I've always thought the advice not to judge a book by its cover particularly unhelpful.
Because there are so many titles competing for our attention, what else do we have to go on?
Surely the publishers, having read their own books, must be the best people to represent them to their chosen market? This thought comes into particular force when I am looking for a third book in a three-for-two promotion - there are always two I know I want, so I find myself looking in the rest of the pile for covers that attract my attention.
Attention grabbing - for the wrong reasons?
I love stand-up comedy and have admired Shappi Khorsandi for a while, so her 'Beginner's guide to acting English' (Ebury) caught my attention. The cover features a cartoon of a family of four running with suitcases, the words 'warm and witty' from Jo Brand and a distinctly light touch. I assumed it was a book in the Bryson aren't-the-English-odd school of writing and bought it.
Never was a book more effectively undersold. Khorsandi provides a fascinating child's-eye view of the Iranian revolution – not something I would have expected from the cover alone.
I smiled ruefully at her childish attempts to negotiate with the mullahs by writing to them; followed the family's path into exile accompanied by a crowd of well wishers; and admired the reliability of their Ford Cortina. The whole reminded me of Jacqueline Wilson's superb descriptions of unrealised trauma through the eyes of the protagonist, or the heavy hand of history the reader perceives throughout Anne Frank's diary.
A brilliant book - did the cover make you miss it?
In short, it was well paced, gripping and really insightful. And I finished by wanting to know more - about her father's writing (could we have a sample please?), what happened to her brother and some of the recipes her mother inherited and created.
Maybe this is all being saved for a sequel, but if so, I hope the publishers alert a wider group of people to the content by coming up with a more effective cover. This book would be ideal reading for those who remember the era in which the events took place and want to know more (me included), as well as younger generations who would find it interesting to consider how what your parents do can have a major impact on your own life (moving to a new country and having to learn a new language in Shappi's case).
A perfect book for modern Britain - but I wonder how many others missed it due to presentation?
Has anyone else read it and reacted in the same way, or perhaps been equally confused by a cover?
Alison Baverstock
A former publisher, Alison writes about publishing and how to get published. She runs the MA in Publishing at Kingston University and will be speaking at an upcoming conference on self-publishing.
Title, design, blurb and introductory chapters are all important in evaluating my choice of book. I don’t think I’d ever buy a book without first examining its content. Once, and this is a true story, I looked at this book that by appearance looked like a real book, with title, copyright and ISBN. Opening the cover, I flipped through the pages. Every page was blank. Somebody had come up with the idea of selling a content-less book. It’s the perfect example of the lengths people will go to for profit and the wastefulness of it. Yet, as you describe Alison, sometimes the simplest covers mask the most intriguing content. If I were publishing a book, I’d probably opt for a design that would be elegant, but simple. A style appealing to a wide audience; able to speak the books’ essence in as few words as possible and still convey feeling to the viewing potential reader. After all, words can only go so far.
Xean
1/1/2010
The first reason why I usually pick up a book is because of the title, then I look at the cover (personal preference being one with lots of detail, love HP covers, for example) and then the book blurb. If my interest deepens, I tend to read the first paragraph and if I am hooked, I buy it.
Funny story that I feel I have to share at this point.
When I was in Galway, Ireland, I picked up a book in the hostel I was staying in and started reading it. It was Kate Mosse's "Sepulchre" and I was so intrigued by the book that I bought it as soon as I got home and devoured it. It has an interesting cover and the red colour simply screams "See me! Read me!"
We all have different priorities when we're buying a book, but all those things together - title, cover, blurb and opening paragraph/chapter do make a good case for buying (or not buying) a certain book.