But have you ever stopped to consider that the larger publishers use focus groups to determine which covers work and which ones don't?
And did you know that with each printing, the cover is likely to change?
Our tastes change over time. We wear different styles of clothing, drive different cars, listen to various types of music. We watch different television shows, different movies. We change our hairstyles, our furniture, our decor, even our landscaping.
So it's within reason that a cover that might have grabbed our attention one year ago won't today. The mid-size and smaller publishers might or might not give this any thought; especially with POD and eBooks, they might consider once a cover is done, it's done.
But it never truly should be.
Consider all of the covers below. They are all for one book: Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. It was reportedly Alfred Hitchcock's favorite book and his favorite movie (that he directed.)
If you saw each of these book covers today, would one grab your attention while you'd quickly pass by another?
