Go into any bookshop and you’ll see a smorgasbord of design styles. There will be the big, bold, blocky text covers; the abstract image covers; the hand-drawn lettering in twee frame covers; the photograph covers. All of these are trying to communicate something to you. It’s the publishers’ first opportunity to impress upon readers information about genre, themes, similar books, and even the reader’s own age and gender. A good cover can help a book reach its intended audience, while a bad cover might be the reason a new author never gets the opportunity to publish a follow-up. Cannes Film Fest…