Bosman and Kidd Comments - Kadin

This week's reading puts "judging a book by its cover" to another meaning. I've always thought that a book cover should reflect the contents of the book instead, but I am pleasantly surprised by the innovative ways Kidd designs covers which allow the reader to interact with the cover itself (for example: Naked and 1Q84). Though it is important, as a consumer I've never really cared too much for the book cover itself, besides reading a synopsis of its contents from the back. I think that the genre of the book affects the style of the cover as well. Take manga for example, I would expect to see a cover that is reflective of the theme, like something creepy for a psychological horror series. I also think that the cover of the book requires the publisher to pander towards a certain demographic depending on the contents of the book. The most prominent example being that you will see books tailored for children to read to appear in bright colors, more often than not.

Quoting from Bosman, who is quoting from Ingram: “These extra fancy covers, if tastefully done, cause customers to notice the book, pick it up and look it over,” and “It works the other way too. A dull uninteresting cover can make people pass over the title.” Indeed, I definitely would not bat an eye towards a book that looks too simplistic in design. I believe that selling a book is half attracting someone to notice the book, and the other half is the content of the book itself. I think that it is quite ironic that a bestselling book requires you to also judge it by its cover in the first place.

Regarding my stance of digital vs physical, I definitely prefer reading a book physically compared to a digital version. As Kidd said, the feel of flipping the pages, and sniffing the book (I don't really like the way he says it) truly impacts your immersion into a book. The cover of a book definitely contributes to the pleasure of owning a book physically, rather than just simply downloading it. Particularly more so if it is a collection or a series.