On a Book's Cover, and the Other Ways We Judge One

As I've been learning of late, people don't just judge a book by its cover. They judge it by any number of concerns--by genre, by the main character, by whether or not they've heard of the author, or, as in my novel, by an advertised aspect of setting in the book.

"I don't really like reality TV," an acquaintance told me recently, "so I wasn't interested in this. I figured I probably wouldn't like it."

"Well," I said, weakly, "reality TV isn't really the focus of it, just one of the settings. It's more about character."

"Yeah," this person said, "but still."

I had written so many other themes and strands of action into the book. The reality show is really the tip of the story, and the main point isn't the show. The show is almost a parody of one. The reality show simply allowed for a typical American setting in which I could focus on religious ideas, ambition, greed, and a crime. It also allowed me to explore a number of different characters. It allowed for a mystery plot to emerge. So I wanted to say to this acquaintance who wasn't interested in my book that her rejection of it on the grounds that it had a reality show in it would be like rejecting an Agatha Christie novel because there is a train ride in it.

Well, that's the last time I will be so arrogant to equate my writing with Agatha Christie. But you get the point.

As for the cover of the book, publishers really do think about them. They think about how potential readers and buyers actually do judge the book by its cover: first the front cover, then the back cover, and only then do they open it up to the first page. So they've put a lot of study and research into that cover, trying to understand what will lead a customer to become a reader.

My publisher had very interesting concerns with my cover, for example. My idea was to have an image of a wall of TVs, sort of what one might see on going into a department store. And I thought that each TV would be used to spell out the title of my book: Apocalypse TV. I even had my youngest son draw up a mock up of it for them.

My publisher saw this differently, however, and I think I came around to agree.

"Our research has shown that the more abstract a cover is, the more readers are drawn to it," my editor said.

I hadn't heard this. But as I thought about covers of books, I began to agree with them. And then I saw the cover they had planned--which used part of my idea--and I was sold. I really still like the cover of my novel.

In fact, I like it so much so today that I would rather have readers judge it by the cover than by whether or not they like and watch reality TV. I am always quick to note that I don't watch reality TV. I think it is a strange TV genre, and yet it helped me to make certain dramatic turns, and even introduce a bit of humor to contrast with the main character's thinking.

I would be happy to hear from you about any and all of this. What draws you to a book, and what leads you to actually buy it and read it?

Thank you for reading. If you are interested in reading further, here's a link to my novel. Check it out.