I have definitely gotten burned by a cover that gives the wrong impression of a novel- even the wrong genre. And it's a complaint I see often on GoodReads when the marketing copy on the back cover and the image give the entirely wrong impression. Readers are smart - don't try to fool them. It will backfire
I feel awful for the author because when I mentioned it, I hadn’t been the first! I’d be curious to understand the why behind such a decision. For my book, I was given a lot of input before they even hired a designer and I was able to notate my likes, dislikes, examples of what I liked. Then I was given 2 choices and one was spot on (which is what I chose) while the other would have made paint drying more fun to look at.
I have definitely gotten burned by a cover that gives the wrong impression of a novel- even the wrong genre. And it's a complaint I see often on GoodReads when the marketing copy on the back cover and the image give the entirely wrong impression. Readers are smart - don't try to fool them. It will backfire
I feel awful for the author because when I mentioned it, I hadn’t been the first! I’d be curious to understand the why behind such a decision. For my book, I was given a lot of input before they even hired a designer and I was able to notate my likes, dislikes, examples of what I liked. Then I was given 2 choices and one was spot on (which is what I chose) while the other would have made paint drying more fun to look at.