Insta-book-love: That moment of crashing hard for a book, simply by looking at the cover.
My daughter’s birthday was a couple weeks ago, and while shopping for her party supplies I came across something I knew she would love.
I dropped it in the cart and wrapped it up along with her other presents. The verdict? My daughter proclaimed it as, “The best book, ever!”
All before she even read the first page. In fact, she hadn’t even read the back of the book description! So why did she fall in Insta-book-love with Dork Diaries 9: Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen?
It has cheetah print on the cover. Duh.
She abandoned the other book she was reading and dove straight in. She even wanted to ‘ignore’ family members who were in town for her party so she could keep reading.
I did make her put the book away while the family was visiting, but I can relate to her all-consuming desire to cling to the book. Remember—I was a reader long before I was a writer. I know what a good book cover can do to a person. I’ve fallen in Insta-book-love before. More than once. Sometimes the story held within the cover kept my Insta-book-love alive and well. Then there were the disappointments. Those hurt. I never did look at the cover the same again.
One of my Insta-book-loves was Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. I had been looking for a sweet romance at the time, and when I saw this cover I was hooked. Everything about it just melted my heart. Edenbrooke was Donaldson’s first novel, so I didn’t have much to help me determine if I would love the story as much as the cover. Luck was on my side that day. It’s still one of my favorite books.
Another Insa-book-love for me is Atlantia by Ally Condie. I love everything about this cover. The colors are beautiful. I love the symmetry of the title. I love the simplicity of it. I just want to dive right in and immerse myself in that cover. I haven’t read it yet, though. I’ll be honest—I’ve read Condie’s Matched series and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it. I’m afraid that I’ll simply enjoy Atlantia as well. Not that that’s a bad thing—I just really want to love the story as much as I do the cover. So I’m waiting. I go back every now and again and just stare at that beautiful cover . . .
It’s no surprise that when I became an author I decided very early on that I would give my covers extra special attention. A vast majority of my book budget goes to cover design. I love what Scarlett Rugers has created for each and every one of my books. I was able to experience a whole new kind of Insta-book-love! The first time I saw the cover for Kingston’s Project I got chills. Chills!
What about you—have you ever experienced Insta-book-love? Did the story deliver to the expectations of the cover?
~Carrie
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I’m loving your thoughts and your writing and your blogs. So glad you were/are a part of the indieBRAG blog hop. I LOVE Edenbrooke! I read it once a year. Just enough time to forget a little and to wrap myself up in the story as if for the first time. Love your book cover for Kingston Project and so happy to know I am not the only one who loves a book cover so much that I don’t want to read the story, for thinking I may be disappointed. This happened to me recently with “Head Over Heels” by Karen Whitemeyer. My sister loved the book, but I couldn’t get into it. Maybe I need to give it another try. But maybe I have too many books on my shelf right now to go back.
Thanks! I’m am very happy to be a part of the indieBRAG blog hop this year. It’s been great getting to know so many different authors. Edenbrooke is the first book that I read a second time, and I’ve already been thinking about reading a 3rd! And I do know what you mean about too many books on the TBR shelf. There are just so many good books out there!