doughboys-bookcovers

Okay, so you’re in the bookstore and you’re about to decide what to buy. Now look at the cover below. Does anyone remember this debacle? I do. I have this book and I was shocked. SHOCKED I tell you. And so was Suzanne Brockmann. This is what she had to say:

“The cover for GET LUCKY is so awful, I didn’t want to put it right here on the main page for this book. It’s pretty funny, actually. Here I’ve finally written the story of the best-looking guy in Alpha Squad, and they give me the Pillsbury Doughboy on the cover of the book! For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, this character, Luke “Lucky” O’Donlon is a real fabulous looking man. He’s what I think of as “Hollywood handsome.” Picture Brad Pitt. Now make him much more blond and about ten times more handsome. That’s what Lucky looks like.”

Me here again. Having ‘known’ Lucky the hunk from the other books, I was invested in this series, so I bought the book anyway, despite the horrific cover.

But what about the stories we’re not invested in?

Are you a cover, blurb, three pages, or first paragraph type of reader? What will make or break the sale for you? If you weren’t familiar with Brockmann’s series, would you have bought that book?