First Blog (I know, what an original title, right?)

My first blog should be memorable; I mean first impressions count. A lot. For example, I admit to judging books by their covers. Often, I've been in line at Books-a-Million or Barnes and Noble with books in tow and not a clue about their plots. Cover art is such an underrated and often underestimated factor in a book's success.

Take Shiver (by Maggie Stiefvater) for instance. LOVE the cover. It grabbed my attention and went in my over-filled basket before I even glanced at the plot summary. After all, if the publisher puts this kind of attention to the cover, it HAS to be a good novel, right? My niece noticed it in my precariously balanced stack of books and began reading the book before I could even make it to the register. She continued to read it on the hour ride home and begrudgingly got out of the car to finish it at home.

A few years ago one of my students (who knows how much I appreciate effective design) asked me about the meaning and possible symbolism for the cover of a book she was reading. It was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. That simple cover art question made a huge impact on me. I started a Twilight club in school which includes a book club for other must-reads. My 8th grade language arts classroom library is missing half its books (literally-I only have about 500 books on my shelves now) because students have grabbed them for summer reading. The cover art for The House of Night novels by P.C. and Kristin Cast drew (pun intended) so many of my student readers.

If I like a plot (or someone recommends a book) and I don't like the cover, reading it feels like doing homework. If it is a hardback, I simply remove the paper sleeve. Paperbacks are more challenging. For example, I despise the covers for the Sookie Stackhouse novels (my niece has been telling me to read them, but the cartoonish drawings on the covers kept me from the series). I ended up buying the first one (new cover, thanks to an HBO series based on the books) and got hooked with the plot. Then I had to break down and buy the ugly books. All of them.

So now, my dirty little secret is out. I am a biased bibliophile. If I ever get the guts to submit my novels (and get lucky enough to be published) I hope the covers are appealing. I'd hate to have to display my own books so that only the spine shows.