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Does book colour matter?

Tiny NellTiny Nell
edited April 2014 in Writing
Would you be put off buying a book because of its colour?
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Comments

  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Cover or pages?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Cover.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Depends on the subject. I'm quite taken with pale blue. When current book arrived for me to read and review I was delighted that it was a blue. Sadly the content has been a disappointment. I'm struggling to get through it.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    Like Baggy - it depends on the subject, but I tend to shy away from pink!
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I do wonder if readers maybe don't like to see garish colours on their bookshelves.

    I'm in the process of making a paperback and have made the cover bright yellow. The book's called 'Light Bites' and the main picture has a few neon colours in it, one of which is the yellow I've used for the cover.
  • LizLiz
    I don't think i'd like that. I like pale colours, with matt, soft feel. Delicate. Well designed. Quite spare of clutter.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I'd agree. I don't want a book that shouts at me before I've even turned a page.

    Anita Shreve's The Last Time They Met - one of my favourite covers and possibly my favourite book of its kind.

    image
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    That IS a good cover, isn't it? Cool and understated. I would pick up the book to read the blurb if I saw it in a bookshop.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    edited April 2014
    Shreve's covers are similar. I came across her when a book was recommended to me at a writing group - years ago. That book was The Pilot's Wife. Most of her books have a connection - but it's very subtle and you don't need to have read the others to enjoy one on its own. The Weight of Water is another favourite. Darn it, they're all a favourite.

    imageimageimage


  • CarolCarol
    I think readers have become conditioned to associate certain colours with specific genres.

    Black with red is either vampires or erotica, while pink with handbags is chick lit.

    Subtle colours like those above will stand out among the darker covers.

    Orange seems to be appearing on some covers at the moment.
  • DebbyDebby
    I agree about the genres, Carol. I read a lot of thrillers. The covers, more often than not, are dominated by red, black and white.

    To me, the above covers are pleasant on the eye but I'd associate them with romance or family sagas. I don't tend to read many of them, so I would probably glance past them in a shop. Although, I do dip into different genres from time to time.

    Of course, I could be wrong about the covers!
  • CarolCarol
    You make a good point, Debby.

    As readers, many of us do judge a book by its cover- whether that's a conscious choice or not.
  • BetsieBetsie
    Shreve's covers are similar. I came across her when a book was recommended to me at a writing group - years ago.

    You've just reminded me how much I enjoy Anita Shreve's books

  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books


    Of course, I could be wrong about the covers!
    Pretty much a mixed bag, to be honest. The Last Time They Met - almost painful recollections of lost opportunities, not necessarily of the romantic kind. I can still remember the shock I felt when I read the ending - one of the best twists ever written.

    Betsie, you and me both. Must begin a re-read of them.

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Hmmm.

    I agree with all that's been said.

    I tend to pick up black or white books - mainly thrillers. Anita Shreve's book covers are lovely.

    The book I'm working on has already been an ebook for some time. It's a book of light-hearted stories - so not romance or psychological. I have nothing to compare it to.

    This is the current ebook cover - and it's this one which I have tentatively transported across to make the questionable yellow paperback cover (which you'll have to imagine):

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Bites-Helen-Laycock-ebook/dp/B007JYS7HS/ref=la_B006PGFVL6_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397902235&sr=1-4

    Any suggestions for a different idea/background colour?
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Janet Evanovich's early covers were garish, but they represented the fun and OTT aspects of the books.
    French book shops can be terribly off-putting because the covers of literary works are all white. The eye is trained to look for something that pleases us, and colour is part of that response.
    The cover should reflect the contents of the book; for instance, I don't know of many pastel horror covers.
    It's a form of subliminal advertising; but what did Fifty Shades achieve by being grey? Was it attractive to someone who hadn't heard of it? Or was it a successful cover precisely because it didn't dress up as erotica? Maybe without the 'mummy porn' tag few people would have picked it up.
    I feel there's an article here, someone!
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Nell, I found it hard to pick out the words 'A collection...'
    It speaks of drama and threat, I think - a shrieking kind of story within.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Oh, the font won't be there, nor the words 'A collection of short stories'. On the new cover it will just say 'Light Bites' in purple.

    Drama, threat and shrieking... oh dear!
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I found it difficult to look at those colours.
  • caseycasey
    As the others have said, I think it depends what the stories are about and the type of reader you are hoping to appeal to.
    Personally I like the cover but it is a bit 'in your face'. A good WoW factor though.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I am experimenting with beach pictures - though 'serene' is not really reflecting the flavour of the stories.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    I think it depends on the genre. A horror story with a pink cover might be off-putting, or a chick-lit that was very dark.

    Your very bright cover suggests sci-fi to me or something quirky.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    No sci-fi, PM, so it's not hitting the mark as it stands.

    I wonder what would better represent a selection of light-hearted tales, some bordering on the humorous...
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I've been looking through Flickr.

    Do you think either a cup and saucer with sunlight glinting on it (i.e. representing coffee break stories), or a book on the beach (holiday reading) might do the trick?
  • CarolCarol
    I know Della Galton used a cup and saucer image for her short story books.

    Book on the beach images always seem stereotyped to me personally.

    Have they got a book in the garden type image?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Carol said: I know Della Galton used a cup and saucer image for her short story books.

    Drat. So she has.

    I've already emailed the photographer to ask if I can use her photo. It's a very different cup and saucer - real. and with the sun glinting on it.

    There weren't that many photos tagged with 'book'. I've bookmarked a few, but I wasn't convinced.
  • CarolCarol
    I'm sure it will look good, TN. :)
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I've done away with the cup and saucer idea. I didn't hear back from the photographer and was impatient to get it done. I've been tinkering for ages with a beach photo and changing my blurb to fit neatly on the back cover. Finally, a masterpiece was created.

    I pressed 'submit cover' and it disappeared - the whole darn thing. :((
  • CarolCarol
    :-O
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    :O
  • Stan2Stan2
    You had a back up I hope!
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    No, it doesn't work like that. You design it on the site and save, but it just vanished.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    No, it doesn't work like that. You design it on the site and save, but it just vanished.
    How infuriating for you!
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I know. I've wasted a huge part of the day on it. Now I just feel limp. I'm not going to go back to it for a while.
  • Stan2Stan2
    That is depressing.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Where did it save to, TN? Maybe it's still there to be found.
  • LizLiz
    I'd have to say, the snazzier something is, the more it would put me off.

    However, if I saw something like this as a cover, it would probably make me think of relaxation despite the bright colour - this is a free to use image on Flikr with just attribution. I put in a search for 'take a break':

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/dhilung/3989044927/in/photolist-8YAUKy-aehVYi-fAtRhN-mRFByr-FnQAk-8UuuM9-6QbE3Q-9YGxde-5JditH-4Tmydz-f2dZb4-6CoZLw-56bCNX-auAmMs-b3bvXr-jmS5Vm-8zvKHp-JwGWG-gNGo1-7inMht-9FdKgb-8vEXxW-bmXE2f-75uU5F-Mz2U1-ffCcxv-7QQvKa-7JdTtB-4EKb7H-8ML5hB-85Eubn-8zoiBQ-bHQCAZ-hTdmXB-doLdQm-ftqE1w-2XDEcH-8mQmd2-bGjEap-66GwiA-EyEBb-622PzS-f2Fia2-fv8Yeh-9p1Jos-bJNZj2-6nSoP2-bV2Wtg-7w2E7a-54Uxbk

  • ClaudiaClaudia
    That's a great pic to perfectly depict a relaxing break. Well done for finding it, Liz.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Lovely.
  • CarolCarol
    I like that.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Oh, thank you, Liz, for searching for something on my behalf.

    However, this morning, I started again and redesigned the cover I lost yesterday. It's calm and in hues of blue and looks very uncluttered... I hope. It's now in a review process. I'll post a link when it comes through.
  • CarolCarol
    I also think we're now having to add in the thumbnail issue- how the cover will appear in a small image- a potential buyer could be looking at a long list of books with just a small image visible.

    Anything that stands out could make them stop and look, so you're halfway to a potential sale just by that image.
  • ana sana s
    I'm attracted to Penguin classics, Everyman library, old cloth bound, anything deco, arts and crafts. From the pink and yellow I'd be expecting trippy, psychedelic or futuristic. For relaxation I like under a tree, dappled sunlight type things.
  • LizLiz
    Oh, thank you, Liz, for searching for something on my behalf.
    I was just interested in what a search for 'take a break' would bring up on Flikr - loads of different things, because a break means different things to different people I guess.

    I am terminally curious and i should be writing a poem beginning with 'V'!

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Off you trot then...
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Ana said: From the pink and yellow I'd be expecting trippy, psychedelic or futuristic. For relaxation I like under a tree, dappled sunlight type things.

    Yes. The brightness was originally meant to reflect the title and was a nod to the slightly humorous take with some of the stories... but that's all binned now and will soon be replaced with my relaxing image.

    Buy your popcorn and sit tight. I'll reveal all as soon as I can.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    *waits*
  • Stan2Stan2
    And waits.....
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    edited April 2014
    Voila!

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Bites-Helen-Laycock/dp/1499170246/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1398066875&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Light+Bites+helen+laycock+paperback

    Better?

    Maybe this would look more appealing on a reader's bookshelf than my original psychedelic monstrosity!

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    That's better - less of a contrast, more gentle, cheery. Not 'shriek and look behind you!' as the other was!
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