What do you think of books with artistic or anime-style covers?

[BillSmithBooks]

As a reader, I would assume that a Anime/Manga-style cover would suggest fiction that has that same "general feel" as the comics that are representative of the style.

Naked elf boys...not so much for me personally.

Starship Yamato, Speed Racer, Dirty Pair, Robotech, aliens and rayguns and starships and alien landscapes...I'm there in a heartbeat.

I also enjoy a lot of the DC2 covers over on Feedbooks...the authors are using comic book style art and writing superhero prose stories. Some of those stories get a TON of downloads.

If your audience is people who enjoy Anime/Manga style work, I would think this would be a good way to get their attention...the problem is distinguishing that this is a prose work and not a comic.

[fjtorres]

Depends. Depends. Depends.
Is the book billing itself as a gritty murder mystery? No.Way!
Is the book billing itself as a light-hearted action romp, rom-com, or zany fantasy?? Hail, yay-ahh!

Covers always tell you something about the book and the publisher and what kind of customer they are aimed at. An anime-style cover tells me they're aiming at folks that are familiar with manga and anime tropes and themes. And console gamers.

Just like this upcoming live action movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf-KCPFmc0o

Among all the anime cues in that trailer there is one dead-giveaway of the movie's genre credibility: the computer voice in the trailer is instantly recognizable to anybody exposed to current-generation video games.

Spoiler:

"There will be cake".

Spoiler:

Yup, PORTAL's GLADOS makes her movie debut.

Yeah, I'll be there on opening day.
They had me at GUILLERMO DEL TORO + Giant MECHA.

Anyway, covers are *marketing* tools.
Just like blurbs, back-cover text, and titles.
(And movie posters and trailers.)
Done right, they'll help the right customers find the right book; done wrong they'll annoy the browser and cost a sale.

[xendula]

I would not even give it another glance, and right know, I can't get rid of shrill music and flashing imagery in my head, because that's what I associate with Anime.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by xendula

I would not even give it another glance, and right know, I can't get rid of shrill music and flashing imagery in my head, because that's what I associate with Anime.

Come on. Give it a chance! It has so much more to offer.
There's the brooding loner on the motorcycle, the whiney emo-boy hero, the spikey haired kid with over-sized sword, the, uhm, "healthy" young lady in the school girl outfit...

Anime is very formalized with its own styles and approaches to (very subtly) discuss meaning themes. (Sometimes. Other times it's just about blowing things up. Like a Michael Bay movie. )

John Ringo and Travis Taylor did a fun riff on anime tropes in THE CLAWS THAT CATCH. Best part is when the series' nominal protagonist discovered he's not "the hero" and found out *who* had turned into the spikey-haired kid.

Like everything out there, there's good anime and there's attrocious anime. Sturgeon's Law applies to anime, too. For every Witch Hunter Robin or RahXephon there will be a dozen Lensmen disasters.

Not unlike western TV.

[xendula]

^ The problem is that many book readers will not know the difference between good quality and bad, because they don't watch it or read manga, so their opinion about it is based on channel surfing - therefore my immediate shrill and flashy impression. Gosh, it's back in my head now.

And: " healthy", that's right

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by xendula

And: " healthy", that's right

Some times you gotta wonder about japanese culture.
And brazilian.
And american.
And...

It's one strange world out there.

("Everybody is crazy except me and thee... and I'm not all that sure about thee.")

[Lemurion]

The ones posted by the OP would turn me off almost instantly. Those posted by Alucarda would not.

On the whole, though, my attitude towards anime or manga style covers is slightly but not entirely negative. I don't follow either myself, but there are people in the household who follow both. In my own experience, most of the tropes I've seen do not appeal to me, and since I would expect those covers to appeal to a crossover market, I would not have high expectations.

[QuantumIguana]

If a book has an anime-style cover, it's likely to affect reader expectations. People would reasonably expect it to be like a manga or anime story. For some, that will mean they will pass on the book. Others might be drawn to the book because of the cover, but they might be disappointed if it isn't like an anime or manga cover. For me, manga-style cover would make me less likely to consider the book.

[VaultBoy]

Sure. It's not like an artsy cover changes the stuff inside the book.

[BadBilly]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

The ones posted by the OP would turn me off almost instantly. Those posted by Alucarda would not.

On the whole, though, my attitude towards anime or manga style covers is slightly but not entirely negative. I don't follow either myself, but there are people in the household who follow both. In my own experience, most of the tropes I've seen do not appeal to me, and since I would expect those covers to appeal to a crossover market, I would not have high expectations.

I'm of much the same mind. I expect the tone of the cover to match the tone of the book. I'd be less likely to even pick up the book and look at it. When in a store or library, I'll browse and pick up something and read the opening and see how it grabs me. If the cover stops me from even picking it up, it doesn't matter what's inside.

[Ti-Ron]

Originally Posted by alucarda

What do you base it on?

Lets say for example you have a book everyone is recommending to you, but there are two naked guys kissing or holding each other. And lets say for argument's sake that you dont read homo-erotic books.
Would you at least in some degree have some apprehension about it? Even if all your friend are saying you should read it?

In fact, I think I would buy this book just to see people's face in the bus lloking at my cover!

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

If a book has an anime-inspired cover, I'm less likely to read it, because to me that would say something about the writing or the plot of the book, and I don't care much for anime-inspired sensibilities. In the same way, I tend to avoid cartoon-y covers, because to me that tends to scream "chick-lit" which I also don't care for.

+1

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

on the other hand, there currently is a tendency in Romancelandia for naked, headless torsos on the cover - those tend to say nothing to me about the contents - they get slammed on so many different types of books that they're signally neutral to me.

On those, I go by the style of dress, pose, setting, and quality of the image.

I have read and enjoyed books whose covers didn't appeal to me (notably, bodice-ripper covers on historicals) but only after reviews assured me the story wasn't as stereotypical as the cover...Not that I don't appreciate a good Johanna Lindsey romp for dessert now and then...

[banjobama]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

An anime-art cover would make me pass the book up also, no matter what good reviews I'd heard about it, for all the same reasons already stated. I may not like some covers of books I read, but anime is going too far out of what genres I like (and yes, an anime-art cover would denote it's not a genre I want to read, even if it said it was a mystery or crime or horror novel).

This exactly for me too. I would see the cover and not even pick up the book. It's nothing against it, just not my reading preference.

[4691mls]

After thinking about this some more beyond the knee-jerk response I posted earlier, I realized that when shopping for ebooks (or library ebooks) I am usually shopping by category, so I already know the books I'm browsing are books I'm likely to be interested in. Therefore, I barely notice the covers.

However, if I were wandering among a display of paper books, I would notice the cover. Usually, covers convey something about the type of book. If the cover shows a couple in a passionate embrace, it's a romance; if the covers shows a picture of a gun, it's a mystery/thriller; etc. So if I saw an anime-style cover, I would likely assume the story was anime and pass it by.

[Namekuseijin]

I don't judge books by covers, so, yes