Thursday, January 10, 2013

Best Fake Book Cover Ever

Here's a fake cover for the book I'm revising, These Empty Spaces (my Nano). I'm not entirely sold on the title but I'm rolling with it for now. But I love the cover. It's one of the many reasons I love having a husband with design skillz. :)


This makes me wonder, how much does a book's cover affect your reading choices? We all know that old mantra...never judge a book by its cover, but I know I do, more often than I'd like to admit. For you e-reader peeps out there, does the cover have any sway on you?

And because I need all the positive vibes I can get at the start of this crazy year, I want to say: you and me together, we could do anything, baby.


22 comments:

Kyra Lennon said...

I always judge books by their cover, which might not be a good idea, but I can't help it, I'm a visual person! :D

Suzanne Furness said...

I think I do look at covers and make assumptions. Rightly or wrongly I believe they matter. Perhaps more so with print books that have to really catch your eye in a shop to have a chance of being picked up in the first place.

I'm liking this cover!

Francene Stanley said...

The cover draws the reader--entices them to look within. It's all about advertising. Judging a book by its cover now translates to instantly forming an opinion about a person rather than a book. Funny thing is--you can tell what a person's like that way.

Tonja Drecker said...

I'm guilty. If I cover catches my attention, I'll definitely pick it up and read the back. I'll never check out a book with a boring cover unless I've already heard good things about it.

Kathryn Purdie said...

I'll admit I totally judge books by their covers. And if a book has more than one edition, I'll spend extra bucks on the prettier version. Also, I have a hard time with covers showing faces unless that face is how I envision the character. I get really picky with Jane Austen covers for that reason!

This TES cover you husband designed is super compelling. I'd happily judge this book by its cover anyday!

Kathryn Purdie said...

Also, it's super funny that you blogged about your fake cover today, because that's what I'm also getting ready to do. Please forgive me for being an unwitting copycat!

ilima said...

Kyra-Me too!

Suzanne-Sadly, I do it too.

Francene-It is all about selling those books, that's for sure.

Tonja-Same here. Some of my favorite books have terrible covers and I never would have discovered them if it weren't for recommendations.

Kathryn-I can totally see that about Jane Austen covers--those are always WAY different than I picture the heroine. Ooh, I'm excited about your post, and now I want to go back and look at my Christmas present from you! ;0)

Jenna Cooper said...

That seriously looks like a professional cover.
And yes, it might be wrong, but I judge books by their covers. It's that or the title that makes me pick them up.

Emily said...

I love this cover. I think we all judge a book, a little, by its cover. Someday *when* I'm published that will be the hardest part! What if I hate it?

On the other side of it, I read plenty of e books on my kindle without even looking at the cover. So maybe covers will be less and less important.

David P. King said...

Whoa! That's a fake? It looks good enough to read, for me. Do it! :)

ilima said...

Jenna-Yes...the titles too. I totally agree.

Emily-I'm terrified that one day my cover will be terrible and there'll be nothing I can do about it. I've been wondering about that e-book thing. So interesting.

David-Aw, thanks. I really like it too.

Emily R. King said...

Very cool, Ilima. You are very talented! This is hauntingly beautiful.

Tammy Theriault said...

i LOVE IT! <---- see the capitals. i mean really love it. the title fills the spaces, actually leaving NO empty spaces. makes me think hmm...play on words, girl looks stressed, suffocated and trying to break out of i don't know what. not sure, but i wanna read to find out! i will have to come to your husband for a book cover when i finally finish mine! he is awesome

Nick Wilford said...

Looks very professional! I would check it out.

In the case of ebooks, I'm mainly reading recommendations or books from friends, so it's not wholly based on cover. But in a bookshop, totally - although an intriguing title makes me pick it up too!

ilima said...

Emily-You are so sweet, thank you.

Tammy-Haha. I really like how the words are cut off at the edges but the font itself has empty spaces. And you totally caught the symbolism about the heroine, so yay!

Nick-I agree, the title can convince me, too.

Jessie Humphries said...

I love that you girls did your own covers today! I have been secretly dreaming of my cover a lot lately. I wonder if I am capable to come up with something....hmmm.

Leigh Covington said...

OOH! Ilima, I love it! Cover AND title! And I am a total sucker for how the book looks! It's the first hook I have and usually the only one I have until I pick it up! :D

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Fun cover! Kind of creepy! I love your title. It feels poetic in a very open way. I make covers for my unfinished books all the time. :)

Robin said...

Still adore this cover-it is perfect on so many levels for you MS. And I am guilty of constantly judging a book by its cover. E-book or otherwise.

ilima said...

Jessie-Do. It. It's so much fun.

Leigh-Thanks. It sounds like we all go for the covers.

Michelle-Ooh, I want to see some of your covers!

Robin-It definitely expresses the themes of the book...I agree. <3

Nicole said...

I do judge books by their covers...mostly it works out, but I've been burned by those awesome covers a couple times. It's weird, though, based on a great cover alone, it often still takes me months to get around to buying the book. If I read an excerpt or hear about it from a friend, I buy it almost immediately.

ilima said...

Nicole-Yes, recommendations hold the biggest weight with me in reading books.