Kami Mukenschnabl: "Dear Carmen Maria Machado: I Judge A Book By Its Cover"

Dear Carmen Maria Machado: I Judge A Book By Its Cover

By: Kami Mukenschnabl

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Almost everyone has heard this saying in some form or another, but how many people can actually make themselves resist the power of first impressions and pick up a book with an ugly cover?  I know, for me, a bad cover turns me away from the book. Although picking a book up because of its appearance may seem extremely superficial, especially since I have read plenty of good books with bad covers, it makes sense.  If I don’t know what a book is about or I have no idea what I am looking for, the cover is what will draw me in because it is my first impression of the book.  Although the content of the book may not match up with how great a cover is, the cover is what will make me want to at least consider reading the book.  So, in order to get a reader like me to read a book, a nice cover is what entices me.  While a specific cover does not determine whether or not a book is a good book, it does attract me towards a book and makes me want to read it. So yes, a cover may seem like the least important part of the book, but in all honesty, it is one of the most important parts of the book for me because it makes me excited to read it.

That being said, when a book cover does not match up with its content, I am extremely disappointed.  With a good cover comes a high expectation about the content of the story.  So, the biggest letdown I, as a reader, have when reading a story is that the cover is too good for the story.  For me, this happens when the story is too long for the content it has.  I read a lot of different genres, including SF which I have recently discovered, and I am typically not turned off by the specific genre of story.  However, one of my pet peeves when reading is that the story is dragged on.  There are times when there is not enough detail or plot to justify dragging a story on an extra couple hundred pages. So, telling a story where there is not one just makes me completely bored.  Don’t get me wrong, I love reading a good, long novel, but there are certain stories that need to stay in short-story form.  Typically, if a story is going to be written in a longer version, it needs to keep the punches coming with action scenes, surprising details, unexpected events, and any eye-opening information.  If a story can keep this up, then I can appreciate the story, even if may not always have the best writing style.  

When I first consider a book, it typically needs to have a great cover.  Then, once I start reading the book, it needs to keep my interest.  If a story can accomplish this, chances are that I will find it to be a great book.