How important is cover art to you? - Page 3

JSWolf · 12-01-2010, 03:24 PM

I do like proper cover art. So I replace the generic garbage with a real cover image. ePub makes it easy to do this.

Steven Lake · 12-01-2010, 05:58 PM

To me, good cover art is everything. Because if the book cover doesn't grab them, then they're unlikely to buy your book. I saw that with the very first version of Oort Perimeter. I still see it even now when I put the old book up next to the new one and watch how the new one flies out the door while the old sits around and collects dust.

GA Russell · 12-01-2010, 06:13 PM

Regarding fiction, I'm not interested in the cover art because the art is the product of someone other than the author, and therefore irrelevant to the content.

That said, I enjoy seeing reproductions of covers from past eras. I just wouldn't use it to influence my decision to read the book.

wvcherrybomb · 12-01-2010, 09:56 PM

I like to see nice cover art when I'm browsing for a book to buy. However, I don't care one way or the other once it's on my eReader as long as it's consistant. It would drive me nuts to have good covers for some and not for others.

For this reason, I have been avoiding putting my library on Calibre. I anticipate the cover art becoming an issue for me with my obsessive and perfectionist personality.

Luke King · 12-01-2010, 10:07 PM

I'm a visual person, so I really like cover art. I'm not happy with the cover for my new book (see signature) - a weak effort from me. I'll probably have a go at designing a new cover in the next few weeks. The only problem is that what I have in mind is something I would have to draw freehand and then photograph. I know it would take me hours, and at this stage I've made a grand total of $6.78 from the book before I added the free code. I know I'd be spending my time better if I was writing my adult books, which is want I want to concentrate on now.

On the question of cover art, though, there was a radio program here is Australia not too long ago where they judged books by their covers - i.e. They had a panel that hadn't read the books, but discussed them based solely on their covers.

Purple Lady · 12-02-2010, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

I like to see nice cover art when I'm browsing for a book to buy. However, I don't care one way or the other once it's on my eReader as long as it's consistant. It would drive me nuts to have good covers for some and not for others.

For this reason, I have been avoiding putting my library on Calibre. I anticipate the cover art becoming an issue for me with my obsessive and perfectionist personality.

That's one of the reasons I like Calibre - if the book doesn't come with a good cover you can download it. I just bought the new Stephen King and it came with a black and white cover with only King's name and book title. In Calibre I went into edit metadata, then fetch metadata from server, then download cover and I now have the same cover as the hard cover version.

wvcherrybomb · 12-02-2010, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke King

On the question of cover art, though, there was a radio program here is Australia not too long ago where they judged books by their covers - i.e. They had a panel that hadn't read the books, but discussed them based solely on their covers.

This sounds really fun and interesting! Maybe we could start something like this here on the forum?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

That's one of the reasons I like Calibre - if the book doesn't come with a good cover you can download it.

This is good news. I may just get attached to Calibre after all.

leebase · 12-02-2010, 06:31 PM

Obliquely related -- I hate most Baen covers. I didn't realize how good Baen books were because I was turned off by their covers for so long. Most of them remind me of pulp covers from the 50's -- not something I'm all the interested in reading.

But yeah -- it does annoy me to see generic place holders for my ebooks when they don't have a cover.

Lee

pops1959 · 12-03-2010, 02:47 PM

Cover art for me is very important. A large portion of what I enjoy reading is old pulp detective novels, and the covers that they had were quite artistic in their own way and I enjoy looking at them.

caleb72 · 12-04-2010, 08:02 AM

It's not vital to me - but it's desirable enough for me to actually make a cover if I can't find one. Just finished a cover for Craphound by Cory Doctorow.

It's not great, but I prefer it to a blank green cover.

Regards
Caleb

elemenoP · 12-04-2010, 08:58 AM

When sorting through the MANY MANY free promotional books that come up, I definitely judge them on their covers. If someone recommended a book to me, I wouldn't judge it on its cover.

And for all you indie authors out there: I urge you to spend some money for a graphic designer to make a nice cover for you. I guess it's the publisher's responsibility, but if they do a poor job, can you supply your own?

As for my Calibre library, I definitely dislike having no cover and I try to download them from within Calibre. But if Calibre comes up with nothing, or something ugly, it never occurred to me to go out (on Google) and find my own. I don't think I should be spending that much time on it.

And as much as I love Sony's ability to set your own sleep state image, I am a bit jealous of Kobo's ability to display that current cover as the sleep state image.

eP

Russell Brooks · 12-04-2010, 10:26 AM

Although cover art will grab my attention, it's not what will make me buy the book. I'll first look at the author, then read the first few pages. If those two don't pass, I won't buy the book. If the cover art is poor, chances are I might overlook the book.

SeaBookGuy · 12-04-2010, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

And as much as I love Sony's ability to set your own sleep state image, I am a bit jealous of Kobo's ability to display that current cover as the sleep state image.

eP

Sonys have that "ability"; it's just not automatic. If you're reading one book at a time, and taking more than a day or two to do so (otherwise it'd be kind of pointless to bother), you can set the thumbnail of your current book as your sleep state image.

elemenoP · 12-04-2010, 01:11 PM

But the thumbnail doesn't show up in the images folder. how do I get it there?

SeaBookGuy · 12-04-2010, 01:33 PM

I thought Calibre automatically adds a copy into the images folder? It may be that that was a perceived "glitch" that they fixed.

Even though the 650 displays rather crude, grainy b/w thumbnails, I prefer a distinctive cover for each item, with as few generic covers as possible.

12-04-2010, 01:33 PM	#45
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	I thought Calibre automatically adds a copy into the images folder? It may be that that was a perceived "glitch" that they fixed. Even though the 650 displays rather crude, grainy b/w thumbnails, I prefer a distinctive cover for each item, with as few generic covers as possible. Last edited by SeaBookGuy; 12-04-2010 at 01:36 PM.

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12-01-2010, 03:24 PM	#31
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,931 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I do like proper cover art. So I replace the generic garbage with a real cover image. ePub makes it easy to do this.

12-01-2010, 05:58 PM	#32
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	To me, good cover art is everything. Because if the book cover doesn't grab them, then they're unlikely to buy your book. I saw that with the very first version of Oort Perimeter. I still see it even now when I put the old book up next to the new one and watch how the new one flies out the door while the old sits around and collects dust.

12-01-2010, 06:13 PM	#33
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	Regarding fiction, I'm not interested in the cover art because the art is the product of someone other than the author, and therefore irrelevant to the content. That said, I enjoy seeing reproductions of covers from past eras. I just wouldn't use it to influence my decision to read the book.

12-01-2010, 09:56 PM	#34
wvcherrybomb Sharp Shootin' Grandma Posts: 847 Karma: 1123940 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sunny Florida Device: Kindle 3, Kindle Fire, Literati (has been adopted by my daughter)	I like to see nice cover art when I'm browsing for a book to buy. However, I don't care one way or the other once it's on my eReader as long as it's consistant. It would drive me nuts to have good covers for some and not for others. For this reason, I have been avoiding putting my library on Calibre. I anticipate the cover art becoming an issue for me with my obsessive and perfectionist personality.

12-01-2010, 10:07 PM	#35
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	I'm a visual person, so I really like cover art. I'm not happy with the cover for my new book (see signature) - a weak effort from me. I'll probably have a go at designing a new cover in the next few weeks. The only problem is that what I have in mind is something I would have to draw freehand and then photograph. I know it would take me hours, and at this stage I've made a grand total of $6.78 from the book before I added the free code. I know I'd be spending my time better if I was writing my adult books, which is want I want to concentrate on now. On the question of cover art, though, there was a radio program here is Australia not too long ago where they judged books by their covers - i.e. They had a panel that hadn't read the books, but discussed them based solely on their covers.

12-02-2010, 06:31 PM	#38
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	Obliquely related -- I hate most Baen covers. I didn't realize how good Baen books were because I was turned off by their covers for so long. Most of them remind me of pulp covers from the 50's -- not something I'm all the interested in reading. But yeah -- it does annoy me to see generic place holders for my ebooks when they don't have a cover. Lee

12-03-2010, 02:47 PM	#39
pops1959 Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Everywhere I am. Device: Kindle Oasis	Cover art for me is very important. A large portion of what I enjoy reading is old pulp detective novels, and the covers that they had were quite artistic in their own way and I enjoy looking at them.

12-04-2010, 08:02 AM	#40
caleb72 Indie Advocate Posts: 2,863 Karma: 18794463 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	It's not vital to me - but it's desirable enough for me to actually make a cover if I can't find one. Just finished a cover for Craphound by Cory Doctorow. It's not great, but I prefer it to a blank green cover. Regards Caleb

12-04-2010, 08:58 AM	#41
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	When sorting through the MANY MANY free promotional books that come up, I definitely judge them on their covers. If someone recommended a book to me, I wouldn't judge it on its cover. And for all you indie authors out there: I urge you to spend some money for a graphic designer to make a nice cover for you. I guess it's the publisher's responsibility, but if they do a poor job, can you supply your own? As for my Calibre library, I definitely dislike having no cover and I try to download them from within Calibre. But if Calibre comes up with nothing, or something ugly, it never occurred to me to go out (on Google) and find my own. I don't think I should be spending that much time on it. And as much as I love Sony's ability to set your own sleep state image, I am a bit jealous of Kobo's ability to display that current cover as the sleep state image. eP

12-04-2010, 10:26 AM	#42
Russell Brooks Fanatic Posts: 538 Karma: 569642 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Montreal, Quebec Device: none	Although cover art will grab my attention, it's not what will make me buy the book. I'll first look at the author, then read the first few pages. If those two don't pass, I won't buy the book. If the cover art is poor, chances are I might overlook the book.

12-04-2010, 01:11 PM	#44
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	But the thumbnail doesn't show up in the images folder. how do I get it there?