High quality book covers

[michaelraiwet]

Hi, I just have a quick question, as I scour the internet every couple months, but still have not found a solution. Does anybody know of a website where I can find high-quality jpegs of book covers to use to better sort my eBooks? Much like the website http://www.albumartexchange.com/ does for music, but for books. This issue is purely superficial, but it would be nice, especially since some eBooks I buy either have poor quality covers, or none at all.

I know, I know, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I still really want to.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by michaelraiwet

Hi, I just have a quick question, as I scour the internet every couple months, but still have not found a solution. Does anybody know of a website where I can find high-quality jpegs of book covers to use to better sort my eBooks? Much like the website http://www.albumartexchange.com/ does for music, but for books. This issue is purely superficial, but it would be nice, especially since some eBooks I buy either have poor quality covers, or none at all.

I know, I know, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I still really want to.

I wish. I can usually find what I need by doing a dedicated Google Image search with the title of the book in quotations. If you do find some wonderful site that has good quality covers, make sure you let us know!

[AlexBell]

Try Fantastic Fiction at http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ They have lots of books, and I have verified that one can use them for one's own books.

Regards, Alex

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy

I wish. I can usually find what I need by doing a dedicated Google Image search with the title of the book in quotations. If you do find some wonderful site that has good quality covers, make sure you let us know!

That's also what I do, and usually get good results. I'll just type "X book cover", ex: "Master and Margarita book cover." Then click "images."

[edbro]

Deleted. Duplicate of what's been said above. Sorry.

[CWatkinsNash]

I just wanted to add that if you can't get a better/larger image somewhere else, my post here explains how to get a higher-res jpg image on Amazon than the version that shows on the book page (and without the overlays).

[michaelraiwet]

@CWatkinsNash, thanks, I think that is a great solution, I wish it was a bit bigger, but it works!

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by michaelraiwet

@CWatkinsNash, thanks, I think that is a great solution, I wish it was a bit bigger, but it works!

Glad you found it useful. You'll find that some come out bigger than others; I guess it depends on what the publisher uploads. I'm a cover fanatic myself. Happy cover hunting!

[Format C:]

A Calibre plugin should be useful, I suppose...

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Format C:

A Calibre plugin should be useful, I suppose...

Kovid worked in a change awhile back to the cover fetching (in the edit/download metadata process) using my tip above, but like all other things, it relies on Amazon not having a finicky day and the essential minimum metadata being correct in order to target the proper book.

As there are often multiple versions of some books, as well as books that are very similar but not the same, it would be cool to have a plug-in that could fetch thumbnails of potential matches so that one could choose the cover they want. Just like over on Goodreads, some of us want the one that matches the edition they have, but others (like me) want the one that they think looks best. For example, I have the ebook versions of the first few Dresden Files books, but I chose to use the covers from the Roc hardcover editions. Similarly, some of John Saul's works were re-issued with updated covers, but I prefer the original 80s MMPB covers when I can find them.

It would be nifty to have that process at least partially automated and accessible within my favorite software ever. (I spend too much time on Amazon as it is.) But then, I know little about Amazon's API and calibre's plugins so I could be asking for the moon and stars for all I know.