The Role of Book Covers

 By Ava Walter, 12th grade

I'm sure we've all heard the saying "never judge a book by its cover." While this saying is true in the sense that we shouldn't always judge something or someone based on appearances, we can't deny book covers are crucial in the perception and decisions of the reader, often being the first contact between a potential reader and a book. To some extent, book covers function as a marketing tool, and ultimately the visual aesthetics of book covers can make a considerable impact on a book's success and appeal.

Visually, book covers convey the book's identity. Book covers can appeal to potential readers, elicit an emotional response, and entice readers to read the book itself. Also, colors and artwork used may even aid in helping a reader identify the book's genre, tone, and themes all based on the visual design of the cover itself. For example, a bright, fun, childlike cover would provide the indication the reader is about to embark on a fun children's book and a darker or muted cover would suggest suspense/thriller. Ultimately, these visual signals help the reader quickly recognize what books will align with their interests, proving the cover of a book is in fact important.

The cover of a book can also represent the author's style and intend to communicate the characters of the story. For instance, a book cover with a more minimalist appearance may hint at significant introspection in the book or a simpler plot, compared to a cover that contains elaborate illustrations that would suggest there may be an epic fantasy adventure. Depending on what's communicated to the reader through what is placed on the cover, it will set-up certain expectations and entice readers. It's common for readers to select a book solely on the appearance of the cover without even reading the synopsis, and this is a powerful demonstration of the book cover.

Covers also may help authors create branding for themselves. By having a particular look to their book covers, authors can be better identified by potential readers, thus, helping authors become more successful and well known.

Overall, covers of books play a big role in branding, aesthetics, and communicating significant ideas. Because book covers are the very first thing we see when approaching a book, they have the ability to give us certain impressions depending on what the cover includes. Therefore, the cover of a book really is important, not only to authors, but for readers as well.