Top Ten Cover Trends I Love (or Hate)

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is:

Top Ten Cover Trends I Love (or Hate)

This one was hard for me because, while I absolutely LOVE some covers (and hate others), it's hard for me to always really quantify why.  Still, when I took a look, I was definitely able to come up with some patterns.  Not sure if these are really trends or not, but this is what I'm going with.  I couldn't quite come up with ten either.

I LOVE:

Rich Colors

I absolutely LOVE colorful covers - especially when the colors are rich and bold. The covers for the Splintered series are AMAZING to me - I absolutely adore them.  And it's all about the color!! 

Color is probably one of the most influential factors in whether or not I truly love a cover.   In fact, you'll find that lots of my favorite covers that fall into other categories below also have vibrant colors!

Tactile Covers

I love it when the cover of a book FEELS interesting.  Obviously, you can't see this in the pictures, but the sheet music on the cover of Maybe Someday feels like ... well ... sheet music paper. And the inside cover of Scorched (under the sleeve) is made to feel like dragon scales!!

Fun Typography

Sometimes the typography on a cover is the star of the show!  Both of these books captured my attention with the cool titles (especially The Assassin's Curse - every time I see this book, I just know I want to read it - just based on the typography alone!).

Stars

I could probably find you twenty covers that I adore that have to do with stars.  LOVE them!

Pretty Dresses

Yep!  I know lots of people hate them (or are sick of them), but I'm kind of a sucker for a pretty dress - as long as it goes with the story!

Fantastical Settings

Just look at these amazingly awesome places!  Don't you want to go there?  (At least just for a minute!)

I HATE:
(Or at least don't love)

Minimalism

Maybe this is why it took me so long to get into contemporary books - the covers often just don't appeal to me.  I am bored by minimalist covers and it takes a lot more for me to want to pick one up.  A cover with just a title?  Ho hum.  

Symbols

This is really an extension of the last point.  I just don't get drawn in by a plain cover with a symbol on it.  Doesn't do it for me.  I absolutely loved The Prophecy by Erin Albert, but the cover just doesn't do it justice.  And I've heard amazing things about Outlander, but that cover!  I just haven't been able to bring myself to read it and I think the cover is half the reason!  LOL!

Cartoons

Illustrated or cartoony covers generally don't catch my eye unless they're kids books.  I don't know why, since some of them are really cute, but I just don't feel drawn to books with these types of illustrated covers. 

Bad Self-Published Covers

I'm not going to put any pictures here because it just seems mean, but there are some really cheesy covers out there that scream "self-published author who doesn't have access to a good cover designer!"  I sometimes still give these books a chance, but it is a big strike against the book!

Oh, and one more thing ...

I really hate it when the cover doesn't match the book.  I don't mind people on my covers, but they'd better match the description of the character in the book, or I'm downright aggravated.  A cover that has seemingly nothing to do with the book?  Hate it!  (Although I heard a funny story recently about how most authors have absolutely no control over their covers and how one author actually had to add a random apple picking scene into her book because her publishers insisted on using a cover with an eighteen year old girl holding apples even though the book was about a much older woman - and there were no apples originally involved.  Craziness!!)

So, what do you think?  Do you agree with me?  Totally disagree?  I want to know!