Should you judge a book by its cover? Part 1 - Tarred with the Same Brush (1st and 2nd editions)

A lot of people say 'no', you shouldn't - that is the rule of thumb when it comes to interactions between people (after all, the person you dismissed as fat and/or ugly could be the right one for you for all you might know).  However, when it comes to reading books (or consuming any other kind of 'mass media', particularly print media), the publication usually should be appealing to the reader and grab its attention.  The cover is supposed to attract potential readers into buying the publication.  On a magazine or newspaper, it would include a feature article, while on a book, the cover would also suggest to it's reader exactly what the topic is about.  Something similar would apply to a website's landing page or home page, which should also make the viewer want to see more.

So, if anyone has read my latest posts in this blog about the 2nd edition of Tarred With The Same Brush or seen the cover, you would have seen my 'horns up' hand signal, popular with many Metal Heads, and conclude the book is about Heavy Metal and similar kinds of music (and how people can get judged according to that music).  It is also interesting to note that the 'horns up' sign is not confined to the heavy metal genre, because many other people also do this hand signal these days (see Mark Dice's 'Illuminati in the Music Industry', which interestingly enough, has chapters on Rap and Hip Hop, Pop and even Country Music).  However, I still nevertheless focused on how Heavy Metal has (as long as it had existed) been the main target of the 'Satanic Panic', even though it hasn't always been necessarily the 'worst offending' genre.

And it's not just the pictures that attract readers either?  The colours, arrangement of text and graphics

Anyhow, this should be of interest if you want to share your opinion on these book covers.

Topic – Book Covers (Tarred with the Same Brush - 1st and 2nd Editions)

Just say you were looking for information on Heavy Metal, and you saw the cover of the book.  If you were asked what you thought of it, what would be your opinions? Please choose your answer: zero = Not at all; 1-2 = A little; three = Neutral; four = sometimes; five = a lot (very much so)

To what extent to you find the topic and presentation:

1.      Mentally or intellectually, stimulating?

2.      Educational?

3.      Controversial?

4.      Offensive?

5.      Political?

Information

1.      Relevance of information to the topic at hand: Zero = not at all; to 5 = very relevant;

2.      Depth and scope of information (how much have I included): Zero = no in-depth information to 5 = a lot of in-depth information

3.      How much information can you glean from this presentation: Zero = none at all; 1-2 = a little; three = just enough; 4 = a lot; 5 = too much.

Visual elements

These include text, graphics, colours, tone (light and dark), style, layout, and background. 

You can choose your answers ranging from: zero = Not at all suitable; 1-2 = just a little; three =Neutral; 4-5 = very suitable.

How suitable do you find the following visual elements to this topic:

1.      Graphics (e.g. Illustrations, diagrams and photographs)

2.      Colours – hues (e.g. red, yellow, blue etc); tones (light and dark);

3.      Colour schemes (full colour, monochrome/black and white, grey-scale);

4.      The background of the compositions (e.g. light or dark background, plain/patterned);

5.      Text elements (font or typeface, spacing, size, legibility/readability);

6.      Layouts (one column, two columns, three or more);

7.      Titles, subtitles Headings, and subheadings

8.      The cover (front and back covers, blurb, spine)

What are your thoughts on this idea?

The next few questions are about your thoughts on the idea of this text being a publication e.g. printed, online etc.  For this question: the answers range from: 0 = not at all; to 5 = very much so.

How much in favour are you towards seeing this as a:

For these questions, the answers range from: 0 = highly unlikely; 1-2 = slightly unlikely; 3 = neither likely nor unlikely; 4 = fairly likely; 5 = highly likely.

1.      Printed publication (Book, booklet, as an article in a magazine or newspaper)?

2.      As an online publication e.g. on a website or blog or as in e-book?

3.      As an audio book (cassette or CD), mp3 download or podcast?

4.    As a video – online (YouTube, Vimeo), mpeg4 download or vodcast (video podcast), TV, or DVD/Blue-ray?

How likely are you to read this publication?

1.     Printed publication (Book, booklet, as an article in a magazine or newspaper)?

2.     As an online publication e.g. on a website or blog or as in e-book?

3.     As an audio book (cassette or CD), mp3 download or podcast?

4.   As a video – online (YouTube, Vimeo), mpeg4 download or vodcast, on TV, or DVD/Blue-ray?

How likely are you to subscribe to this publication (as a regular one?

1.      In Print?

2.      Online (through social media)?

3.      Through an email newsletter?

How likely are you to purchase or financially support this publication?

1.      Directly – in a retail store, the markets, a charity store (like St Vincent’s de Paul)?

2.     Online or direct mail order – through Reader’s Digest, Amazon, Shopify, Blurb, Red Bubble, or Café Press?

3.     Via a paid subscription service e.g. Patreon?

4.     Via a once-off donation through PayPal?

I have also made a blog entry on my new improved 3rd cover for this publication, so please be sure to check that out as well.

Also, I am working on another publication called Daring to be Daggy, so keep your eyes peeled for these covers coming up shortly.

Cheers,

Colleen