It turns out you can judge a book by its cover. Consumers do it all the time.
Writer Paul Guyot did an informal survey of consumers to get some idea of what motivated them to buy books. He approached people in bookstores to ask them a few basic questions about their book-buying habits and strategies. (You can see the complete results on his blog.)
Of the 47 people he spoke to, an overwhelming 43 of them said they would buy a book based on the cover. (That’s 92% for those of you keeping score at home.)
Of the 30 people who said they browsed for books based on the author’s name or word-of-mouth, 27 of them said they would put a back if they didn’t like the cover. These are potential buyers who are already favorably inclined towards a book or author, and still they would not buy it if the cover was dissatisfying.
These results may be unscientific, but they still provide support for what I have long believed and observed.
Cover matters as one of the most important factors in the book selection process because it is the first thing the consumer sees, the first chance to make an impression. Considering how many stimuli are constantly vying for our attention, a book is lucky to get one chance to catch our eye. And the cover is probably 90% of that.
Think of all the books available at the bookstore. Tens of thousands of them, all crying out (mostly in tiny, muted voices) for our attention. Unless you have a specific book in mind, how do you make the decision as to which one you pick up?
If a book has a dull, lifeless or lackluster cover, will that be the one you look at? Will it even attract your attention at all? Probably not. You’ll never even notice it. When you do pick up a book off the shelf, you’re probably spending 10 seconds evaluating it. How much of that is based on the cover? Considering that most consumers aren’t going to start reading the book while standing there at the shelf, the cover matters a lot.
It works the same for me, as a critic, when I get books for review. When I open all those packages and start sorting through the books, I’m just like a consumer. The publisher is trying to sell me on the book, and a great cover will make me take a second look.
Obviously I’m considering lots of other factors as well, but a well-done cover is only going to help the book’s chances. On the other hand, a lousy or amateurish cover can’t help but taint the book. As a professional reader, I look beyond that. But for consumers? Forget about it.
