Shannon Pearce – Why Book Covers are So Important

Why Book Covers are So Important

by Shannon Pearce

Book covers are the first impression a person gets of the book. It’s what we see when it’s on the shelf or online and it can really delegate if a person picks it up or not. A lot of people say the blurb is the most important thing, but though they are important the cover is what makes you read the blurb in the first place. I’m not sure if that is the case for everyone, but for me when browsing my local book store, I always read the blurbs of book with covers that catch my eye. Sometimes, I have been known to buy the book solely because I liked the cover, but that’s due more to my laziness than a normal reaction I think.

Sometimes I have come to regret it because when I actually read the book it wasn’t at all what I had expected and hadn’t liked it all that much. Then there were the books I totally loved. Point of the story is I brought it. Now I’m not saying that a book with an elaborate, amazing cover is going to be great every time, nor am I saying that a book with a plain, boring cover will be bad. What I’m saying is that a cover is what gives the first impression of the book. It can colour how thoroughly you read the back of it and how much attention you give it. A bad book will still be bad even with a good cover and a good book will still be good, but first impressions are everything and once they have been made they can’t be changed.