Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Writers' Corner

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 06-13-2012, 09:34 AM   #16
QuantumIguana
Philosopher
QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
QuantumIguana's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,034
Karma: 18736532
Join Date: Jan 2012
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan View Post
If so... you are a rare bird, sir. Now, if I'd heard good things about a book, I might still buy it even if it sported a bad cover (in fact, I have). But if I knew nothing about the book, a bad cover would prevent me from looking any further.
There may indeed be people who are not influenced by the cover of the book. I'm highly skeptical of such claims, but it is possible. If a cover looks sloppy or incoherent, that's an indication that the book itself might be sloppy or incoherent.
QuantumIguana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 09:43 AM   #17
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,629
Karma: 127837858
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
Quote:
Originally Posted by xg4bx View Post
because atrocities like these are what people picture when they think of indie novels-

http://lousybookcovers.tumblr.com/
I think most of those covers come from Amazon's KDP and Smashwords.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 10:11 AM   #18
Djedefre
Member
Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Djedefre ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Djedefre's Avatar
 
Posts: 11
Karma: 503204
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Device: Nook STR
I was browsing the B&N Free Nook books earlier and saw more of the same terribad book covers. It's just silly cause any 14 year old who uses Photoshop to make forum signatures can do much better (and I've known several who definitely can do better).
Djedefre is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 04:12 PM   #19
Abtacha
Addict
Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Abtacha ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Abtacha's Avatar
 
Posts: 332
Karma: 6220000
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Germany
Device: Kobo Aura HD
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan View Post
If so... you are a rare bird, sir. Now, if I'd heard good things about a book, I might still buy it even if it sported a bad cover (in fact, I have). But if I knew nothing about the book, a bad cover would prevent me from looking any further.
That's pretty much how I see it too.
If a self-published author does not think his/her book is worth the effort to create a somewhat professional looking cover I have to assume the same is true for edititing, proofreading and layout.
Abtacha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 05:03 PM   #20
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,629
Karma: 127837858
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djedefre View Post
I was browsing the B&N Free Nook books earlier and saw more of the same terribad book covers. It's just silly cause any 14 year old who uses Photoshop to make forum signatures can do much better (and I've known several who definitely can do better).
Those are probably from Smashwords where any hack can put up a cover that's worse then awful.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 06:36 PM   #21
VydorScope
Wizard
VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.VydorScope ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
VydorScope's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,418
Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf View Post
Those are probably from Smashwords where any hack can put up a cover that's worse then awful.
We all know you have a personal vendetta against Smashwords, but, seriously, can you leave it at home? Any hack can put the same cover on KDP, Ibooks, Lulu, Pubit, CreateSpace, or guess what? Anywhere.
VydorScope is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2012, 08:19 PM   #22
goldilocks
Addict
goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.goldilocks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 344
Karma: 1222222
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Florida
Device: Sony PRS-505
I would most likely pass by most of these books due to the unappealing covers. The only one that looks remotely decent is Outlaw Heroes. There are a lot of eBooks I don't even look at because of cover issues. In the Sony store there are some publishers one called Wattpad and another called Ellora's Cave which use the same stupid cover for every book. At least I have seen many nice looking covers for books published by Smashwords.

Karen
goldilocks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2012, 08:52 AM   #23
DrNefario
Wizard
DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DrNefario ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DrNefario's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,094
Karma: 11315768
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: UK
Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch
I have one of the books on that site (the Mike Resnick, a couple of pages in.) It does have a bad cover, but it has an author's name I recognise, it was free, and other people recommended it.

The cover is not of paramount importance, but if I'm browsing a list of books, it's quite likely that I'll only have the title, author and cover image to go from, and I have to triage somehow.

The title is probably at least as important, and it's something I'm struggling with for my own current work-in-progress (and I can't do a proper cover without it). The working title is too vague, and some meaningful alternatives I've come up with give the wrong impression. And okay, I still need to work on the words inside a bit, too.
DrNefario is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2012, 08:57 AM   #24
theapatra
author of Water Witch
theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.theapatra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
theapatra's Avatar
 
Posts: 30
Karma: 595832
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Canada
Device: kindle
OH MY!

Yikes. so glad you posted. I'm pasting the link into my Facebook page for a few friends who have told me they have seen some atrocious covers. They will appreciate this.

oiy.
theapatra is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2012, 09:01 AM   #25
Sakinah
Junior Member
Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sakinah ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 7
Karma: 445628
Join Date: Jun 2012
Device: none
The cover for Outlaw Heroes shouldn't be on the list. It actually looks pretty good to me.
Sakinah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2012, 10:44 AM   #26
QuantumIguana
Philosopher
QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.QuantumIguana ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
QuantumIguana's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,034
Karma: 18736532
Join Date: Jan 2012
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch
Outlaw Heroes isn't too bad, but the photo clashes. A picture of a pair of boots isn't what you would normally expect on such a document hanging on the wall. I would have at least Sepia toned it, and probably replaced it with a photo of a person.
QuantumIguana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2012, 11:47 AM   #27
Steven Lyle Jordan
Grand Sorcerer
Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lyle Jordan ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Steven Lyle Jordan's Avatar
 
Posts: 8,478
Karma: 5171130
Join Date: Jan 2006
Device: none
Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana View Post
A picture of a pair of boots isn't what you would normally expect on such a document hanging on the wall.
Sure, but sometimes that's what you want in order to create interest: Something that's just to the left of expected.

I agree that this cover isn't nearly as bad as the rest, mainly because it looks much more finished, even if atypical in depiction.
Steven Lyle Jordan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2012, 02:13 AM   #28
AncientGardener
Member
AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AncientGardener ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AncientGardener's Avatar
 
Posts: 21
Karma: 500010
Join Date: Jan 2011
Device: kindle
I just couldn't stop looking at those covers! Fascinating. But it's almost like trying not to stare when you drive past a car crash.

Some are (in my humble opinion) just awful.

But, I do sympathise with someone who wants to write and has no money. Their book might be well-written but they just can't afford to pay anyone to make them a decent cover. It doesn't follow that they don't really care about their book.

But now I'm seriously worried that my own (home made) cover is going to get the same harsh judgement. Perhaps I should promote it in a plain brown paper bag..

Edit: Just a thought but it might be useful if there was a place where you could post your cover design and get some (gentle) constructive feedback? Or is there such a place already?

Last edited by AncientGardener; 09-10-2012 at 02:19 AM. Reason: Addition
AncientGardener is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2012, 04:35 AM   #29
orlok
Close to the Edit!
orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.orlok ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
orlok's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,797
Karma: 267994408
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"
Quote:
Originally Posted by AncientGardener View Post
Just a thought but it might be useful if there was a place where you could post your cover design and get some (gentle) constructive feedback? Or is there such a place already?
Why not post it here for comment (we'll be gentle. Promise...). Or start a new thread (others have done so). I think it would be a good opportunity for people, myself included, to get some constructive criticism.
orlok is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2012, 12:03 PM   #30
teh603
Autism Spectrum Disorder
teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
teh603's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,212
Karma: 6244877
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Coastal Texas
Device: Android Phone
Quote:
Originally Posted by orlok View Post
Why not post it here for comment (we'll be gentle. Promise...). Or start a new thread (others have done so). I think it would be a good opportunity for people, myself included, to get some constructive criticism.
What about just making a thread for cover critique? There'd have to be a "Constructive or GTFO" rule, though, because it could quickly descend into a troll-fest.
teh603 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Art For Cover genepool Writers' Corner 4 01-28-2011 09:44 PM
How important is cover art to you? ficbot General Discussions 45 12-04-2010 03:22 PM
Better way to do cover art? IDtheTarget Sigil 0 04-15-2010 04:58 PM
Some NaNo cover art Moejoe Writers' Corner 40 11-25-2009 03:34 AM
BD: Cover Art - What am I doing wrong? edbro Sony Reader 24 08-22-2007 07:04 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:20 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.