Final decision on cover

The designer has sent me two, slightly different versions of the cover design for The White Gallows. I now need to make a decision. I've shown them to a couple of people and I have a split vote, so I'm hoping you might push me towards the one that you think is the stronger cover (and I appreciate there's not much difference in this - fade out at the top, of fade across the middle). I'm particularly pleased that they have used my photos of choice for both the front and back cover. So, what do you think? Or perhaps it doesn't matter?

Cover art seduction

One of the things I was constantly drawn back to with Megan Abbott's The Song is You was the cover art. Heck, is it good - strong, evocative image and great design. It cries out, 'pick me up and take a browse' - 'go on, you know you want to'. Donna Moore's Old Dogs is another great, striking cover. Much better than the generic, air-brushed and hazy photo covershots that adorn many bestselling novels. I'm having a good think about The White Gallows cover design at the minute as I due to liaise with the designer in the next week or so, and so far I'm really lacking in ideas. Hopefully something will emerge over the weekend.


I know they say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but I'm wondering - how many of us are actually influenced by the cover? I know I bought my first Malcolm Pryce novel purely because the novel screamed 'pick me up' across the bookshop. What book covers have seduced you? And did the book live up to the cover?