We may say we don't judge a book by its cover, but c'mon.
We totally do.
Maybe not in the "it's beautiful so I'm getting it" sense. But very often in the "I'll bet I know the kind of book it is" sort of way.
For instance: Person with a blade in one hand and colorful sparkles coming from the other, standing assertively in a city after sundown. What's that genre?
Chances are, you instantly knew it was urban fantasy. (Exhibit A: pretty much all of these.) And you can probably guess the very specific genres of these books by the cover description, too:
- Man in a frock coat holds / gazes at a woman in a high-waisted gown
- Awesome spaceship nears planet that is not Earth
- Person stands silhouetted against a ravaged landscape
Did you guess Regency romance, sci-fi / space opera and dystopian?
Some readers complain about covers looking alike. A lot of authors complain, too. We want to be original!
But what I didn't fully appreciate until I started writing is how often someone's first introduction to a book comes via a thumbnail-sized cover. If it can't communicate "this is something that might be up your alley," why would you click to find out more?
I may be able to (generally) recognize a genre by its cover, but that doesn't make the actual cover-making process any less fraught. I mean: I've got variant covers on my Clandestine Magic trilogy, one set for the ebooks and another for the print editions. And yes, there's a long story behind that, and be thankful you're not the poor cover designer (or the best-friend-who's-also-an-author who had to hear about it all summer as it dragged on).
So: What sort of covers do you like best? The kind that screams OH HI THIS IS MY GENRE or more unusual varieties? (Seriously, I'm curious. Hit reply to let me know, if you're feeling chatty. Or tell me whether any of my covers communicates "romantic fantasy with political intrigue in an Edwardian 21st-century America run by wizards" (which is not an actual genre but totally should be).)
While we're talking about genres: If you like your fantasy with a romantic storyline, check out FaRoFeb (short for Fantasy Romance February). It's a cool event with giveaways, readathons, author spotlights and more, and while February's the main month, things are already getting started.
Find the group on Facebook or check out the website. ✨
And happiest of new years to you! We all really need one.
📚🌟📚🌟📚
A few more cool & bookish things
I really enjoyed Olivia Atwater's Half a Soul, a witty fantasy novel with a helping of biting social commentary, and figured you might like to know that it's on sale for 99 cents the next few days. Here's the story in a nutshell:
Ever since a faerie cursed her, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear, embarrassment, or even happiness—a condition which makes her sadly prone to accidental scandal. Dora’s only goal for the London Season this year is to stay quiet and avoid upsetting her cousin’s chances at a husband … but when the Lord Sorcier of England learns of her condition, she finds herself drawn ever more deeply into the tumultuous concerns of magicians and faeries.
Looking for more fantasy books? 🧙🏽 🧙🏽♂️
Here's a bunch you can read for free in Kindle Unlimited, from a werewolf-hunting twist on Red Riding Hood to a paranormal cozy mystery set at an academy. Looking for free-for-everyone fantasy and sci-fi? Got you covered there, too (and hello, drawing of a spaceship and planet, we were just talking about you).
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