I’ve noticed that right-leaning book covers differ drastically from left-leaning book covers, and I’m trying to figure out why. To get started, I decided to look at Amazon’s list of Best Sellers in Politics & Social Sciences this afternoon. Originally I started in the Political Philosophy subcategory, but instead I decided to go up a level to the main category.
That proved to be an interesting decision, because it changes the mix drastically. The only books that are actually about politics in the top five are right-leaning. The others are self-help books.
These are the first five actual books listen. I skipped extra editions and audiobooks—12 Rules for Life, Fear: Trump in the White House, and Sapiens.
FYI: I have read precisely zero of these books.
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be
Author: Rachel Hollis
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (Harper Collins/News Corp)
“Lifestyle expert Rachel Hollis” somehow made it to the top of the Politics & Social Sciences category. Based on the other categories listed in its description, I’d guess that the publishers put it in as many categories as possible. I’m not sure how that works, but whatever.
- #1 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Self Help
- #2 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Motherhood
- #2 in Books > Self-Help > Motivational
I see that the handwriting trend is making its way to book covers. This on in particular makes sense with the tone and title of the book, so it’s appropriate. I like how they made the pop of red in the “#1 bestseller” bubble match her shoes—gives it a nice sense of completeness without being overly matchy, which would go counter to the message of the title. Not really sure what’s going on in that photo, but I think that’s the point.
Go crazy! Be wild! Do stuff! Put your book in a category that doesn’t really make sense!
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Authors: Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt
Publisher: Penguin Press (Bertelsmann/Pearson)
I would not be surprised to find an interview with the cover designer of this book and hear them saying “Yeah I did this cover in like 20 minutes.” It reminds me of something I would have turned in for a critique when I was a graphic design student when I had zero time to work on something and was working on it at 2 am the night before. The typography is self-consciously large without being bold, and unfortunately wordy. I’m not sure where to look, and I really don’t want to.
This cover is certainly not doing the book any favors, and from what I can tell of Haidt and Lukianoff, their ideas are worth far more than this.
Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution
Author: Tucker Carlson
Publisher: Free Press (Simon & Schuster/CBS)
The caricatures are fun. The rest of it is…not. This is criminal abuse of white space. The major elements are too crowded, yet the rest of the space is off balance and uncomfortable. The end result is not something that’s spacious and pleasing, but that gives one the anxiety of balancing a tower of elephants on a ball.
Is the boat supposed to be going over a waterfall? Are they going to crash into the red “NY Times Bestseller” bubble? How long did it take you to figure out that there was a subtitle? So many questions.
21 Rituals to Change Your Life: Daily Practices to Bring Greater Inner Peace and Happiness
Author: Theresa Cheung
Publisher: Watkins House (Penguin/Random House, Bertelsmann/Pearson)
Ahh, what a change in tone. This is the type of cover that tricks you into thinking that it’s good, until you start looking at the details. I’m not a fan of the leading, especially between “21” and “rituals to,” but I do like the polka-dot treatment. The colors are good, but I just noticed the…is that supposed to be texture? Like water stains or something?
Nitpicks aside, this is a balanced, classy-looking cover that would catch any Pinterester’s eye. (And I’m sure that’s their audience.)
Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity
Author: Charles Duhigg
Publisher: Random House (Bertelsmann/Pearson)
This is fine, if a bit obnoxious. But that’s on purpose, so whatever.
Two thoughts:
- A book title that evokes a song satirizing the NPC lifestyle might not exactly be the best thing…? Radiohead’s “Fitter, Happier, More Productive” is 20 years old and yet I feel like it’s more relevant than ever. (And yet I myself am guilty of doing this exact thing.)
- This cover was obviously designed to compliment Duhigg’s other book.
After all of that—is there any conclusion we can draw about these book covers?
The political books (Ship of Fools, The Coddling of the American Mind) come across as less refined, like they’re still in the draft or concept stage. I have a hard time imagining how someone would think the Coddling cover would be effective, for one. Even the color red seems off. It’s too cool to be truly alarming. It’s a book cover that pulls its punches. It bothers me the most out of all of these, almost like someone wanted the book to fail.
The Girl, Wash Your Face cover is the most successful. It’s simple, yet communicates all that it needs to. There are no awkward text additions (like the Duhigg book) or weird line spacing (like the rituals book).
We won’t solve the right vs left book covers mystery in this post, most obviously because of the lack of explicitly left-leaning political books. Putting politics and social science together certainly blunts that impact, even though (today, at least) the right’s books are more popular.
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