Wednesday Drop-In: Results of the Cover Survey

Bonjour, Mes Amis,

Just dropping in real quick to let you know the results of the cover survey that I sent out to folks a few weeks ago. My friend who put the survey together sent the results of the data she collected.

Here’s what the data tells us about the ideal book cover to appeal to the broadest possible audience:

The winning formula: A photographic or richly illustrated cover, dominated by bright and vibrant colors, featuring compelling imagery that’s clearly related to the story — with mostly visuals and minimal text.

Breaking it down by category:

Style: The top three (photographic, illustrated, bold & graphic) are nearly tied, all hovering around 27–31%. This means the “safest” cover leans photographic but with strong artistic composition — it satisfies the largest single group while not alienating illustrated or graphic fans.

Color: Bright and vibrant is the clear winner (65% selected it), making it the one non-negotiable. Pastels and dark/moody palettes are secondary options worth layering in, but high saturation should anchor the palette.

Imagery vs. text: An overwhelming 96% want mostly images or a balanced mix. Only 4 respondents prefer mostly text — keep typography clean and secondary to visuals.

People on the cover: Broadly positive — 61% love or like them, 31% don’t care either way. Only ~14% actively dislike or avoid covers with people, so featuring characters is a net positive for wide appeal.

Story relevance: 97% want covers related to the story. Abstract or “artsy” covers that don’t hint at the content are a near-universal turnoff across this audience.

Covers are the first impression of our books, so it was good to get a small slice of reader opinions about what attracts them to our books. Thanks to my arty pal Mindy for setting up the survey and analyzing the data for us!

Oh and speaking of gorgeous covers (and gorgeous stories!), Make It Real, book 3 in the Walkers of River’s Edge series is currently on sale for just 99 cents at all e-book retailers! If you haven’t read it yet, it’s the perfect book for spring! Just click the book cover to get to all the places you can find Kara and Joe’s story!