How important is appearance?
It is easy to say that the story itself is the most important thing in a book, and that the inside of a person is more important than a person’s appearance. Yet, we live in a society today where appearance has never been more important and where many do everything they can, to live up to what we believe is a more perfect look.
Also, today we live in a world where thousands of books are published daily and hence it becomes more and more difficult for a book to stand out. It does not matter how well written the story might be, if the book cover cannot draw potential readers’ attention.
When I had finished writing my book, I had Helena Wallenten Broyhill and dolob design to work on a cover that will best convey the right feeling for my particular story. Helena is a graphic designer who usually builds companies’ brands, but was up for another challenge. I’m glad I did since I am very happy with the result.
There were some sketches before we concluded on what felt totally right.
Since LIV is my tribute to life and the name of the main character, and since one of the parallel stories is about a family’s struggle between life and death, the “tree of life” felt like the right type of cover at first. At first the small tree can easily break in the wind, before it has grown strong enough with long roots to stand strong. It is a long struggle for a tree to grow strong, with ongoing threats such as storms, droughts, diseases, etc.
At the same time, it felt like a tree could feel far-fetched, a little too deep and too far from the story itself.
Finally, after Helena made me let go of the tree (LOL) I realized that the cover we agreed on is the one which fully reflects the story and the feeling I wanted to evoke.
The final book cover
A female figure standing in the sea that connects the worlds, where the stories take place in; New York, the Caribbean and Israel. The Twin Towers remain on the cover, since the story takes place before the Twin Towers were attacked. The red line that goes straight through the name of the book shows, with its curves, a beating heart. But at the same time it is an irregular curve where you can never know what the next curve will look like, if there at all will be a next beat.
Audiobook cover
When I then signed a contract, for the Swedish audiobook, with Word Audio Publishing, they chose a slightly different cover. A cover I really think fits the audiobook market and which I could definitely see as a poster if my book would one day come to life as a movie :).
What do you as readers think about book covers and book titles; What do you first look for when choosing one of many books from a bookshelf?
