It’s not a deciding factor for me necessarily. If I wasn’t going to read a book before a new cover won’t change my mind. But still if I’m at the bookstore the books that jump out at me are usually the ones with the more interesting covers.

I know, I know. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. And I’m with the person above – if I’m not interesting in the book to begin with, a great cover won’t convince me that suddenly I absolutely must read said pretty-looking book. BUT, that being said, I think there is a lot of appeal in a good book design. Each of the above versions of Lolita paint a very different picture (no pun intended) of the story, but all are accurate in their own way. And if a book I’ve never heard of has a great cover, I’m definitely more likely to grab it off the shelf (or table or spinner or booth or stand etc) in the first place.

So… yes, book design matters, but not in place of content – in conjunction with it.

Sure, I’ll pick it up and have a look inside, a clever book cover does make a difference.