RE: Are Designers Over-designing?

Without having any prior knowledge of an author or the book itself, the cover is the first thing we notice. I know that I am a lot more likely to purchase a book with an interesting cover design, over one with just a plain, solid color, for example. That being said, I think most people who spend a lot of their time reading tend not to be as concerned with what the book looks like and are more concerned with its content. I can imagine that working as a designer for an author or publishing company would be quite challenging. The designer needs to ultimately satisfy his or her client's vision and may be pushed into a direction that they wouldn't have decided on themselves. This is often the case in many designer/client relationships though, isn't it?