What an interesting exercise. I agree with Gen about color, but to my dismay, I found that I don't like or respond viscerally to most covers in the cozy mystery genre. I respond most strongly to the titles, or to spooky grey/blue/black covers that suggest the UFs to be found in the spooky mansions/forests/etc. I found only one cover, a cute cat semi-cartoon, that did strongly suggest that I click on the buy button, and that was because it suggested 'getting punished because you’ve been bad'. I do remember an older series that had covers that were closeups of flowers. Along with the titles, these covers shouted 'small town life' and evoked all of the UFs to be found there.
I neglected to use a cover that was quite marketable (IMO) and on genre because the colors felt wrong. I don't know if that was a genius instinct moment or a stupid I-do-what-I-want moment (well, probably the latter... since I should have emailed the designer to tweak). But I really couldn't get past how wrong the scheme was. It was for a different author, who wrote for a different audience. I have one book in my last series with a similarly wrong cover & I am still debating changing it.
I read a wide variety of genres but the fantasy books are the ones that hook me purely based on the covers. It's actually the colours that attract me the most. Jewel tones of blue and green with a fiery/golden halo that surrounds the main character or magical/mysterious object. My whole kindle library is filled with a very similar colour palette. My own best selling books actually have similar colors as well even though they are not at all fantasy.
What an interesting exercise. I agree with Gen about color, but to my dismay, I found that I don't like or respond viscerally to most covers in the cozy mystery genre. I respond most strongly to the titles, or to spooky grey/blue/black covers that suggest the UFs to be found in the spooky mansions/forests/etc. I found only one cover, a cute cat semi-cartoon, that did strongly suggest that I click on the buy button, and that was because it suggested 'getting punished because you’ve been bad'. I do remember an older series that had covers that were closeups of flowers. Along with the titles, these covers shouted 'small town life' and evoked all of the UFs to be found there.
I neglected to use a cover that was quite marketable (IMO) and on genre because the colors felt wrong. I don't know if that was a genius instinct moment or a stupid I-do-what-I-want moment (well, probably the latter... since I should have emailed the designer to tweak). But I really couldn't get past how wrong the scheme was. It was for a different author, who wrote for a different audience. I have one book in my last series with a similarly wrong cover & I am still debating changing it.
I read a wide variety of genres but the fantasy books are the ones that hook me purely based on the covers. It's actually the colours that attract me the most. Jewel tones of blue and green with a fiery/golden halo that surrounds the main character or magical/mysterious object. My whole kindle library is filled with a very similar colour palette. My own best selling books actually have similar colors as well even though they are not at all fantasy.