Judging a book by its cover

There was a discussion on one of my writing lists a few weeks back about book covers and whether or not, as independent authors, we should spend any money on them.  I've heard of authors who've said they won't spend any money on a cover because their books are going to retail for under $1, and of authors who spend considerable time, effort, and money to get just the right cover for their book.

Personally, considering that I've even been known to pick wine by its label (take a look at Blasted Church, which does an excellent job of creating unique and eye-catching labels), I think that cover design is integral to actually selling your book.

A quick Google search for the phrase "why spend money on a book cover" turns up 35 700 000 hits because covers do matter.  They're the first thing that I look at when I am looking for a book, whether print or digital, and a poor cover means that I may well not even pick the book up to read the back cover or the first page.  After all, I read a lot of books, but I'm busy, and I'm not going to bother picking up a book with a poorly designed cover because, at least in my experience, that also means that there are going to be problems with the book's text, as well.

Anyway, don't just take my word for it.  Do some research on book covers.  Whether you read Joel Friedlander's Why You Should Judge a Book By Its Cover, or an article from Psychology Today on why the visual cortex matters so much for marketing decisions, do some reading--please!  And save up for that cover art/design.