We’re always told not to judge a book by its cover. But is that advice really meant to be taken literally?
Many sci fi covers have a very specific look – a futuristic font. Space. A cool looking ship. A man in a space suit. These visual cues help us grasp immediately that this is a sci fi book.
If a book just had a photo of a pickle on it, would that make you as a sci fi reader want to pick it up?
Similarly, romance books have their own look. For MM, it’s often the shirtless male torso or torsos, that immediately keys you into the romantic nature of the book.
For FF, it might be two women gazing longingly at one another.
So my questions today: What do you look for in a speculative fiction cover? An LGBTIQ cover? What pulls you in? And what about a sci fi romance? Or a Sci fi shifter story? Does it need to combine visual cues from both genres to work?
Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks!