Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Sure, if you've heard about a book at Goodreads, or here, or "around," that won't push you in one direction or another. but if you're simply browsing, conan50, I think you are dismissing the power of the First Impression.
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But do we have a good idea of how much book buying is done by simply browsing alone? I'm certain it's considerable, but I'm also
fairly certain word of mouth (or hype) book buying would be at least comparable.
I guess my point is that while a pleasing cover might tempt some (even many) people to look/buy. It's still not going to tempt people to spread the word about a book that sucked (or was mediocre). And with no word of mouth, a great cover will never (in my opinion) push a book from slush-in-the-pile to putting-dinner-on-the-table.
Sure, no one should slap an ugly cover on their hard work. That's common sense. But the idea that an indie author needs to pay visual consultants and hire professional artists for any chance at success smacks of the very elitism and good-ol'-boy pay-to-play mentality that was keeping them from ever being published in the first place.
And yes. I know I'm being very idealistic.
