This is fascinating. I love a gorgeous book cover and yes, I do judge books by their cover and avoid books with covers that signal genres/subgenres that I'm not interested in reading. (Looking at you, cozy mystery. A cat or dog on the cover is an almost always an automatic pass for me.)
I'm so interested in how cover design communicates genre (as well as subtler aspects of the book)! All of my covers (the hardcover and paperback releases of my debut had different cover designs) have had faces on them, which seems less common than setting for suspense.
It was fun to go look at your covers, Sarah! They definitely say "suspense." I liked the paperback cover of THE OTHER ME, in particular. It was a cool combination of image and title that pulled me into the premise. Thanks for commenting!
Love this analysis!! My thriller cover has that pink/purple trend that Penny mentioned. (I love it too.) A “shouty” all-caps yellow for the title, which I think is striking bc they are opposites on the color wheel (very Bunny!) and a face partially hidden by fiery paint strokes (works for the 9/11 setting). So, like, all of the above?
I’m in the book cover process right now, so I am fascinated by this discussion. Especially interested in the colors trends. My favorite here is Girl A.
Oooooh, if you can say anymore, please do--I'm so curious what you are seeing and thinking about colors, font, or anything else. Congratulations on your forthcoming book. May it have the BEST COVER EVER.
I can’t speak to my cover (yet) but I have noticed more purple lately in covers—like a moody purple. And pink (my personal favorite because it feels a bit unexpected in suspense). The covers I like the most suggest the vibes, for lack of a better word, of the whole book.
Oh, and I will also add that I’m drawn to the covers with a single iconic image/symbol on the front like Nightbitch and Bunny. ✨
I love this kind of stuff! Getting ready for my debut novel (a thriller) to come out next summer and I'm VERY curious what the cover will look like. My favorite recent cover is Chelsea Bieker's literary suspense novel, MADWOMAN. It almost has a retro domestic thriller vibe to the font, and the artwork on it is gorgeous!
I brought out my first psychological/domestic suspense in May and did some color analysis by sorting the Top 50 in the genre on Amazon. Two colorways predominated: either blues with gold, or reds with black. Other colorways may look cool (like the purple mentioned above) but at this point, they won't necessarily telegraph "suspense" to the average reader; your title, font, imagery will have to do double duty if your colors are outside the norm.
Wow, I knew we'd get commenters who know more than I do about things like colors! Thanks for commenting, Maggie. Very interesting! I also wonder how long it takes for the "in" colors to change. Is it slower or faster than we see fashion silhouettes and styles changing? (Asks the woman who just bought old Levis via Ebay because she prefers the kind she wore 20 years ago.)
This is fascinating. I love a gorgeous book cover and yes, I do judge books by their cover and avoid books with covers that signal genres/subgenres that I'm not interested in reading. (Looking at you, cozy mystery. A cat or dog on the cover is an almost always an automatic pass for me.)
Agreed!
I'm so interested in how cover design communicates genre (as well as subtler aspects of the book)! All of my covers (the hardcover and paperback releases of my debut had different cover designs) have had faces on them, which seems less common than setting for suspense.
It was fun to go look at your covers, Sarah! They definitely say "suspense." I liked the paperback cover of THE OTHER ME, in particular. It was a cool combination of image and title that pulled me into the premise. Thanks for commenting!
Love this analysis!! My thriller cover has that pink/purple trend that Penny mentioned. (I love it too.) A “shouty” all-caps yellow for the title, which I think is striking bc they are opposites on the color wheel (very Bunny!) and a face partially hidden by fiery paint strokes (works for the 9/11 setting). So, like, all of the above?
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing, and we can’t wait to hear more about your book.
PS oh hooray you’re substack has your cover on it. (It’s a beauty!) I’ll update our post and include the image tomorrow!
Your not you’re. Thanks, autocorrect.
Oh wow thank you!!
I’m in the book cover process right now, so I am fascinated by this discussion. Especially interested in the colors trends. My favorite here is Girl A.
Oooooh, if you can say anymore, please do--I'm so curious what you are seeing and thinking about colors, font, or anything else. Congratulations on your forthcoming book. May it have the BEST COVER EVER.
I can’t speak to my cover (yet) but I have noticed more purple lately in covers—like a moody purple. And pink (my personal favorite because it feels a bit unexpected in suspense). The covers I like the most suggest the vibes, for lack of a better word, of the whole book.
Oh, and I will also add that I’m drawn to the covers with a single iconic image/symbol on the front like Nightbitch and Bunny. ✨
Thank you for those details! Purple—interesting. I’ll be watching out for that！
I love this kind of stuff! Getting ready for my debut novel (a thriller) to come out next summer and I'm VERY curious what the cover will look like. My favorite recent cover is Chelsea Bieker's literary suspense novel, MADWOMAN. It almost has a retro domestic thriller vibe to the font, and the artwork on it is gorgeous!
I brought out my first psychological/domestic suspense in May and did some color analysis by sorting the Top 50 in the genre on Amazon. Two colorways predominated: either blues with gold, or reds with black. Other colorways may look cool (like the purple mentioned above) but at this point, they won't necessarily telegraph "suspense" to the average reader; your title, font, imagery will have to do double duty if your colors are outside the norm.
Wow, I knew we'd get commenters who know more than I do about things like colors! Thanks for commenting, Maggie. Very interesting! I also wonder how long it takes for the "in" colors to change. Is it slower or faster than we see fashion silhouettes and styles changing? (Asks the woman who just bought old Levis via Ebay because she prefers the kind she wore 20 years ago.)