It's definitely in the interest of the authors' branding to spend the money for new covers. It can pay off, financially, in the end. In this particular case, following the trends and adapting matters.

denise

Thank you!! I think a lot of the psychology also revolves around what people think will catch the buyer's eye. How do you get your cover to stand out among all the others with mostly the same kind of artwork...sometimes putting that splash of hot pink can get you noticed. In theory...in a good way. Sometimes not. At the end of the day it's often difficult to predict what the public will take a liking to next. When one thing looks like it's catching on, it causes a run.

My pleasure 🙂

I 100% agree that you've got something there and it would be fantastic if there was a photographer/graphic artist/cover designer cooperative!

My cover artist is working on a SciFi cover with me. One of the possibilities shows a head-shot side view. I'm not sure about using a particular face as readers develop their own image of characters as they read.

As for font size, lol, I think well known authors' fans will grab a book that carries that author's name.

I hadn't considered the font type! Thank you for pointing this out.

Great post!

Thanks Jenny! I think about this stuff every time I design a new cover...first to keep up with the market but mostly because I spend hours and hours hunting for fresh faced models for covers. I'd rather have a face, because it connects with the reader better, but when we end up with the same faces on so many covers that you can't tell the books apart it stops connecting and becomes...well, wallpaper. So I get the trend toward illustrations. They at least look unique. But I'm not a huge fan because it muddies the message, especially for the heat level of romance. I swear if some photographers out there banded together to shoot specifically for book covers they'd have a thriving business. Hmmm...