If you are a book person, chances are you have opinions on covers. They are the billboard calling to you, enticing you to look again.
A single title can have multiple covers and with them convey different ideas. Look at two versions of Lori Lansens’ The Wife’s Tale:
First, can you guess which one was for US markets? (The other was for Australia.) And what are the different marketing ideas present? They could be books about two entirely different women. In the first you see a joyous zaftig protagonist. In the second you see a so-called normal-sized woman taking both a literal and metaphorical leap. The combined effect does spell out the plot: a plus-sized woman leaves her stale marriage and finds a new community. She doesn’t ever look like the woman in the second version, though.
Other books do a better job of capturing their core premise. Here are a few.
A cursory glance at the cover image and you are halfway to understanding what this book is selling. The title gives you the rest. Carrie Bell has decided to leave her fiance and their life in Madison. She dreams of designing clothes in New York City. Then, tragedy strikes. Her fiance takes the dive that lends itself to the title. What will Carrie do now? The cover tells you.
2.
This may be my favorite cover of all time. From the Tiffany blue hue to the defiant wedding finger, you know what you are in for even before you see the title. The author deconstructs marriage through a feminist lens.
3.
This is another favorite of mine. I love the way it simply conveys both the protagonist’s job and the slightly old-fashioned tone of the story.
4.
I like the way this cover uses two cultural images to convey its premise. The author is a Vietnamese immigrant settling into life in the Midwest. As she struggles with assimilation, American junk food appeals both for its colorful, sugary goodness and for the promise it offers of something both foreign and strangely comforting. It takes a while for the author to unpack the many ways Madison Avenue has offered her empty promises.
Books Smitten 