"I am a book-lover, by which I mean I love more than just reading. I love books, hardcovers in particular. I love the weight of them, the dry kiss of the paper, the smell of a freshly cracked spine. I love matt dustjackets and blurbs that fib and critical quotes gratuitously taken out of context. Mostly, I love the way all my books (too many, not enough) bring me peace just by standing at attention along my bookshelves."-Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness freely admits he loves a good book cover, and despises a bad one, to the point that it degrades the book written. He compares one badly designed and printed book with toilet paper and decries the "downright hideous" and "drab" cover art of others. A good book cover will tempt him into unnecessary purchase, though a truly great author printed on "baby wipes" will almost justify a bad cover.
For more on this interview, click on this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/dec/02/featuresreviews.guardianreview1
All that to say that according to the author of "The Knife of Never Letting Go" and the Chaos Walking series, cover art is crucial. Take a look at some of the versions of cover art this book has been published with.
