This week’s #FictionFriday is brought to you by Chiara van Ommeren
Book covers are essential. A lot of thought goes into designing a cover before it reaches the bookstores. Does a cover always portray what is written on the inside? The cover of A Clockwork Orange only makes sense after reading the book. Not all books have covers that are vague, some clearly depict a part of the story. However, minimalistic covers like this one, seem to want to intrigue a reader without depicting what the exact story is about.
The first thing you see when going out to buy a book, are the covers. It comes to no surprise that covers hugely influence the sale of a book. Some authors are so well known, their names are the same size or bigger than the title. Take, for example, Stephen King. In the 70s when his books suddenly took off, he almost sold more copies than the bible, the best selling book of the year, every year. People will nowadays buy his books regardless, no matter what the story.
Due to the corona crisis, many shops were forced or chose to close - including bookshops. People in need of a new fix, had to either reach for their kindle or other e-books, or order new books online. The issue with both these options, for me at least, is that you cannot see and flick through your maybe new book. With an e-book you will immediately have the book, but no book to put in your bookcase, and when ordering online you often have limited editions to choose from.
Every year many newspapers, magazines and publishers share their top books of the year. Many also share their favourite covers of the year, such as The New York Times or online media news and entertainment company Buzzfeed. The Financial Times used to run a weekly series on book covers, from The Secret History to Alternative London. 2019 was a good year for covers, as the Book Review’s art director in The New York Times states, ‘it was heartening to discover so many covers that tossed aside fail-safe choices this year and pursued directions that allowed for the possibility of art.' And when clicking through to the top picks, I would agree.
When going to a bookshop, I like to browse and look at all the attractive hardcovers and paperbacks. When stumbling upon a book that intrigues me, I open it to a random page and read a passage. Through these motions, I get a feel for the book. The writing style, the layout, how heavy the book is (weight-wise but also textual). All these things influence me on what book I will be buying. And yes, a pretty cover does help with sales.
When looking at the two Emma covers placed above, which one would you be more inclined to buy? With the (book)stores in The Netherlands slowly opening up again, I cannot wait to browse their bookshelves again to discover my new read through reading bits, while simultaneously judging their covers.