It makes me crazy that books in a series don't have numbers on them to help me out. A simple 1, 2, 3, etc on the bottom of the binder or even within the book would be extremely helpful.
My cynical mind wonders if big publishing houses choose to leave off the numbers so poor, helpless, overwhelmed people like myself will simply make a mistake and repurchase the book. But, I'm going to blame that on my cynicism.
Still, please, I beg my fellow authors, do not confuse me even further by making the covers look too similar. I understand the importance of complimentary covers in a series, but each one should be distinctive.
For example, I recently received the first three books of a series to review. The first book was blue and stood out, but books two and three were so confusing.
Two hot guys with orange backgrounds (the exact same color, although the picture is a bit off) with one word F titles. If I had seen book three in the store, I would have assumed I already read it and kept moving. It's just too similar. The back covers didn't help, either.
Please tell me I'm not crazy!
Do you have any cover pet peeves or preferences?
4 comments:
Not crazy! When I want to get into a book series I usually start out with the library. Older series with lots of volumes can be tough to figure out where to start. I agree, adding the # on the side would be so helpful. I'm wondering if they don't so that it doesn't discourage readers from picking up #3 if they haven't read #1 and #2.
One time, I picked up a young adult book. Nothing clued me in to the fact that it was the third in a series. I'm actually glad I did not know, and, fortunately, I was able to get into the story pretty quick without having read the first two books. However, that is an exception. I fear the author whose books you showed has missed out on some sales.
Not crazy at all. That drives me crazy. Like how hard is it to just say the final book or book two. But at the very least, a different color for each book. Like different scale. Orange and red go in the same category. That's confusing.
THANK YOU! I keep telling authors this over and over again! Number your books in a series, and make each cover different with maybe one common element on the cover, i.e. the model.
Also, if the book can be read as a stand-alone, please state that fact, and I might buy it if I have not read other books in the series!
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