Book covers are the first parts of books we notice. It is undeniable that our first impression of the book is based on how the book looks. Apart from the quality of paper, the cover of the book is crucial in forming this first impression. The colours that are used give us insight into what to expect. Typically, darker covers mean serious or fantasy books and lighter colours mean fluffy or romance books. Also, the protagonists of the novels are sometimes featured on the cover. With the Black Lives Matter movement and representation in novels being a much talked about issue, the colour, size etc of the protagonist also become important. But the main question that needs to be answered is – Will rebranding a book with different cover increase your sales? When and Why we need to make change in book cover?
Generally, art directors and their teams design book covers in a way that communicates the main themes of the story. Even though the plot might not be covertly included on the cover, you will generally find motifs and recurring ideas on it. Sometimes even the essence of the story may be communicated. The font is also crucial in altering our expectations and perceptions of what the novel entails.
Now the question is, how do you know you didn’t get a cover right? How do you know it’s time to rebrand? There could be several causes. If the reader misinterprets your title and buys the book thinking it’s going to deliver something different from what it actually does, there’s got to be a problem with its cover. Most genres have specific ‘feels’ to them that the book covers convey. If the reader thinks your book belongs to a different genre altogether, it’s probably because of the title.