Cover Art or lack there of...

AnemicOak · 07-16-2010, 12:55 AM

As I'm sure many have noticed a lot of commercially available ebooks from the big publishing houses lack cover art and instead have what's basically a placeholder with the books title and author listed.

Now I understand on some backlist titles that current cover art can't be included due to the way the licensing for the artwork might read, but what about new titles? Surely it would be more or less a throw in for a contract made in the ebook era that the artwork would be usable for the digital edition just like it's used when a publisher (not a third party like Tantor) puts out an audio book.

Tor actually went so far as to have new cover art done for the ebook releases on the Wheel of Time books (and maybe for future pbook printings too?), but as far as I know that's a rarity.

So what to you think. Is it a big deal not having actual cover art or don't you care?

roguefan99 · 07-16-2010, 01:32 AM

Might depend on the ereader that you own. But I have a Kobo which (used) to use the art as an "off" screen, so yes the cover art is essential for me because of this feature (wont get into the DRM arguement and adding own cover art).

sabredog · 07-16-2010, 01:33 AM

Well, I like cover art as it completes the book as it were.

For all my books, I add suitable cover art as part of editing the meta data. Plenty of cover images can be found via a Goggle Search or using Calibre to locate one for you.

Sweetpea · 07-16-2010, 01:51 AM

It's nice, but I don't care if it's not there. I only see it once anyway, and that's when I first open the book to start reading.

Rumpelteazer · 07-16-2010, 03:10 AM

In the eBook file itself I don't really care if a cover is provided, if it isn't included I can add it for my collection with Calibre and for on my reader I really don't care if it's included or not.

I do notice that when searching for possible reads on BooksOnBoard or other ebook stores I skip the books that haven't got a cover and use the generic ones provided by the store. I know you shouldn't judge an (e)book by it's cover but I do it anyway. I also don't look at ebooks which haven't got a synopsis or a badly written synopsis.

dsvick · 07-16-2010, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I do notice that when searching for possible reads on BooksOnBoard or other ebook stores I skip the books that haven't got a cover and use the generic ones provided by the store.

I find myself doing the same thing, it is often the cover of a book that will entice me to actually read the synopsis.

On a related note, I used to avoid getting some pBooks if the cover was something that I'd rather not have people seeing me read. For instance there a lot of, probably very good, science fiction books out there that end up having a scantily clad woman on the cover, I understand the target demographic and everything but I just couldn't bring myself to buy them and have them sitting around the house for the wife and kids to see. eBooks make those purchases so much easier now

GhostHawk · 07-16-2010, 08:45 AM

Just give me the words, don't need the pictures, my own imagination can supply those.

ATimson · 07-16-2010, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Tor actually went so far as to have new cover art done for the ebook releases on the Wheel of Time books (and maybe for future pbook printings too?), but as far as I know that's a rarity.

They did commission the art... but from what I've heard it's not in the actual books. (It certainly isn't for Ender's Game, which also had a new cover commissioned.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

So what to you think. Is it a big deal not having actual cover art or don't you care?

I can understand why, when eink devices are black-and-white, they didn't bother with including a pretty color cover. But I think that, for the sake of color LCD devices & futureproofing for color eink, there's no excuse not to include the actual artwork.

AnemicOak · 07-16-2010, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATimson

They did commission the art... but from what I've heard it's not in the actual books. (It certainly isn't for Ender's Game, which also had a new cover commissioned.)

Well that's just stupid of them.

KenFisher · 07-16-2010, 09:59 AM

I do not care if there is a cover with the ebook, as I will find a cover and add it to the ebook myself.

Ken

Over · 07-16-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

It's nice, but I don't care if it's not there. I only see it once anyway, and that's when I first open the book to start reading.

Exactly. That's one of the things I miss the most from pBooks. The cover. Even eBooks that have it.

We only see it once, and in black&white in my Cybook/Kindle DX. It's not like a pBook where you see it everytime you pick it up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I do notice that when searching for possible reads on BooksOnBoard or other ebook stores I skip the books that haven't got a cover and use the generic ones provided by the store.

Unfortunately, in my experience, it's considerable the amount of ebooks you see a cover in the online store, but doesn't have one in the ebook itself.

lmpreston · 07-16-2010, 10:15 AM

I follow cover art also. I vote a cover is a must for ebooks.

MikeB1972 · 07-16-2010, 10:59 AM

I admit it vaguely pisses me off that the book you download doesn't have the cover when the website you bought it from uses it to sell you the book, but as I keep buying them I guess it's not a deal breaker.

I mean, surely if the publisher doesn't have the right to use the cover then the store shouldn't have the right either.

ATimson · 07-16-2010, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

I mean, surely if the publisher doesn't have the right to use the cover then the store shouldn't have the right either.

There's a difference between having the right to use the cover art in promotional materials (online listings being the modern equivalent of the catalogs publishers used to send around to bookstores) and on the book proper, alas.

BearMountainBooks · 07-16-2010, 02:13 PM

I think cover art is pretty necessary. I didn't realize that there were glitches in Amazon's system and sometimes, apparently, the cover art doesn't download. I had 3 different readers contact me and ask me to include a small cover shot inside the book because they like to be reminded of the book (and use the visual for that reminder.) So many of my books now have a small shot of the cover inside the book. It's Black and White on most readers, but it is there.

I also read today that if you download the .mobi files from Smashwords.com the cover art does not appear on Kindles. I hadn't been putting the cover shot inside the smashwords version so guess what I'll be doing from now on!

Maria

View Poll Results: Is cover art a big deal?
Yes, it's a necessity for all ebooks.	49	39.84%
It's nice, but not a deal breaker.	60	48.78%
It doesn't matter in the slightest, I just want to read the book.	13	10.57%
As long as it's blue I don't care.	1	0.81%
Voters: 123. You may not vote on this poll

07-16-2010, 12:55 AM	#1
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Cover Art or lack there of... As I'm sure many have noticed a lot of commercially available ebooks from the big publishing houses lack cover art and instead have what's basically a placeholder with the books title and author listed. Now I understand on some backlist titles that current cover art can't be included due to the way the licensing for the artwork might read, but what about new titles? Surely it would be more or less a throw in for a contract made in the ebook era that the artwork would be usable for the digital edition just like it's used when a publisher (not a third party like Tantor) puts out an audio book. Tor actually went so far as to have new cover art done for the ebook releases on the Wheel of Time books (and maybe for future pbook printings too?), but as far as I know that's a rarity. So what to you think. Is it a big deal not having actual cover art or don't you care?

07-16-2010, 01:33 AM	#3
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	Well, I like cover art as it completes the book as it were. For all my books, I add suitable cover art as part of editing the meta data. Plenty of cover images can be found via a Goggle Search or using Calibre to locate one for you. Last edited by sabredog; 07-16-2010 at 02:04 AM. Reason: oops, typo

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07-16-2010, 01:32 AM	#2
roguefan99 Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 16 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Smart Q7, and Kobo	Might depend on the ereader that you own. But I have a Kobo which (used) to use the art as an "off" screen, so yes the cover art is essential for me because of this feature (wont get into the DRM arguement and adding own cover art).

07-16-2010, 01:51 AM	#4
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	It's nice, but I don't care if it's not there. I only see it once anyway, and that's when I first open the book to start reading.

07-16-2010, 03:10 AM	#5
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	In the eBook file itself I don't really care if a cover is provided, if it isn't included I can add it for my collection with Calibre and for on my reader I really don't care if it's included or not. I do notice that when searching for possible reads on BooksOnBoard or other ebook stores I skip the books that haven't got a cover and use the generic ones provided by the store. I know you shouldn't judge an (e)book by it's cover but I do it anyway. I also don't look at ebooks which haven't got a synopsis or a badly written synopsis.

07-16-2010, 08:45 AM	#7
GhostHawk Data Privateer! Posts: 586 Karma: 62887 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fargo ND Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite	Just give me the words, don't need the pictures, my own imagination can supply those.

07-16-2010, 09:59 AM	#10
KenFisher Connoisseur Posts: 75 Karma: 90470 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Vox, iPad	I do not care if there is a cover with the ebook, as I will find a cover and add it to the ebook myself. Ken

07-16-2010, 10:15 AM	#12
lmpreston YA Author Posts: 46 Karma: 501408 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	I follow cover art also. I vote a cover is a must for ebooks.

07-16-2010, 10:59 AM	#13
MikeB1972 Gnu Posts: 1,222 Karma: 15625359 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: UK Device: BeBook,JetBook Lite,PRS-300-350-505-650,+ran out of space to type	I admit it vaguely pisses me off that the book you download doesn't have the cover when the website you bought it from uses it to sell you the book, but as I keep buying them I guess it's not a deal breaker. I mean, surely if the publisher doesn't have the right to use the cover then the store shouldn't have the right either.

07-16-2010, 02:13 PM	#15
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	I think cover art is pretty necessary. I didn't realize that there were glitches in Amazon's system and sometimes, apparently, the cover art doesn't download. I had 3 different readers contact me and ask me to include a small cover shot inside the book because they like to be reminded of the book (and use the visual for that reminder.) So many of my books now have a small shot of the cover inside the book. It's Black and White on most readers, but it is there. I also read today that if you download the .mobi files from Smashwords.com the cover art does not appear on Kindles. I hadn't been putting the cover shot inside the smashwords version so guess what I'll be doing from now on! Maria

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