[JSWolf]

We get shown covers of books we never asked to see when we do a search. If we make a typo, we get a list that may not include what we were looking for. So we see covers of books we may known nothing about. We see the books we asked about and then we see more books.

When Kobo sends out a coupon that goes with a specific list of books, one of the first things we see is the cover then the title and author.

Overdrive defaults to thumbnail view where the first thing we see is the cover. When we browse newly added eBook to our library, we see the cover be it in thumbnail view or list view. Are you going to read each and every description in hops that the cover you don't like is for a book you might like? I don't think so. You'll look at the cover and the title and the author and go from there.

If you are looking in say Barnes & Nobel, you see book cover first. Have you ever gone over to look at the book because the cover caught your attention? Of course you have. We all have. Have you looked at a book and the cover didn't catch your attention yet you went over to find out more about the book when you didn't know of the book and the author? Not likely. We are more likely to go over to pick up a book when the cover is interesting.

When was the last time you saw a book with a cover you didn't like, knew nothing about the book from the title and knew nothing about the author? Not very often if at all. There are too many books out there to spend the time reading every single blurb to find out if it's a book we might like.

A good example of a bad cover is the new cover from Penguin for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I would not be picking that up if I saw the new cover and knew nothing about the book. The cover doesn't go with the book and it's a creepy cover. So I'd just pass it up even though I would like it otherwise.