You know the old saying: “You can’t tell a book by its cover.” But you’ll never hear anyone in the trade publishing business say you can’t sell a book by its cover. Because the aim of their design, marketing, and sales team is to do just that—sell you a book because you love the cover.

And it doesn’t matter to them whether it’s the cover for a cookbook, women’s romance, thriller, self-improvement, biography, or memoir. The goal is the same: Sell it by the surface, not the substance.

In fact, to observe the gyrations of those involved with a book cover, you sooner or later come to the conclusion that it’s the title, cover design, jacket copy and blurbs—not the text—that matter most. And from a publisher’s bottom-line perspective, it very well may be true.

When you wander around in a mega-store, watching how customers make their buying decisions, you notice something curious: A higher percentage than you would ever guess don’t open the book to read any text. For some, scanning the front and back cover, flap copy, and endorsement blurbs is what it’s about. Others search for the author’s photo, perhaps believing a picture is worth a thousand words. A few skim the table of contents. And some may even read the opening paragraph or two. But how many actually open the book randomly and begin reading a sample of the text? Strange as it may seem, not too many. So, despite the author/agent concern for reviews and “off the page” publicity, there appears to be good reason for publishers making such a big deal out of selling a book by loving its cover.

You want to enjoy looking at a book’s attractive cover design over and over while reading it. And especially if you wrote it. As a serious reader, writer, and book buyer, you want to find some satisfaction in the cover each and every time you pull it from your bookshelf. This makes your book more than a read-it-and-then-sell-on-E-Bay commodity. Your purchased book becomes a possession—sometimes even a prized one—something that is a small but ongoing part of your life, at any time to be plucked from the shelf for further reference or enjoyment. And when your name is on the cover, all of this is even more important to you.

When it comes to cover design, acquiring editors are sure to have their input, as they have shepherded the book from the start and have a stake in seeing it succeed in the marketplace. They are intimately familiar with the actual text and don’t want to see their “baby” risk not receiving the attention it deserves because of a poorly-designed cover.

The design/art department takes personal pride in creating a cover that will be attractive to the eye and alluring to the public. Their job is to the distinguish your book from all the other books in competition for the consumer’s attention. And we’re talking about not only those books of the same ilk or section on the same shelf but virtually everything in the store. To stand out, the title, cover, and flap copy need to be just the right combination of font size, design, and color. The design team consider themselves experts in doing their job. They have seen everything out there, know the latest cover fashions, and trust their own skills. And they think they know better than the author what works and what doesn’t.

But the author and her agent may—and often do— disagree with the design team’s product, believing the cover doesn’t reflect the nature of the content, is not dignified enough, appeals to the wrong segment of the book-buying public, of just isn’t as attractive as the design team thinks it is. This is just as likely to become an issue with non-fiction as with fiction. These disagreements between author/agent and design/marketing happen more often than you might think. Of course, they are all kept quietly “in-house,” not spoken about publicly, and most of the time, a compromise solution is arrived at that allows both sides to come out relatively satisfied with the result. But bad feelings may be created in the process. Once, I had to send a male editor chocolate after I had offended him by criticizing his change in a title.

The whole process is complicated by the fact that outsiders, such as major book buyers like Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart and others also cast their vote on the title and cover design. And if they don’t like what the design team has come up with, you can be sure their objections are going to be seriously considered. After all, these major players in the distribution and sales process have tremendous clout, as they determine what gets purchased and promoted and what doesn’t.

When embroiled in a disagreement about title, cover, or flap copy, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the design/marketing team and the author have the same intention in mind. That is, to come up with an intriguing title and cover begging the reader to open it, browse, and decide to buy it. An image, fantasy, mental association, blurb or even an author photo—something that grabs the reader’s attention and hooks him into wanting more.

Let me give you a personal example of how sensitive an issue the title can be. Way back in the pre-internet era of the early nineties, I wrote a high-level self-help book on perfectionism. I was proud of it then and am proud of it now. It was not written in short, snappy paragraphs with simple vocabulary, lots of white space and numerous sub-heads, as most of this type of book are today. No, it included some long paragraphs that required close reading and reflection. And it included theory that was not the easiest for readers to tackle but rewarding when they did. It was published by the foremost publisher at the time representing the human potential movement. It covered the topic from all conceivable angles and gave plenty of interesting and readable case histories. It had been very closely line-edited by an outside editor paid by the publisher, and who would snail-mail me thick packets of his changes aimed at making the text more reader-friendly.

Originally, the publisher and I agreed the main title of the book would be “The Perfection Trap.” But back in those days, the fashion in titles for self-help books was to have something beginning with “when,” as in “When Good Enough is Never Enough.” So, by the time the marketing reps put their two cents in, this became the title. But only after I objected to what the really wanted to title it: “When Good Enough Isn’t.” At the time, I just couldn’t stand the thought of living with a contraction in the title.

Did it end up making any difference? Well, I do remember that when I did my publicity tour, a few radio hosts got the title screwed up when they announced it. On the other hand, there have been a number of rip-offs of my title over the years for other books on the topic, so these authors and editors must have thought it was good enough to make theirs sound the same.

More savvy now to the whole marketing game, I would be less resistant today to call it “When Good Enough Isn’t.” I also would have followed publisher Jeremy Tarcher’s advice, which was to publish it initially in trade paper rather than hard-cover, as we would have sold a ton more books if we had.

A second example, this time having to do not with title but with cover design. In 2000, just as the stock market was crashing, I published a book on the psychology of online trading and investing. The cover sent to me was of some guy’s legs beneath a table with a lap-top in front of him, implying he was trading online. It was just terrible. I made it clear they needed to come up with something much better. To my editor’s credit, they want back to the literal drawing board and came up with three more covers before I found one I really liked. They listened to me, even though in the publishing world, I was a nobody being paid relatively nothing. In addition, I also asked that my name be put in a larger font on the front cover, which, despite not being their normal practice, they also agreed to. You haven’t truly tested your ego-strength until you’ve fought to get your name in a larger font on the cover.

I urge you to take a stab at writing your own flap and back cover copy, whether your book is fiction or non-fiction. At least, make it clear you want a chance to improve on what the copy editor comes up with. Often, you can smooth out the flow, find important details to include, or just help present the material in a more compelling fashion. Your editor will appreciate your interest in contributing and will usually incorporate at least some of your improvements. Don’t be afraid to get involved.

Two things I want to point out in these examples: The first is that your editor wants your input and wants to please you if at all possible. Your publisher wants you to work hard to sell your book and he knows you will work harder if you’re happy with its appearance.

And the second is that it was between me and my editors directly that these issues were hammered out. My agent was not the guy doing my bidding. Some authors prefer not to get into the fray, instead letting their agent to it. But if you are moderately assertive and trust your own eye for design, speak up yourself. Even if you do some strategizing with your agent or join forces with him in pleading your case to get what you want.

It is your book and you owe it to yourself to make damn sure you are proud of the finished product. Because many years later, long after your book has been remaindered, you still have to live with it. And you don’t want to regret that good enough wasn’t.

© 2006 Steven Hendlin, Ph.D.

Steven Hendlin, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newport Beach, California
who has been in private practice for 30 years. Formerly a columnist for TheStreet.com for 74 consecutive weeks, he currently writes the “Shrink Rap” column for COAST Magazine. Dr. Hendlin is the author of four books and hundreds of professional and popular articles, reviews, and columns.

Visit him at www.hendlin.net. He is pleased to receive your comments and questions for publication in his Backspace column at baney@yahoo. com, but please remember that he is unable to provide personal counseling or psychotherapy through the mail.