Back Cover Controversy

The old saying, “Never judge a book by its cover” has its place, but a good author knows that a book’s cover will be the only thing a reader has to judge in buying a book. Many books receive bad reviews precisely because the cover was misleading, not only in the image, but more specifically in the back cover description, which may be hyped up marketing as well as deceiving in terms of the book’s content. Revealing on the back cover any controversial topics and the book’s true genre can help authors find their desired readers while keeping the book out of the hands of those who will disapprove of it.

“I thought this would be a nice love story about a man and a woman—nothing about the cover made me think it was going to be about a lesbian relationship, which I frankly found disgusting to read about.”

“I thought this book was historical fiction since it said it was set in England in the fourteenth century, but then the author introduced a bunch of fairies and a dragon. Nowhere was it indicated that this book was a fantasy novel.”

Such complaints are common among readers who post negative reviews of books. Readers know what kinds of books they want to read, and they rely on back cover descriptions to help them determine whether a book is going to fit their reading preferences. Too often, especially among beginning authors, a book’s description does not always equal what the book is about. Sometimes, this mistake is made by the publisher whose marketing plans for the book seek to sell the book as something it is not. At other times, the author simply thinks it’s better to surprise the reader by not giving away too much information. However, certain information, especially controversial topics key to the book’s plot and themes, need to be stated upfront so they do not turn off readers.

Key topics that should be disclosed on books’ back covers include characters having abortions, characters in homosexual relationships, books that take strong stances on politics, heavy religious themes, and anything else controversial, plus any form of genre-crossing. While a nonfiction book can certainly attract bad reviews from a misleading back cover description, typically, fiction titles are what cross the line by failing to reveal controversial topics or their true genre.

Authors should always be specific about the genre listing on a book’s back cover. Of course, all fiction books can be listed as Fiction, but other general categories like “Mystery, Romance, Horror, Science Fiction, and Historical Fiction” may need more specific categories.

For example, a book listed as a “Mystery” does not sufficiently reveal the book’s true contents if the book is filled with erotic sexual scenes. Such a book might be better listed as “Mystery/Erotica.” A piece of “Historical Fiction,” say for example about Robin Hood, a legendary character, may better be listed as “Historical Fiction/Fantasy” especially if it includes witches or fairies, but simply because Robin Hood himself is not a historical “real” person, it’s best not to claim the book is historical fiction. A “Romance” novel that includes a woman being haunted by a ghost is not the typical “Danielle Steele” type love story a reader may expect, so better to list the book as “Paranormal Romance.” A book listed as “Horror” about a vampire who wants to be a stand-up comedian might be better listed as “Horror/Comedy.”

The advantage to providing more specific genre categorization on your book’s back cover means that you will turn away readers who aren’t going to like your book (turning away readers may sound bad, but it’s not if those readers will only slam your book later). Better yet, someone who likes paranormal romance may be more likely to discover your book rather than not find it because your title is lost amid thousands of other romance novels. Equally, people with a quirky sense of humor who do not like gory horror might still enjoy a comical treatment of a vampire.

Nor do authors need to worry about giving away too much on the back cover. Simply a few words or a sentence can make the difference. For example, a book might be listed as “Historical Fiction” with the following description:

“In 1845, Ned and Katy O’Neill are faced with how to feed their seven children as the potato famine grips Ireland. Their story of adventure and courage will warm readers’ hearts and make them appreciate Irish history in a new way.”

That may sound like a book that historical fiction lovers will want to read, but not necessarily if there’s a ghost in the book. However, if you instead describe the book as “Historical Fiction/Paranormal,” and slightly reword the description to match, those readers who don’t like ghosts won’t read it, while you might gain more readers who are interested in ghosts as well as those interested in Irish history. In fact, you’ll get readers interested in ghosts who aren’t interested in Irish history and you may just win them over to historical fiction as a result, and some historical fiction enthusiasts might not mind a ghost, so you could turn them on to a whole new world of paranormal fiction—all just because you added a few more words to disclose a bit more of the book’s content.

Here’s a simple way to rewrite the back cover description:

“In 1845, Ned and Katy O’Neill are faced with how to feed their seven children as the potato famine grips Ireland. A ghostly encounter will lead them on an adventure that will warm readers’ hearts and make them appreciate Irish history in a new way.”

That’s just a few words to warn any ghost haters out there while advertising to the ghost lovers, without having to make any major changes.

No author wants bad reviews, so making sure a book cover does not mislead readers will prevent a lot of heartache for an author later on. Revealing controversial topics in the book may also lead to new readers finding the book, and new ways to market the book to a broader audience. Remember, readers judge a book by its cover because they have no other way to judge it until they read it. Make sure your book cover allows your potential readers to judge your book correctly.

 

Irene Watson

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

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