Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre.
We have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Charla White talks with us about this.
On the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you?
5 (very important)
Why are they important to you?
The design draws me in and shows me whether the book was important enough to the author to have it done properly and what type of tone the book is taking (i.e. if the cover has a light fun type cover, then I know that’s the tone of the book; if it’s a commonly used stock cover, then I don’t look at it too closely – and this goes for both physical copies and ebooks).
What do you not like in book covers?
Standard and over used stock photos, covers that are too busy and covers that have nothing to do with the story line (i.e. a dog front center and there be nothing about dogs in the book).
What would you like to see more of in covers?
Originality.
How many books have you read this year thus far?
I generally “read” (I listen to them too) 1-2 books a week.
Do you participate in cover contest by voting for your favorite?
Sometimes, especially for authors I know.
When writing a book review do you consider the covers to be part of your rating the book?
No, hadn’t considered it.
How much do you blog per week and how much do you talk about book covers?
Once a week and no, I have not but will.
Charla White has been a friend of indieBRAG since nearly the beginning! At her website, she offers a lot of services that you might want to check out – including reviews!
For me, book covers are extremely important. They are an integral part of my brand and message. My illustrator develops a unique design for each book in my series.