said...

Thanks, Ann! I'm glad you like it. I also look out for highlanders on book covers. The hunk in a kilt draws my attention. LOL

Vonda Sinclair said...

Vanessa, thanks! I'm glad you like the cover and photo. I think I decide on which books to buy the way you do most of the time.