MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Is it Cover or the Content that Sells the Book

Frida Fantastic · 05-19-2011, 03:20 AM

It's both.

Covers are like packaging. Would you buy juice if its packaged like laundry detergent? If might be the best juice in the world, but if it looks a little too much like "liquid Tide", do you think many people are going to try that sample, even if there's a person in the grocery handing free cups of it?

I *might* try it if a friend tells me "Hey. That isn't laundry detergent, just close your eyes and drink it." Then I'll drink it because I trust my friend. But if there isn't strong word of mouth going around, then bad packaging will definitely hurt.

Again, there might be terrible juice that is beautifully packaged and recognizably is juice. After sampling it, I ultimately still would not buy it because well... it's bad. At that point, if I really want juice, I could sample the one that looks like laundry detergent, but if there's a billion different kinds of juice out there with free samples available, what's the likelihood of me trying out the one that looks like laundry detergent?

It shows time and time again that the most successful self-published books are the ones that look the most professional and *don't* look self-published. (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ See #8).

I like indie books. I've been buying indie and reading indie and reviewing indie. I'm reviewing books that I would have skipped over if I was just browsing (because they have bad covers that don't show their genre/content), but since the author submitted it to my book blog, I actually got into it after I sampled it, and I'm reviewing it.

But see here, this is what I don't understand. If an author spends a lot of time writing a book in order to sell it, then why spend the time working on a bad cover? A good cover doesn't have to be expensive, it just needs decent design sense. A thumbs up from a graphic designer friend. Or maybe even just a 2-hour job by someone found in deviantart or on a message board, if they don't have to draw original art. Self-published authors aren't competing against other indies, they're competing against traditionally published authors, so they can't look inferior in anyway. A good cover can only help indie authors get an edge. It's not good cover or good content, the reader expects good content first, but the reader isn't as likely to get to the content if the cover isn't good.

05-19-2011, 03:20 AM	#4
Frida Fantastic SF/F book blogger Posts: 270 Karma: 502030 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kindle 3	It's both. Covers are like packaging. Would you buy juice if its packaged like laundry detergent? If might be the best juice in the world, but if it looks a little too much like "liquid Tide", do you think many people are going to try that sample, even if there's a person in the grocery handing free cups of it? I might try it if a friend tells me "Hey. That isn't laundry detergent, just close your eyes and drink it." Then I'll drink it because I trust my friend. But if there isn't strong word of mouth going around, then bad packaging will definitely hurt. Again, there might be terrible juice that is beautifully packaged and recognizably is juice. After sampling it, I ultimately still would not buy it because well... it's bad. At that point, if I really want juice, I could sample the one that looks like laundry detergent, but if there's a billion different kinds of juice out there with free samples available, what's the likelihood of me trying out the one that looks like laundry detergent? It shows time and time again that the most successful self-published books are the ones that look the most professional and don't look self-published. (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ See #8). I like indie books. I've been buying indie and reading indie and reviewing indie. I'm reviewing books that I would have skipped over if I was just browsing (because they have bad covers that don't show their genre/content), but since the author submitted it to my book blog, I actually got into it after I sampled it, and I'm reviewing it. But see here, this is what I don't understand. If an author spends a lot of time writing a book in order to sell it, then why spend the time working on a bad cover? A good cover doesn't have to be expensive, it just needs decent design sense. A thumbs up from a graphic designer friend. Or maybe even just a 2-hour job by someone found in deviantart or on a message board, if they don't have to draw original art. Self-published authors aren't competing against other indies, they're competing against traditionally published authors, so they can't look inferior in anyway. A good cover can only help indie authors get an edge. It's not good cover or good content, the reader expects good content first, but the reader isn't as likely to get to the content if the cover isn't good.