We all know the saying ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ – however, it is the cover that initially attracts a reader to pick up our book. Choosing the ‘correct’ colour for your book cover can be difficult, as it will subconsciously give an impression of the genre or topic of your book. We might look into the typical colours used for a genre or go with our gut feeling and pick a colour we feel is ‘right’ for our narrative. No matter which avenue you choose, all covers are an extension of us and our stories. There is also the decision to use a specific colour to link a series together rather than a ‘series’ image – the colour can be part of the background or even the text or title colour. Sometimes the title itself can inspire the cover colour, or there is a ‘trend’ for a specific colour in a publishing year. It is up to you entirely if you follow a trend and get lost in the flood of similar coloured covers, or choose something to stand out against it.
I took a look at the main colours used for book covers to see what the colour presents and how it can identify the genre of your book. Obviously, it is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it will give you some insight.
Black evokes a serious theme and signifies mystery, death, evil, a sense of authority, power, control, and suspense, but also can feel sophisticated, modern, authoritative, and formal. It is most commonly used in horror, thriller, manga and mystery genres.
Gray is a neutral color associated with wisdom, sophistication, knowledge, and prestige, but also depression. It elicits an emotional spectrum ranging from remote, distant, cool, and bored to serious, focused, and intelligent. Again, it can be used for horror, thriller, sci-fi and mystery genres, or coping with grief non-fiction.
Green is associated with nature, vitality, environment, health, evoking a soothing, refreshing, and tranquil state of mind, and is therefore a good fit for high fantasy, feminist novels or environmental nonfiction. Although it is one of the least-seen colors for book covers, it is often equated with a fresh beginning, excitement, vitality, wealth, and even jealousy.
Blue has many associations including thoughtfulness, trust, calmness, serenity, inquisitiveness, dependability, mental engagement, sadness, stability and trustworthiness, safety and elicits feelings of calm and serenity as well as nature. Blue is commonly used for covers of political memoirs and nonfiction as well as more thought-provoking fiction. The choice of blue hue changes its meaning as a dark blue or indigo means intuition, truth, sincerity, and trust. It is a particularly common colour used across genres.
Purple/Violet signifies spirituality, prosperity, transcendence, harmony, while dark purple is related to royalty, depth, wealth. So, would be utilized for high fantasy, historical fiction or ‘magical’ novels.
Yellow is a striking colour, evoking feelings of motivation, warmth, ambition, fun, cheerfulness, happiness, creativity, and energy, and in all has an attention-grabbing effect. However, a vivid yellow can be grating and annoying, or even aggressive, while pale yellow is warm, friendly, approachable, and inviting. The choice of hue for yellow is paramount to balance the effect you are looking to convey. It has a multitude of uses for book covers and can impart genres from children’s fiction to graphic novels to self-help books.
Brown might seem an odd choice and dull, but it evokes feelings of nature, comfort, and gives an ‘of-the-Earth’ vibe. Ecological genres may utilize a brown hue for a cover. Once again it is all about the hue or tone of brown used that determines what genre/story it signifies. It can create an atmospheric look to convey mystery, steampunk, apocalyptic or speculative fiction.
White is associated with purity, cleanliness, safety, simplicity, self-sufficiency, freshness and peacefulness. Although, white can come across as stark, bland, or cold, it is well-known as a symbol of purity suggesting a straight-forward, simple book. A stark white background with dramatic coloured titles can be eye catching for many genres. There are horror novels with blood splashed across white backgrounds!
Orange is a color associated with playfulness, energy, creativity, dynamic, positive, optimistic, hopeful, confidence and attention-grabbing with feelings of warmth and happiness, but can also be found to be overwhelming and cartoonish. This colour brings a bright and fun response and can be used for children’s and YA fiction, sci-fi as well as graphic novels.
Red conveys energy, enthusiasm, emotion, power, dominance and aggression responses as well as angst for sci-fi, horror and thrillers, but with the choice of a softer tone also gives a feeling of passion, excitement, hunger (desire), love, and warmth for romance novels.
Pink depending on the shade of pink, this hue can evoke feelings of passion, romance, innocence or childishness, femininity, playfulness, love, tenderness, youthfulness, emotion, and innocence. Cozy mysteries, romance, feminist and chic-lit books most commonly use this colour.
My adult books have a similar background colour, which gives them a commonality. However, I took the main image for my fantasy trilogy and used the colour of the cloak to signify the different main character’s personalities.
How have you used colour for your book covers?
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 