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Tracy Mumford

And it was all yellow: Why yellow is the newest trend in book covers

And it was all yellow: A recent cover trend
A recent cover trend has a sunny disposition.
Courtesy of publishers

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Every week, The Thread tackles your book questions, big and small. Ask a question now.

This week's question: Why do so many recent releases have yellow covers?

Have you noticed your bookshelf getting a little bit sunnier? A little more eye-popping? A little more neon?

For cover designers, that's mission accomplished. With the rise of online book shopping, designers are doubling their efforts to make covers pop on a computer screen. And their biggest weapon, according to the Wall Street Journal, is the color yellow.

From the Wall Street Journal:

White covers in particular recede against the white backgrounds of Amazon and other online retailers. But yellow jumps off online pages and it can support both dark and bright type and graphics. Also, it carries no gender association and can signify anything from sunshine and optimism to a danger warning, making it a strong choice for a variety of genres and topics.

The Journal credits Marlon James' Man Booker Prize-winning "A Brief History of Seven Killings" as one of the pioneers in the recent yellow trend. Since that book hit shelves in 2014, it's been joined by many fellow yellows.