Until recently I would have doggedly declared that I was not influenced in the least by book covers. I might pick them by titles – sure and certainly by authors I really like. But book covers! Gah! But… this year I was introduced to a blind side part of me.
You see I had downloaded this book from Edelweiss but I kept avoiding it. Feeling guilty of course but well still avoiding! I knew it had something to do with Germany and Auschwitz plus those colours, plus the title, sort of spoke of sadness. Now as I enlarge the cover though I see the man and boy and dog and well if I had noticed that, maybe I’d have felt differently. Plus I’ve read some now and see how it fits in.
Then I read a review for this book over at Book’d Out and the book had an alternative cover and suddenly I felt quite differently about the book.
Sure it still has the colour red but it has such a cosy feel to it. Books on the cover and a teapot and a yellow canary (yes and there is one in the book). This one doesn’t look threatening at all. I want to read this book!
And then here is another cover for the book that also says – I am so light and sweet and happy. Look at those books flying about, looks very inviting. I am totally ignoring the bit in the title that says broken hearted.
Now that I am into the book I really think that it has aspects of each of the covers, (I haven’t finished it yet). But now I am leaning towards the first, somehow it evokes in me some of the emotional aspects of the book.
You? Are you swayed by book covers?
Which of these book covers would entice you to pick up this book?
Linking up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction.
The Book Date 
Great example of how a cover change can make a totally different impression. I am definitely influenced by covers — and a good cover will enhance my pleasure in a book. A bad or misleading one (even if pretty in itself) feels like a betrayal. I think books and covers are more closely linked than the old proverb would have it!
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Funny, I like the first cover best! The other two seem a bit silly and frivolous. You are right, though – the LOOK of the cover makes you even ignore what the words say!
I always find it fascinating when publishers choose an entirely different cover for other places in the world and also when they choose something entirely new for a paperback vs. hardcover of the same book. I do have a big pet peeve, though, when the cover doesn’t match the contents, like where the people on the cover look nothing like the characters described in the book! That can ruin a book for me.
On the other hand, a cover I love on a book I love makes me love the book even more!
Interesting discussion!
Sue
2019 Big Book Summer Challenge
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Sometimes they get the cover right and sometimes not. I think authors at times get frustrated by what is done to their book!
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You bet I am; can’t help it.
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Oh yes…covers ALWAYS sway me. 🙂
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I definitely am influenced by book covers. Unless it is an author I know, the cover is what I see first and then I will look at the blurb. I think I would have been drawn in by the second cover in your post although the more I look at the first the more interesting it is. It just doesn’t look as light and easy.
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My thoughts exactly Martha, it is really interesting the influence of book covers.
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How interesting to look at a book’s various covers and see how they make you feel differently about the book. I have always known that I judge books by their covers, so I can easily see how this would influence me.
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I think I probably am influenced by covers but I wish I wasn’t.
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Covers do influence me when scrolling through catalogues such as Netgalley and Edelweiss. One of the reasons I picked up this book was because of the lighthearted cover, but I was annoyed to find it didnt suit the story at all. The more sedate cover is much more appropriate
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I definitely am influenced by book covers. If I see a book that has books or teacups on the cover it’s almost guaranteed I will be buying the book!
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I am definitely influenced by book covers!
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Yes! Pretty makes me look twice, and looking twice is crucial when there a million books out there
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Oh, I’m absolutely swayed by covers. Especially cutesy covers. It’s not necessarily the first thing I look for, and I’m far more inclined to pick something up because of the synopsis or reviews. But if I’m on the fence or in a specific mood, a solid cover can make me pick up a book.
Of the three covers you featured, I like all of them for different reasons, but the second and third ones really work for me. Though I do love the palette on the first one.
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I am definitely swayed by covers, although if I love the author, I’ll read a book with a less attractive cover. I love those bookish elements on The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted.
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Hi Kathryn! Oh yeah, I’m definitely influenced. I would pick up the second one before the first. Interesting! I’ll have to see what your other friends say. ~smile~ Roseanne
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Yes, so we are alike in that!
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I am influenced by book covers. When I’m browsing for books, the cover nearly always catches attention first. I take the time to read the synopsis of course, then if it grabs me I buy it. But if the cover didn’t grab me first, I may never have noticed the book at all.
I know we are not supposed to “judge a book by its cover,” but as humans we are visually wired. I don’t think we can help it!
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True. I wonder if we took all the books off covers how we would feel?
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