This blog post got me thinking that there must be some standardization to the color pallette related to each genre of books. The colors used on the book cover have to bring their target audience in -- we are constantly making unconscious choices based on visual guides -- and people like me who opt for horror/mystery/thriller novels are clearly going to grab a book with a darker pallette on the front than those bright, beach reads. I came across a blog post on ColourLovers (a bit outdated -- 2011) in which the author contemplates: is there a correlation between the color of a book’s cover, digital or physical, and its success within its genre?
Here were a few of his findings based on looking at the covers of books found on the New York Times Bestseller lists:Bestselling Nonfiction: rich warm colors, non-metallic
Bestselling Children's Books: bright colors with dynamic lettering
Bestselling Harcover Graphic Novels: dark hues
So, I would assume that if a book within a specific genre, deviated from the "standard" colors found within that genre -- the odds of getting that book into the hands of its audience would suffer.
