A true story…
My friend, I’ll call her Jane since she said not to use her name as she humiliated herself, came over this week. She brought her laptop, and we decided to search the Amazon store for free books that we could read together. While browsing through them, I became engrossed and tuned her out. I’m really trying to get better about this habit. Our conversation went like this:
“Oooh, Jess, this book looks really good!”
“Hmmm…”
“Are you listening to me?”
I was reading the back cover of a love inspired book. “Yeah, what’s it about?”
“A paranormal detective. Stop what you’re doing, and look at the cover. It’s intriguing!”
I glanced up as she turned the laptop around, and staring me in the face was a nice looking man with sinister yet determined eyes. In the background a dark shadowy house beckoned my attention and piqued my interest. I had to admit, the cover looked like something I’d definitely want to consider. Not so much the man, but the house and the darkness. I looked at the title, which I’ll not name, typed it in, and hit my “one click” button. BAM…I can read it whenever.
I moved on to other books, and then I decided to go back to the paranormal book. I scrolled down to the item description, and my mouth fell open. “Jane, did you read the back cover?”
“Um…yeah.” I looked up and glared at her until she felt it and met my eyes. “What? I did.”
I can’t arch one brow like most fictional characters, so I raised both. “So…you enjoy gay porn?”
Her eyes grew wide, “What!? No! That’s not what that book is about!”
I cleared my throat and proceeded to read, “Putting his life and sanity on the line—for a man beyond his reach. Sam Raintree’s experience with things he can’t explain isn’t the only reason his new job as a paranormal investigator is a perfect fit. His coworkers, preoccupied with things outside the norm, will never notice he’s gay…This book has been previously published. Warning: This title contains explicit male/male dream-sex, cross-dimensional electromagnetic theories (mmm, that’s hot!), intense violence, and language graphic enough to wake the dead.” *the remark in parenthesis is not mine.
I sat the laptop down. “Not exactly inspirational fiction.”
Her face turned red. “Maybe I just skimmed it. The cover looked so good.”
“Maybe? Do you realize that since I downloaded this book, next time I’m on Amazon it will prepare a list of books I might enjoy reading based on what I’ve downloaded!?”
“That’s bad, huh?”
I gave her a pointed look and promptly deleted the book. “Don’t even ask to get a say in our next book club read. The answer’s no.”
You never know what’s inside it!
Book covers influence what I pick up and what I curl my nose up to. I may put a book down just because the cover isn’t intriguing. (I should also take my own advice and not judge a book by its cover!) But it is important. I went on Amazon and started scrolling through books. Christian and non. I found a pattern to what draws my eye. I then scrolled through some authors I enjoy reading and lo and behold, I found the pattern! Here are few:
See the pattern?
Guess I like scary houses (shrug). I don’t know. It’s what drew me to download the gay porn novel. It was the back cover that inspired me to delete it! The above books have mystery…intrigue. What secrets are lying behind the cover of night? I love designs that hold shadows of people or places. Even if I’m reading a romance, which I love to read, I’d rather see a setting of where the book takes place than to see the people (unless they’re shadows =)). It’s just my reader preference. It’ll probably be my preference when my book goes through cover design. We’ll see what happens when the time comes.
Do book covers influence your choice of reading? What kind of designs determine what you purchase? Have you found a pattern that draws your eye?
Have a great weekend! See you Monday!
