For better or for worse, there is a not insignificant percentage of the book buying public that puts an equal weight on the appearance of a book as on the contents - it not more so. Take, for example, last year's Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. There were at least 4 different special editions in the UK alone, each with cosmetic differences. Some readers purchased all 4 just to have them all. Similarly, bookstagrammers and booktokers are all about aesthetic and some absolutely buy books based entirely on appearance, regardless of content.