yes, we should judge books by their covers

or; why book covers are more important than we think

So, recently i’ve come across a few posts about how they are redoing all the Jane Austen books with modern takes, re-imagining them as rom-coms of sorts.

I’ve always hated the phrase, ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ because to me, this implies that book covers are inherently something to ignore, and that book covers not matching the vibe of the books is a common occurrence. both of these statements are a source of huge frustration to me. the whole reason why i even wanted to read as a kid and teen was BECAUSE of these book covers. and once i grew up and learned the value they get, i was thoroughly disappointed.

Granted, the phrase is often used as a way of telling people not to judge someone on first impression or on how they look and most times have no correlation to books at all, but the phrase does stem from a common trend that i dislike thoroughly.

So today, i would like to debunk the myth that book covers are not as important (because they absolutely are) and talk about how they have changed over the years.

note: i might make a post about the fascinating history of book covers separately if there’s any demand for it or if my research leads me down that path, but for now i will only be focused on my own discoveries and observations.

my relationship with book covers

I remember as a teen just staring at my cousin’s bookshelf, absolutely enamored by each of them and wondering how the artist could fit so many details into them. one author’s work stood out to me however, and that is Stephen King. his book covers grabbed my attention like no other. they were striking works of art that both made sense given the content inside, and a work of art onto themselves. some of my favorites of these include:

As you can see, these book covers tell a story. they are not one or the other in terms of what they convey. they are striking, dark, and eerie, and manage to make you feel exactly how the book itself feels.

But this was not the only place i looked for book covers. other such genres include:

Noir/Pulp covers:

These covers are some of my absolute favorites because while they are beautiful and artistic in their own right, they have no pretenses as to what they are trying to achieve, which is to sensationalize the reader. but despite the obvious “selling out” or commercialization of these cheap covers, they more or less had an integrity to be actually pleasing to look at and tell a story.

gothic horror:

I should note here that books like R.L. Stine’s goosebumps series and Fear street are also in a league of their own as well. they deserve the respect as much as any other book covers. for the sake of convenience though, i decided not to include them here, which does not mean they are not worthy of discussion and praise. in fact, much of paperback horror from the 70s to the 90s deserves praise (check out this wonderful video about them here!)

Now there are a lot more of these but for the sake of getting on with things, i will leave it at that. there are some modern book covers that i do enjoy as well but they are so far in between that it is almost impossible to recollect from memory.

Why do They Matter?

Now, let’s talk about why we should actually care about them in the first place:

Aside from the pure artistry of the craft of book covers themselves, we should first acknowledge the fact that if we were to ignore book covers, we should just toss out the entire practice of making them altogether. what is the point of having a book cover if you are not going to enjoy it? take, for example, album artworks. when you buy an album or when you are listening to some songs, do you not appreciate the artistry behind the work itself? is it not part of the package? for me, book covers and album artworks are both part of a deal between the consumers and the art sellers. when you buy an album, you are not just buying the songs put together in a random order for you to shuffle to. you are buying an experience, and album art is a part of it. same goes for book covers. if you were to read a book, you should be able to enjoy the art that comes with it.

Why should we be content with shitty “minimalist” work (no offense to the designers themselves, i am sure corporate work is no easy thing) of modern book covers of stephen king novels when you could have the wonderful artwork displayed above?

Bring this back:

Not this:

If we keep ignoring them, and if we keep NOT judging books by their covers, we will continue to get these badly designed book covers that vaguely resemble the actual books themselves or worse, keep getting movie/show tie-ins that have no business being there. or we will keep getting weirdly designed “modernized” take on Jane Austen novel that honestly deserve better than whatever horror was unleashed by the publishing industry. keep judging, Y’all. keep judging.