Do book covers make a difference? - Page 2

Blossom · 05-01-2013, 07:19 PM

Deleted...

John Carroll · 05-01-2013, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

That's so stereotypical and not true.

That's why he added the roll eyes/sarcastic smiley.

Blossom · 05-01-2013, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Carroll

That's why he added the roll eyes/sarcastic smiley.

Ah I was viewing on mobile because power was out which didn't show that. Nevermind. Carry on then.

crossi · 05-01-2013, 07:51 PM

A good cover adds to my enjoyment of the book. I love looking at the cover of books like The White Dragon or Intergral Trees before going on to read them. Pretty much for the same reason I enjoy artwork. Also I have an easier time remembering a book by the cover than by the title alone.

kindlefire_lover · 05-01-2013, 08:25 PM

I do believe a book cover sells an e-book. It's the only thing that an individuals can judge beside reading its reviews on other sites.

JSWolf · 05-01-2013, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jozawun

I thought that was cars?

For cars, you take out the half-naked guy and have the hot girl dress in something tight and/or skimpy.

Blossom · 05-01-2013, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For cars, you take out the half-naked guy and have the hot girl dress in something tight and/or skimpy.

Now's my turn to

JSWolf · 05-01-2013, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

Now's my turn to

Feel free. In fact, do your worst.

Blossom · 05-01-2013, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Feel free. In fact, do your worst.

Nah. I'm too nice and I have two brothers. One who is into hot rods. My Dad is a mechanic. I grew up around those type posters hung everywhere.

DuskyRose · 05-01-2013, 10:38 PM

I have to say "Ditto" to those who say a good cover catches their attention. If it catches my eye, then I'll pick it up and check it out. If not, I may just run right past it.

But Illustrators can have their own fans. My favorite illustrator, Chris McGrath has a web site I browse every once in a while. His covers make me drool, as they seem to be a slice out of time in a story I want to read. Because if it's half as good as the cover it'll be a great buy.

Mentally, I know that's not true and I don't get them all, but I still drop by his web site to see who he's worked for lately, them check the book out, just to make sure I'm not missing out.

I'm more likely to want a ebook and a pbook copy of those books, just so his artwork will be on my shelves.

tomsem · 05-02-2013, 03:42 AM

For ebooks (I can't remember how it was with pbooks), it makes very little difference to me what the cover looks like in terms of a purchase decision. The thumbnails one usually sees are too small to have much impact, and years of web browsing have desensitized me to attention-grabbing images. I'm usually looking for something specific rather than randomly browsing, and when I find what I'm looking for it doesn't matter much what the cover looks like. I'm going to spend a few seconds looking at the cover, and many hours reading the content.

But there are plenty of people who claim it makes a difference. I just wonder what the evidence for this is. Self-reporting is not a valid methodology for this sort of thing, yet it is hard to isolate the factors involved and establish that what you discover in controlled setting applies to the real world. Probably the best way woud be to publish a book with a set of cover images that are randomly presented, and then observe sales rate of each. But even then I think it would be difficult to distill the rules of success.

That said, it is probably a good idea to make sure the title is legible in the thumbnail image and adopt visual conventions of whatever genre the book will show up in. If it transcends genre, then something more neutral is probably fine.

crich70 · 05-02-2013, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

The New York Times recently had an article about the competing book covers for "The Great Gatsby": the original blue cover with the disembodied face, and a movie tie-in edition featuring the cast from the new Baz Luhrmann film.

This got me thinking: do book covers make a difference, especially with e-books?

Despite the saying that "you can't judge a book by its cover", I find myself doing that. When I see a cover that looks as it took all of 30 seconds to design, it makes me wonder, perhaps unfairly, how carelessly produced the contents are if so little attention was given to the cover. And I wonder about that even in the era of e-books, when covers are less visible than before.

What are your thoughts on this?

You took the words right out of my mouth LovesMacs. If a cover doesn't look well done I'd have to wonder if the book's text was any better. I mean if I go in for a job interview and I look disheveled is the potential employer likely to offer me a job? Not likely. And I think the cover serves a similar purpose. It's the 1st thing as a prospective buyer that I will see when I go somewhere looking for a book. It's not a deep hook in that I could still decide (even if the cover does look good) that I don't want to buy that particular book, but it's the 1st thing that piques my interest in the possibility of buying it.

crich70 · 05-02-2013, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

All you need for a romance cover is a half-naked guy with muscles with a hot girl draped over him. Not much to it.

Fabio made (or is it still makes) a good living posing for such covers so I can't fault you for that thought.

Gazella · 05-02-2013, 07:24 AM

Yes!
To be honest, I judge books by their covers. It's the first thing I see. I'm more than likely going to open and read the book description of an ebook with an appealing cover. I won't look twice at ebooks with amateurishly-done covers.

HarryT · 05-02-2013, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The new version of The Great Gatsby is in 3D. That's just a stupid decision. It doesn't need 3D and should not be in 3D.

Do you mean the book cover is in 3D? How have they done that?

05-01-2013, 07:19 PM	#16
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Deleted... Last edited by Blossom; 05-01-2013 at 07:42 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Whats the difference between a purchased book and a personal document?	neonbible	Amazon Kindle	2	04-26-2012 02:36 PM
Best Way to Make Covers	Rand Brittain	Workshop	7	01-23-2012 11:43 AM
Will a 6" screen make much difference?	DisneeReader	Which one should I buy?	14	07-20-2011 01:56 AM
iPad Which difference does it make whether I use NCX-pageList or not?	hpstricker	Apple Devices	2	01-24-2011 07:59 PM
What's the difference? Same book, listed twice	Sporadic	Amazon Kindle	2	05-06-2009 06:09 AM

05-01-2013, 07:51 PM	#19
crossi Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 12000001 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Seattle Wahington U.S. Device: kindle	A good cover adds to my enjoyment of the book. I love looking at the cover of books like The White Dragon or Intergral Trees before going on to read them. Pretty much for the same reason I enjoy artwork. Also I have an easier time remembering a book by the cover than by the title alone.

05-01-2013, 08:25 PM	#20
kindlefire_lover Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Los Angeles Device: KindleFire	I do believe a book cover sells an e-book. It's the only thing that an individuals can judge beside reading its reviews on other sites.

05-01-2013, 10:38 PM	#25
DuskyRose Guru Posts: 756 Karma: 9209502 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Boox Note Air3, Palma, K-Scribe, Eclipsa 2e, & Libra 2, Ipads	I have to say "Ditto" to those who say a good cover catches their attention. If it catches my eye, then I'll pick it up and check it out. If not, I may just run right past it. But Illustrators can have their own fans. My favorite illustrator, Chris McGrath has a web site I browse every once in a while. His covers make me drool, as they seem to be a slice out of time in a story I want to read. Because if it's half as good as the cover it'll be a great buy. Mentally, I know that's not true and I don't get them all, but I still drop by his web site to see who he's worked for lately, them check the book out, just to make sure I'm not missing out. I'm more likely to want a ebook and a pbook copy of those books, just so his artwork will be on my shelves.

05-02-2013, 03:42 AM	#26
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,008 Karma: 27060353 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	For ebooks (I can't remember how it was with pbooks), it makes very little difference to me what the cover looks like in terms of a purchase decision. The thumbnails one usually sees are too small to have much impact, and years of web browsing have desensitized me to attention-grabbing images. I'm usually looking for something specific rather than randomly browsing, and when I find what I'm looking for it doesn't matter much what the cover looks like. I'm going to spend a few seconds looking at the cover, and many hours reading the content. But there are plenty of people who claim it makes a difference. I just wonder what the evidence for this is. Self-reporting is not a valid methodology for this sort of thing, yet it is hard to isolate the factors involved and establish that what you discover in controlled setting applies to the real world. Probably the best way woud be to publish a book with a set of cover images that are randomly presented, and then observe sales rate of each. But even then I think it would be difficult to distill the rules of success. That said, it is probably a good idea to make sure the title is legible in the thumbnail image and adopt visual conventions of whatever genre the book will show up in. If it transcends genre, then something more neutral is probably fine.

05-02-2013, 07:24 AM	#29
Gazella Wizard Posts: 1,705 Karma: 4619474 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Kindle Scribe, Kindle Paperwhite	Yes! To be honest, I judge books by their covers. It's the first thing I see. I'm more than likely going to open and read the book description of an ebook with an appealing cover. I won't look twice at ebooks with amateurishly-done covers.