Judging a Book By Its Cover

When I was a little girl, I put a lot of stock into the saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Though not so much with actual books; in my day, hardbound books were solid colors with those plastic covers that were always annoyingly falling off the book. 

But when it came to the spirit of the saying—that it’s what’s on the inside that matters—I was all in. As a quiet kid outside the home, I sincerely hoped that people would see beyond my shyness to the brilliant and flashy girl on the inside. 

And so it’s a little bit funny now that, as a self-published author, I’m singing a different tune. Namely, that the book cover matters. Quite a lot, actually. 

Oh, not if you’re a profitable author. I was reading Louise Penny’s The Madness of Crowds when I did my book cover research. It has an artsy, geometric design on the cover, and I remember thinking that I’d have no idea what the book was about, based on the cover. But it’s not the cover selling the book. It’s Louise Penny and Inspector Gamache. 

Catherine C. Hall might initially get readers from friends and family. But to attract readers who don’t know her from Adam’s house cat? That was going to start with the cover, a point made clear to me recently when I heard from my local library system. 

My library system serves one of the largest and most populated metro Atlanta counties; Lord only knows how many books—hardbound, digital, and audio—are in the system. When it comes to those of us outside the trade publishers—regional or indie published authors—it’s not easy to get a book on the shelves. But it is possible. One fills out the form and waits. 

So I filled out the form, dropped off a copy of Secrets Laid to Rest, and crossed my fingers. About a week later, I received an email, inviting me to give an Author Talk at one of our libraries. Not till March, but still, I was pretty darn excited! 

Just this week, the staffer called. We touched on timing, how I had wanted to release the book last fall but the cover took way longer than I planned. And she said, “Oh! It’s a great cover. I noticed it immediately.” 

She happened to be in the office of the staffer who gets the proposals and my book was on the desk. The cover caught her eye. I joked that it was worth it then, ‘cause that cover was a whole thing! 

“We get a lot of books here,” she added. “But few of them look as professional as yours.” 

Simply based on the cover, she had judged Secrets Laid to Rest to be professionally produced, a lesson to learn if you’re self-publishing. But I still think it’s important to look beyond the outside to what’s inside. So make sure the content of your book is as brilliant (and flashy!) as your cover!

~Cathy C. Hall

Author, Secrets Laid to Rest

A Ladies of SPI Southern Cozy Mystery