Please help us welcome author Amelia Bishop today to celebrate our 5 Year Blogiversary. She’s here to chat about book packaging, and is also giving one lucky reader to win a book from her backlist, so be sure to check out the details below.
Welcome, Amelia!
Hi! I’m so happy to be here for the Blogiversary of The Novel Approach Reviews! Thank you for having me.
So… I noticed recently a bit of drama about a popular m/f book with #problematic romance (kidnapping, non-consensual, abuse). I clicked the link to view the offending book, as you do, and I read the blurb and the comments and basically decided it wasn’t something I needed to think too much about.
Then I was wrapping gifts with my kids (these things are connected, I promise) and my daughter, who is 12, had what she thought was a hysterically funny idea. She took a tiny joke gift for my husband (a little brass bell that says “Danger: Fart Alert!” on it lol) and wrapped it in a giant box. She laughed and laughed about this clever trick. When my husband noticed the big beautiful package with the tag “to Dad” slapped on the top of it, he was suitably impressed. She sat there like the cat who ate the canary, super happy with phase one of her great Christmas joke.
Later, I saw yet another Facebook thread about the scandalous book. I admit, the book in question is not one I would ever read, even without knowing any of the drama associated with it. Here’s why: the packaging. (See, I told you I’d connect it!) Packaging on a book—cover, blurb, title, tagline—all help inform reader’s expectations. So we can’t pull the kind of trick my 12 year old did. We have to be clear about what’s in the package.
Me personally, I never read anything with the words “bad boy” or “alpha” or anything hinting at darkness. It’s just not my thing. One thing I LOVE about the Romance genre is the variety of subjects, themes, and characters we have. It seems there is a book for every mood and any taste. So while I ignore the “bad boy” books, many other readers zoom in on them.
When I write a book, I try so hard to get that packaging right. I don’t always succeed, but I do try. My books are lighter, more gentle and sweet. But I also put in a good deal of explicit sex, so I have to make sure that is communicated, too. My main characters are not big, hyper-masculine types. I tend to write more down-to-earth, sensitive MCs. Which means I have to make my covers sexy without using brawny tattooed bodybuilders, and make them romantic and sensual without promising too much “alpha” action. It’s harder than you might think!
It makes me wonder how many people consciously choose (or avoid) books based on cover art and keywords in the blurbs. Am I alone in doing this? If you look at your kindle shelf, are there a lot of similarities in the colors or images there? What makes you pick up a book? What kinds of images and words attract you, and what puts you off? Or do you let the reviews convince you? I’d love to hear your opinions :)
To help The Novel Approach celebrate, I’m offering a title of your choice from my backlist in either paperback (US shipping only) or e-book to one lucky winner!
Find Amelia at: Facebook || Twitter || Website || Goodreads
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The Novel Approach Reviews 
Thank you for your post Amelia.
If a cover appeals to me I am more likely to read the blurb and reviews than when I don’t like the cover. I know it is silly. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover after all. But first impressions count.
Secondly I read the reviews. If a book has many 4-5 star reviews it should be good, shouldn’t it.
Then I read the blurb. If I like that I use the ‘look inside’ option to read the first few chapters to see if I enjoy the way of writing.
If the writing doesn’t appeal to me I usually don’t buy the book no matter the raving reviews.
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First impressions do count! I think it is perfectly okay to judge a book by its cover, considering how much careful consideration goes into cover design.
I use a similar method of using the cover, reviews, blurb and look inside feature all together to make my decisions. It takes a few minutes but at least I am rarely disappointed! Thanks for commenting :)
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Hi Amelia I do love to look at book covers but it’s the blurb that makes me pick the book and of course I have auto buy authors or sometimes a friend/review sites recommends it. I’m with you on “anything hinting at darkness”. I don’t like to read “BDSM” or “rent boy” type books I know other people love them and it great that all reader tastes are catered for, they are just not for me.
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Blurb is important. I love a blurb that gives me a lot of hints but I hate it when the blurb is a synopsis of the whole book. How picky am I! LOL
I also generally avoid BDSM which is funny since my most popular title is a BDSM story I wrote for the Goodreads mm romance group. (It is not dark, though, and pretty vanilla)
It’s nice that readers like you and I have plenty of lighthearted reads to choose from in our genre :)
Thanks so much for the comment!
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Hi Amelia
There are a few genres I generally avoid – scifi, space, high fantasy, au, shifters and musicians for some odd reason! – though if a blog review site such as TNA give a good review or I can see that there is enough ‘reality’ that I can cope, I may give it a go
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I kind of avoid sci-fi as well, though I don’t have a good reason :) I guess we all have our tastes!
I agree, a good review from a trusted blogger (one who I know usually shares my tastes) is the best incentive to pick up a book.
<3
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Thanks for the post. I do look at a cover but it doesn’t always mean I’ll buy it based on just that. I tend to go with the blurb and genre to determine if I want to read/buy a book.
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I think I put a lot more stock in the cover than most people lol. Maybe it is my art background :) but I just can’t resist a great cover!
The blurb is probably a better indicator of whether I’ll like a book, though. Thanks for commenting!
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I read the blurb and if it catches my interest, then I’ll read the excerpt. Lastly, I read reviews on GR, but I don’t base my interest in reading the book in the reviews alone, no matter what the negs have to say (unless there are more negs than pos.). I read a wide spectrum in the M/M genre, none in the F/M. Ever since I discovered M/M back in 2010, that was it for me. :D
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