The rule of thumb is to never judge a book by its cover, but why not? Cover art is a big deal. It’s part of the package of assembling a book, as much as type setting, formatting, and the content itself.
A book’s cover is a big part of whether or not I agree to review a book on my blog. In today’s online book world in particular, images are everything. So, a subpar book cover is going to deter clicks on the review which deters potential readers. Competition is fierce. So, packaging is key. Below are 11 examples of types of book covers that capture my attention and make me want to read the book.
The Face on the Milk Carton
While scouring my bookshelf for examples of book covers to use for this post, this is the first cover that caught my eye. This old school YA cover style is still effective today.
The cover image is full of detail. It’s painted realistically and depicts the object in its title with readable print and an authentic design. It raises a lot of questions that you as a reader want to have answered within the pages. The right justified font of the title is kind of an afterthought, as if it’s making room for the art itself which tells you everything you need to know.
Younger readers might not realize that missing children used to be featured on milk cartons, but that ignorance adds even more to the intrigue. And if you do know, you realize that this book is going to be about a missing person case, and you want to know the answer to that mystery.
Little Women
Thanks to BookTube, BookTok, and other online book cover platforms, pretty book covers are becoming high in demand. This particular cover comes up a lot in the book world. It’s intentionally pretty, girly, and combines a lot of modern book cover designs to really gab the reader’s attention.
It’s busy yet minimalist. Its font covers the entire book, but the rest of the space is filled in with simple designs, including cartoonish outlines of our four beloved March sisters.
I’ve seen a lot of book collectors admit to collecting multiple covers of the same books. I don’t do that myself, but this cover caters to this particular audience. And it definitely got my attention to the point where I decided that this is the cover that I needed when adding this particular title to my personal collection.
The Paris Wife
Historical fiction is a favorite genre of mine, and this novel about Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson doesn’t give away much in its cover or its title. I believe I first learned about this book in an issue of Entertainment Weekly, and aside from a short blurb, it was the cover that captured my eye.
This cover feels like an old, candid photograph. It has muted colors with pops of red that draw the reader in. The hidden face helps to convey an “every woman” tone despite the fact that our subject is a real historical figure.
The fonts are two different sizes, colors, and styles. It gives it character and a classic feel that fits the era of its story.
Cujo
It’s no secret that classic Stephen King covers are iconic. Those big block letters along with eerie painted cover art define the books that were published in the 70s and 80s.
Almost every cover of Cujo I’ve seen contains a snarling dog snout with bared teeth on the front. However, this realistically painted art really sticks with the foaming mouth and hidden eyes that put you in the perspective of one of Cujo’s victims.
The font too is also interesting with the middle two letter of the title set smaller than the than the first and last. The way it’s all squeezed together in the top half of the cover too makes room for that violent image that instills the panic and danger that is captured in its pages.
Night of the Twisters
For a middle grade novel, this is an intense cover. This feels like a movie poster more than a book cover.
The image depicts the drama and the action of its story. It also puts the characters, not the event, front and center, to show that this is going to be a story about people, not just the weather. No tornadoes are present in the art, but the dark sky teases what’s to come.
I also love how middle grade books usually include taglines on their covers. It helps define the elevator pitch and what limited yet crucial information is needed to draw in the reader.
Goosebumps
The classic Goosebumps covers are framed very specifically. The author goes at the top, followed by the series title, then a framed image around the slimy border, followed by the title of that installment in the series. Each book gets a different color of slime and Goosebumps font. And of course, the Goosebumps title is textured with little bumps, making it tactile and something you want to pick up and run your hand across.
I love the continuity of this design throughout the series. It makes you want to collect them and line them all up on your personal bookshelf. The formulaic writing of the books with their cliffhanger chapters and scary, yet not too scary, storylines fits well with this formulaic cover design.
I particularly love My Hairiest Adventure’s cover. The deep red logo pairs well with the image of a young boy watching himself transforming in his bathroom mirror. Despite being frozen, you can feel the internal panic that any kid would experience watching their hands and face grow fur with their own eyes.
Totally Awesome: The Greatest Cartoons of the Eighties
Giant coffee table books have the advantage of having a lot of space to work with. I love that this cover made full use of that space by creating a collage of classic cartoon characters who will be featured in the book. The collage runs onto the back of the dust jacket, creating this feeling of never-ending characters running through the space to the old fashioned TV in the bottom right corner of the cover.
I also love the big, shadowed block letters of the title itself. It’s the kind of calligraphy I used to use as a kid. Like the topic itself, it feels like being transported back to a fun and comforting time.
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
When the trend of creating book covers that basically just features the title and author in large letters came about, I initially felt like it was a bit lazy and boring. I like there to be an image, either of people, landscapes, or some meaningful object that contributes to the plot on the front cover.
But this book cover design trend began to grow on me, starting with Hank Green’s new adult sci-fi books. In this cover particularly, the font appears to partially pop out of rows of simple shapes. However, upon reading the synopsis, the reader comes to realize that these shapes are actually robots. One particular robot features glowing eyes to help spark some questions.
The mix of the bright yellow font with the dark blue background makes it very eye catching and shows that intentional choices were made. Despite its simplicity, it’s doing its job of drawing in the potential reader and revealing vague but important information that fits its unique plot.
Pride and Prejudice
Coming back to the marketing of classic books, I love when Barnes and Noble releases series of classics in small, pocket-sized formats with gold tipped pages and built-in ribbon bookmarks. They’re not only cheap but also pretty and don’t take up a lot of space. They are also sturdy hardcovers with thick dust jackets that can easily be removed while reading and then returned to their rightful place to keep the book looking nice on their shelves.
I also like that this dust jacket contains a nice, classic painting on the front. It makes it feel like a copy that Jane Austen herself would carry around and gives it an antique kind of feeling while not being too delicate or expensive to actually crack open and read.
The Stranger
Children’s books tend to have cartoonish drawings on their front cover that will draw in their target audience. I love that this book goes against the grain with its sophisticated style and color palette.
This cover image is just another image in the book, but readers don’t know that until they have actually read the book. Framing it with the white border with the dark blue background and the title in the front makes it feel very mysterious and intriguing.
It’s also kind of a humorous cover with the wide-eyed look on one character’s face as he’s served what appears to be a simple meal from a seemingly friendly woman. So, despite its shadowed background that could easily be interpreted as creepy, the body language suggests that this isn’t a scary book at all, and that makes it a very interesting choice for a very interesting book.
Ultimately, I like that this book took risks with its cover art. This is not a book I read as a kid, but it’s one that I felt I had to add to my collection when I saw it in a used book sale, and it ultimately paid off as it’s now one of my favorite picture books.
I Didn’t Mean To
Speaking of classic children’s book covers, Mercer Mayer books are the quintessential picture book cover. I love how relatable and funny this story appears to be based on its cover art, and these Little Critter stories reflect their covers. It’s very colorful despite its earthy color palette which works well for its animal subjects.
The image is also very three dimensional with action occurring in both the foreground and the background. It makes the reader want to jump right in and find out what’s going to happen next.
What are your favorite types of book covers? Leave your answers in the comments below!
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