Let’s be honest, most of us do judge a book by it’s cover, at least initially. If two cookbooks are side by side, the one you are more likely to pick up is the one that looks more like a cookbook you would like to read.

For almost 10 years, FamilyCookbookProject.com has been helping individuals and families create personal cookbooks that reflect their own personality.

From the thousands of cookbooks we have printed for people this year, we looked at which ones were the most popular.

Here is what we found:

A Custom Cookbook Cover

It is no surprise that the Custom Color Cover option was the number one most popular cover option. With the advances in desktop publishing and our easy to use guidelines. Creating a custom cookbook cover is a snap. Unlike many other cookbook publishers, we also do not charge extra for a custom cover. When combined with the B&W option, custom cookbook covers accounted for 40 percent of all covers printed in 2013.

To the right is an  example of a simple custom cookbook cover created for one of our family cookbooks. It uses a collage of photos run through a software program to arraign them into a shape. A personalized title and subtitle complete the cover elements to bring together the pages of a lasting memory.

The Great Family Cookbook Project also maintains a growing library of free cookbook cover options for their editors to choose from.

Recipe Tree Cookbook Cover

From the cookbook covers offered on our website, Recipe Tree was be far the most popular, beating the next most popular cookbook cover by more than a 3 to 1 margin.

Almost a quarter of the cookbooks published with Family Cookbook Project in 2013 selected Recipe Tree as their cover. Many people choose this cover because of it’s tie to the concept of a family tree.

The remaining covers in the top 10 most popular cookbook covers of 2013 are more closely related.

Seven percent of cookbook editors selected either Rolling Pins, Garden #1 or Pie in Corner as their cookbook cover.

Five percent selected either a Black and White Custom cover, or Wholesome Pie cookbook cover.

Garden #2, Antique Oval and Cutting Board round out our top 10 for 2013.

To see all of the free cookbook covers options offered by Family Cookbook Project, check out the Cookbook Cover Library.

Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!