Pretty Books

The following pertains to fiction books.

It is interesting how much people look at a cover of a book before picking it up to read the synopsis or the reviews.  We as humans are so hooked on the visual aspect of things, and it shows with book covers.  What about the guts of the book?  Does it matter how ‘pretty’ it is on the inside?

Some of my authors feel that it absolutely does, so they want to go to the extra expense of having pictures or drawings for each chapter.  But to a reader, does that matter?  They have already picked it up, read the back cover, and maybe even a couple of pages inside the book before buying it.  Thus, the words have made a difference to them, not how pretty the chapter headings are, or the pictures inside the book.

For an average fiction book, pictures are not the essence of the story and can actually take away from the story.  The reader wants the words to paint the picture, to give them food for thought.  A good author can and will accomplish that, not the pictures inside the book.

Cheers,

Alan