Basically Books! discussion

Do you buy a book because of the cover art?

And have you read a great book that had a not so great cover?

Its like the old saying never judge a book by its cover? (is this true)

I read books with good or bad covers, but granted Good covers do help with picking the book up and reading the blurb :)

I've read so many books with a good story and a good cover, but the same with I have read a book with a good story with a bad cover or read a book with a not so good story but an amazing cover.

Covers don't make a massive difference, but.. it does help to stand out form the crowd :)

I think they Absolutely make a difference. They have to be geared to your audience. A good cover catches your eye and you tend to look into a book a bit more, read the reviews, and the blurb. I have read books with bad covers but thats because I have been asked to read them or one of my friends has recommended the book to me.

Book cover does make a difference. Of course there are good books with bad covers and the opposite is also true, but a good cover definitely attracts attention, intrigues you into opening the books. At least for me, it does that, together with the back blurb.
I would like to ask your opinion about my book cover but I don't know how to insert an image here. The book isn't published yet, but the artist has already done her job.
Moderators, if I shouldn't post it here, please delete my message or place it in the right folder.

Olga wrote: "Book cover does make a difference. Of course there are good books with bad covers and the opposite is also true, but a good cover definitely attracts attention, intrigues you into opening the books..."

There is way to add images if you first put the image on photobucket then all you need is the image src bit.
It is fine, as you are talking about the topic :)

They do, but only to a certain extent.

I also reckon that a bad cover has a bigger negative effect, than a good cover has a positive effect. If that makes sense.

A bad cover might put someone off entirely, whereas a good cover may merely pique someone's interest - in both cases, a sale is not made.

They make no difference to me. But then, since I can't see them they wouldn't, would they? LOL!

They did used to a bit though. When I still had some sight an interesting cover would make it more likely I'd pick up the book to look at it, since the title generally couldn't catch my eye as well as a colourful and interesting cover (my eyesight's never been great, so bright colours would get my attention best... Perhaps that's why I've always leant mostly towards children's books and Fantasy? Well, that and the fact I like talking animals and magical things being in my books best of all). Even then they didn't always make a difference though, since I learned quite quickly that even books with boring covers can be interesting, so sometimes I'd just pick up random books and see if the title looked interesting enough to make me want to know what it was about.

So, perhaps they make a difference some of the time, but so does a good and interesting sounding title.

As a reader I try not to judge books by their cover, but as a writer I recognise that a book needs to stand out. I'm having to design the cover for my novel myself so I'm hoping my limited artistic abilities won't doom it!

Robert wrote: "As a reader I try not to judge books by their cover, but as a writer I recognise that a book needs to stand out. I'm having to design the cover for my novel myself so I'm hoping my limited artistic..."

Hi Robert,

I did my own cover, and it was okay. But about a month ago I decided to have it redesigned, and it looks so professional that I haven't looked back.
I used www.gobookcoverdesign.com (Robin Ludwig) Easy to work with, and I thought the price was reasonable to the extreme. Before you decide to publish, I'd really recommend looking at some book cover designer sites. You might be pleasantly surprised by the cost and the turnaround time. (Mine took about 2 days.) If you do end up using Robin, tell her Annette Reynolds sent you!
Best of luck!
Annette

I buy a lot of book because of great book covers, when I am wondering around amazon its the cover that makes me stop and read the book description. If the cover doesn't stand out then I normally pass it by.

But I have found some great books from friends and authors here on goodreads and the covers are not a issue. One great thing about goodreads is you can see all the reviews which really helps me decide.

As far as buying goes, yes definitely. I don't think it needs to be amazing, but it should be appealing. A good author usually has the taste to know what is and what is not a good cover.

Yeah they say not to judge a book by its cover but there are plenty of books on my shelves that I've bought based on the cover. There are even a handful where I didn't even bother to read the synopsis, just decided the cover was temptation enough!

That said, I do buy some with horrible covers too...

Robert wrote: "As a reader I try not to judge books by their cover, but as a writer I recognise that a book needs to stand out. I'm having to design the cover for my novel myself so I'm hoping my limited artistic..."

I know exactly how you feel! I was quite happy with how mine turned out though.

Covers do make a difference, but I wouldn't buy a book just based on a cover. The blurb and reviews are the two most important factors I take into consideration.

As a writer, part of your contract should be to have a say and veto over an artist's cover design.

Alice wrote: "As a writer, part of your contract should be to have a say and veto over an artist's cover design."

True, I think this isn't always the case though. Some books end up with really weird covers and I can't possibly imagine the authors approving of them!

A good cover might attract me to pick it off the shelf or click on it online, but the title is just as important in getting me to look at it. Final decision is made by the blurb.

I think the cover is important! For me it is, anyways. If I see a book in the library, the cover will help me decide whether to pick it off the shelf or not.

I think covers with default stock photogaphy (the type where the same person repeats over and over in several different books) are a huge turn off for me. I don't usually shop based on covers,I think it's silly, but I have a soft spot for illustrated covers :D

The old adage 'don't judge a book by its cover" is wishful thinking. All of us, when we're in a bookstore, do just that. Sure, we read the first few pages of various books to see if they're any good. But we don't even pick up a book in most cases, much less read a few pages, if the cover is really dull or amateurish. This effect is even more pronounced at online bookstores.

So, yeah, a good cover makes a huge difference. Just not ALL the difference. If a book sucks, a good cover won't make you finish it. And if the first few pages suck, you won't buy it, no matter how great the cover is.

I love manga covers, myself.

Jeshu wrote: "I think covers with default stock photogaphy (the type where the same person repeats over and over in several different books) are a huge turn off for me. I don't usually shop based on covers,I thi..."

Mimi wrote: "Here's the thing; really great writing is usually in a book with a very simple cover. Perhaps a logo design or the title embossed in metallic ink so it stands away from the solid cover color. I hav..."

Mimi wrote: "Here's the thing; really great writing is usually in a book with a very simple cover. Perhaps a logo design or the title embossed in metallic ink so it stands away from the solid cover color. I hav..."

We so agree with your thoughts here. We designed our own cover for this very reason.

I think cover art does make a difference. I'm an artist at heart/canvases, and also have a lot of personal preferences, i.e. avoid anything too ghoolie/scary. But if it is someone I read and like, I'd probably buy it in plain brown. I feel sorry for good authors who get packaged poorly, which sometimes happen.

I know that the cover of your book will make a big difference to whether or not it is bought by a prospective reader. With the vast quantity of books being published each and every week the choice for the consumer is so large that any book which looks unprofessional or amateurish simply gets skipped over when the reader is scanning through the many pages of Amazon. There are some great blog articles at http://www.jdandj.com which also look at how book cover design and art will impact on the success of your novel.

A good cover helps a book stand out, there are just too many reviews and blurbs to read and a professional cover makes the book seem more professional (it has been edited and professionally looked over). And I don't mind stock photos of people as long as it looks professionally taken, and not like someone used a camera phone to take photos of people who look like they're lounging about.

It helps give a sense of the story inside.

Some of my favourite covers that made me pick up the book.

Gothic and emotional but sadly the series don't match the covers.
It makes me want to know more about the girl.
Creepy but beautiful.
Simple yet atmospheric.

Some other covers I love, though doesn't necessarily mean I love the story. Or read them yet.




There are also covers I didn't like but reviews made me want to read it. And I read the reviews because it was a good read recommendation.


I really don't like the hunger games' older cover designs. It's too busy and feels like the logo is based on the swastika, which I can understand why but it's off putting.


It just doesn't say much too me, but the series is one of my favourite.

Not going to lie, I really hate amateurish covers, especially when the design uses thin, horrible font in neon colours on a terrible photo. And most erotic covers are just trashy and cheesy. And chick-lit covers are generally too flowery to the point it offends my sight.

covers help

I've read books with terrible cover art, though admittedly they were books I'd already decided to read on some other basis. On the other hand, there's been probably only one book I wouldn't have taken a look at otherwise, but even then the blurb at the back and so on is what ended up convincing me to read it, so it wasn't the cover art alone (though without it, I probably wouldn't have read the blurb). The title and blurb make a far bigger difference to me, which isn't to say I don't have strong preferences for different cover art in different editions. On the other hand, it's possible there have been books I would've read had I read the blurb, etc, but didn't because I didn't give them a second glance because of the cover art.

I enjoy an interesting cover, but base my decision to read a book on the writing style.

The book cover is everything that will make a reader pick up a book, regardless of how good the writing is or how good the story.

I highly recommend Adi at www.adipixdesign.com

She has made all my covers and they sell really well.

Go see her page!