Thank you, Laddie, thank you! Peyton Place with a white cover -- I love it! I can't read in the car, either, and an audio book takes over all, and I do mean all, my attention so driving is not recommended.
Shelf space -- ugh! I'm weeding now. Do we really need a text on proper typewriting? Probably not. I remember a summer school class my mother made me take at ESHS on typing. She said everybody should be able to type. And cook. And iron a shirt. Ah, yes, you took me back.
Thanks again!

Wow, great story about the X's and O's cover, and insights into publishers and bookstore promotion. Thanks! (Hmmm. When my WIP comes out, can my publisher spring for a window display? Wonder how much one would cost?)

Yow may have seen this article, but if not -- this is a bookstore I want to visit!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/theater/drama-book-shop-lin-manuel-miranda.html
Thanks again for a good comment and . . . what's for dinner?

If I may, the answer to that question is, yes, book covers do influence book sales. I owned a small bookstore in a rural area for 15 years (1998-2013), and one aspect of bookselling (that I suspect most readers here already know) is that publishes offer financial incentives to booksellers for advertising and in-store promotion of some titles, and the most common promotions are (or were, things may have changed) featuring a title in a window display, face-out on a table or endcap, or face-out on a shelf.

Obviously, publishers aren't spending time and money on designing covers because they're art fans--they might be, but when a business invests in something it's because they expect it will benefit their bottom line. I think what is misunderstood about book covers is the way they influence sales: a poorly written book, especially by an unknown author, will not be helped by the cover no matter how beautiful or provocative it is. On the other hand, the wrong book cover can hurt the sales of a well-written book by an established, very popular author. As proof of this, I offer Michael Lewis and his book "The Blind Side."

As a fan of Michael Lewis, I would order his new books sight unseen (I.e., even if I hadn't read an ARC), so when the Norton rep told me there was a new Michael Lewis, I ordered a few copies (probably only three or four--like I said, it was a small store and this was the hardcover). The artwork on the original hardcover edition was black (like a chalk board) with Michael Lewis' name in white scrawled across the top half, and an Xs and Os diagram of a football play on the bottom half. It was a dud. For the better part of a year it sat, face out, gathering dust. And, apparently that was its' fate at most bookstores. A while later, when the trade paperback was scheduled to come out, the rep asked me about ordering, and I declined, saying "I don't think so--it didn't work..." I was about to explain that, not being a football fan, I hadn't even bothered with it, when the rep jumped in with, "Don't worry! They've re-designed the cover!" It seemed that the chalkboard cover led people to think it was about technical aspects of football, something that, apparently, few people were interested in, regardless of the author.

My takeaway: a bestselling author just needs their name on the cover; for everyone else, it seems to me the true art of a book cover is a design that conveys genre and something about the story (character, setting, era, etc.), and is also interesting enough to get a bookstore or website browser to stop long enough to read a bit more about it.

Okay...I obviously have far too much time on my hands this afternoon, so I'm going away now to find something to cook or clean.

The Drama Bookstore In Manhattan. Reborn! It's quite a story. Well worth a read, if only for the giant sculpture of a literal bookworm . . .

Treasures all, Darlene! In another comment I refer to a photo sent to me of a teenager holding up two of her favorite books. Yes, choices indeed. Bobbsey Twins, yeah!
Thanks for commenting.

That's in interesting question, and in fact one that relates to e-books vs physical books. For answers I think the best thing to do is search the Writers in the Storm files for articles about that topic. I know you'll find it worthwhile. Let me know how it works out, and good luck!

Thanks for the "promotion". So, do the covers have anything to do with potential book sales?

Victoria, thank you so much! I hadn't thought about it for a long time, but I started out with Norse mythology -- Loki & Odin and Ragnarok -- in books from the Fullerton Public Library. And yet, when I discovered The Hardy Boys I still loved their adventures. I suspect those very early myth stories are one reason I like The Avengers movies so well, The first time I watched the first one I said, "They got Loki right!" And Heinlein has the Bifrost Lounge on one of his interstellar spaceships. These things stick with us, don't they?

Thanks again.