Book Covers: The Beginning of the End?

We try not to think of them–even the smallest child has heard that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. But, as much we may hate to admit it, book covers matter. They tell us genre, content, and reading level, all with just the briefest glance.

At least, they used to. When I was growing up (oh, I feel so old now!), this was the run-down:

Romance – large, bright lettered title, shiny cover, partially nude people, man with Fabio hair.

Science Fiction – shiny cover, space ship, aliens, starscape.

Fantasy – trees, elves or dwarves, mythical animals.

Mystery – black cover, big lettering, blood, sometimes a weapon, sometimes a note.

Chick Lit – white, pastel, or bright cover, and any one of the following – woman in provocative pose, woman in depressed pose, shoes.

Crime – black or dark cover, police paraphernalia such as tape, handcuffs etc.

Thriller – black cover, dripping blood title lettering.

Horror – black cover, blood, spooky title lettering, similar to thriller.

Political – black or dark cover, gold title lettering and any one of the following – flag, pen, paper, glasses, magnifying glass, white house or other political setting.

YA – funky title lettering, teens, school pennants, bicycles.

YA genre – dimmer, safer versions of the above.

Non-fiction – simple lettering, sub-titled, sometimes includes a photograph

As simplistic as this may be, it worked–when you picked up a book, you knew what you were getting. But publishers, unsurprisingly, have cottoned on to the power of the humble book cover. Political non-fiction now borrows Tom Clancy’s coat of dark cover, gold title lettering, and flag while romance masquerades as light fantasy with vampires, elves and dwarves so simplistic they may as well be human. Yesterday, while watching C-SPAN-2’s Washington Journal, I saw an interview with Dr. John Newman a professor of international politics at the University of Maryland, retired army major, and author. In short, Newman is smart. Not S-M-R-T smart, but seriously smart. His book, JFK and Vietnam, was well-reviewed, with Kirkus calling it a “bold and authoritative revisionist analysis,” and “crucial to any reevaluation of JFK as President”. And yet, the cover of JFK and Vietnam looks like this like a political mystery/thriller/early Tom Clancy effort.

Granted, JFK and Vietnam was published in 1993, a post Dirty Dancing era rife with big hair and high-waisted mom jeans. But a little more research (aka Amazon surfing) revealed a smattering of others.

Chick Lit? Stand Up?

Now, I know it’s the words that are important, not the packaging they come in. But the idea that thoughtful political commentary needs to be camouflaged while Going Rogue, Sarah Palin’s memoir, is presented as a serious effort, is discouraging at best.

Perhaps I’m shallow, but I like a strong cover. I’ve even been known to buy a book based solely on an interesting cover (Andreas Eschbach’s The Carpet Makers still grabs me every time I see it on the shelf). For me, a well-done book cover is a piece of art; I even like fantasizing about the cover my work may one day have, even though it’s likely I’ll have very little say in the matter. I’ve also been turned off by covers in all genres–I’m not a fan of the overly cartoony look in the Sisters Grimm books, or the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next book, First Among Sequels. And, since art affects life, I find my choice of book/book cover is often a reflection of my mood–historical mysteries when I feel sick, trashy chick lit when I want to switch off, William Gibson (whatever genre he is) when I want to think, or dream a little.

John Grisham?

Do book covers really matter? Possibly not. In an age of e-readers, covers may soon become a thing of the past. Kindles and Nooks mean we no longer have to be embarrassed by corny Harlequin covers or defend our YA reading efforts. And while I’m all for making politics–and non-fiction in general–more accessible, I can’t help but wonder where the line is. Will Ann Coulter covers come to look more like “The Devil Wears Prada”? Will pundits be forced to pepper their chapters with valley girl vernacular? (If you want to know more about book covers from an industry perspective, check out these posts on agent Kristin Nelson’s blog.)

This whole war thing, like, it hurts my brain. The Republicans–fat old elephants–they’re sooooo panicky, like, all the time. Sure, the President wants to send more troops, and I mean, I’m on board with that. When you think about it, it makes sense – you can’t tame all your flyaways with just one little drop of mousse. You need at least–at least, people–a dollop of the stuff (unless you’re using the wicked expensive department store brands, or those freaky English SAS guys–so hawt!)

What do you think? Is worrying about covers a waste of time? Do you ever impulse buy a book because of it’s cover?