Is the Book Cover Dead? - Page 2

HarryT · 04-20-2012, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Pining for the fjiords?!

DiapDealer · 04-20-2012, 11:59 AM

Mine wasn't really a question Harry... it was the next line in the sketch.

Bookworm_Girl · 04-20-2012, 12:05 PM

Covers help to convey the content of the book. Anybody else get the BooksonBoard email this morning about their "Top 20 trending upward" ebooks? I'll just pick an example that one of the books was called "Rules of the Game" by an author I don't know. With a title like that maybe it could be a thriller that I would enjoy. Maybe it could be somebody's memoir or a non-fiction book. Lots of possibilities! But from the cover I can tell that it is a romance and I can move along to something else.

5thWiggle · 04-20-2012, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Mine wasn't really a question Harry... it was the next line in the sketch.

More on topic: IIRC, "Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying" had a very dull cover indeed.

HarryT · 04-20-2012, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Mine wasn't really a question Harry... it was the next line in the sketch.

Do we need a reason to enjoy the "Parrot Sketch" at every available opportunity?

DiapDealer · 04-20-2012, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do we need a reason to enjoy the "Parrot Sketch" at every available opportunity?

Absolutely not.

AnemicOak · 04-20-2012, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Very annoying, I agree, but unfortunately the publisher has little choice in the matter if they don't have digital distribution rights to the cover image. Cover rights are normally separate to the rights to the book itself.

I get that for some backlist stuff, but they even do it on covers for current release books, no reason they can't include the cover as digital book rights should be standard in current contracts.

DiapDealer · 04-20-2012, 12:25 PM

I know that with Amazon... the cover shown in the various reading apps is not always the same as (or even a part of) the internal metadata. The displayed covers are downloaded and cached independently of the ebook.

AnemicOak · 04-20-2012, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Who are you buying from? I buy from B&N and was very angry at Big 6 for this, but I noticed when I uploaded *my* book that B&N stripped that cover out. (It wasn't stripped from other stores, so they're definitely doing their own conversion.)

That would be annoying, but these aren't a case where the cover image has been stripped out, they've just been replaced by a publisher produced placeholder/title graphic with the book title and author along with the publisher logo and stuff. Doesn't matter where it's from and I buy pretty much everywhere.

AnemicOak · 04-20-2012, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I know that with Amazon... the cover shown in the various reading apps is not always the same as (or even a part of) the internal metadata. The displayed covers are downloaded and cached independently of the ebook.

I think the apps grab whatever Amazon has for the current cover for a given AISN?

RHWright · 04-20-2012, 12:34 PM

I don't think of it as dead. More a changing art form that is becoming less appreciated.

Much the same way album/CD art has declined from its heyday during vinyl. Some of those double-gatefold albums were beautiful because they had room to use. Now that what most people need is a postage stamp sized (or smaller) icon on their music player of choice, much of the detail just doesn't matter. Roger Dean artwork just isn't the same on the screen of my iPod nano.

Ebook cover art is much the same. With the larger printed format in decline, the cover becomes more about what looks good as a small imagine on the screen. Either on screen when people are shopping, or in the variety of library/catalog systems when you are sorting through them.

As a cover art fan, I can't say I like the change. But I understand the changing media have different needs; what works well in one may not work as well in another.

ucfgrad93 · 04-20-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

One thing I dislike about a lot of big 6 books is that the cover art isn't even there at the beginning of the ebook file. Instead they use the cover art to market the book and then give us some crappy placeholder instead in the actual file.

That really annoys me too!

crossi · 04-20-2012, 12:43 PM

I'd be willing to buy digital downloads of covers from the publishers if they would make them available. Maybe something like pick any 10 for $10. I'd like to have them cycle as a computer screensaver. They'd get some extra money from something they already paid for and get some free advertising of the books as well. Some of the artwork is great.

ATimson · 04-20-2012, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Very annoying, I agree, but unfortunately the publisher has little choice in the matter if they don't have digital distribution rights to the cover image. Cover rights are normally separate to the rights to the book itself.

While that's a reasonable explanation for an older title, new books should have negotiated ebook cover rights at the same time as print ones were negotiated. There's no excuse for any book from the last five years or so omitting the real cover, asides from the publisher being a cheapskate.

AlbertaCowboy · 04-20-2012, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I love the cover browser in calibre. It makes me happy to scrolll through the pretty book covers.

This +1
When I'm searching for my next book, I usually end up scrolling through the cover browser instead of looking on my reader itself.

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04-20-2012, 11:59 AM	#17
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,892 Karma: 207182180 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Mine wasn't really a question Harry... it was the next line in the sketch.

04-20-2012, 12:05 PM	#18
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,873 Karma: 36536965 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	Covers help to convey the content of the book. Anybody else get the BooksonBoard email this morning about their "Top 20 trending upward" ebooks? I'll just pick an example that one of the books was called "Rules of the Game" by an author I don't know. With a title like that maybe it could be a thriller that I would enjoy. Maybe it could be somebody's memoir or a non-fiction book. Lots of possibilities! But from the cover I can tell that it is a romance and I can move along to something else.

04-20-2012, 12:25 PM	#23
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,892 Karma: 207182180 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I know that with Amazon... the cover shown in the various reading apps is not always the same as (or even a part of) the internal metadata. The displayed covers are downloaded and cached independently of the ebook.

04-20-2012, 12:34 PM	#26
RHWright Addict Posts: 219 Karma: 2617122 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: North Carolina Device: NOOK ST, Nexus 7	I don't think of it as dead. More a changing art form that is becoming less appreciated. Much the same way album/CD art has declined from its heyday during vinyl. Some of those double-gatefold albums were beautiful because they had room to use. Now that what most people need is a postage stamp sized (or smaller) icon on their music player of choice, much of the detail just doesn't matter. Roger Dean artwork just isn't the same on the screen of my iPod nano. Ebook cover art is much the same. With the larger printed format in decline, the cover becomes more about what looks good as a small imagine on the screen. Either on screen when people are shopping, or in the variety of library/catalog systems when you are sorting through them. As a cover art fan, I can't say I like the change. But I understand the changing media have different needs; what works well in one may not work as well in another.

04-20-2012, 12:43 PM	#28
crossi Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 12000001 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Seattle Wahington U.S. Device: kindle	I'd be willing to buy digital downloads of covers from the publishers if they would make them available. Maybe something like pick any 10 for $10. I'd like to have them cycle as a computer screensaver. They'd get some extra money from something they already paid for and get some free advertising of the books as well. Some of the artwork is great.

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