Book Covers

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

How do you ever find a new book?

For my part: by talking to people whose interests intersect with my own. Or by finding out an author I know I already like has a new release out. Browsing covers just isn't part of my process. I usually can't even make out the titles/authors in the cover thumbnails being presented to me in searches on retail sites, so there's no real reason for me to even focus on them. They're typically just tiny swatches of colors that have no discernable features I can make out anyway. By the time I get to the details page, it's all about the description at that point.

[leebase]

The cover AND the title of the book. They matter. I might SAY “never judge a book by its cover”, but I do

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I do use the cover as at least some sort of guide. If the cover is slapdash and poor, I wonder how much effort has gone into writing and editing the book.

Look, with a title like Time Ninja, it has to be the greatest book of all, right? But that cover is warning me away.

That's why I use the local library. I can read *anything* from the library, because it's free. The only cost is my time. And I'm good at being able to tell if a book is going to work for me without having to invest a lot of time in it; I put it down and move to the next one if it's a dud. Then if I like a book I know it's because the author writes books that I like and I'll read everything else by them, from the library and purchased.

[theducks]

Weird, the number of NO's here!

Then why do the publishers $pend so much effort on a cover (Jacket)?
Why do bookshops give "Face out space" to new titles?

Has the Digital Age change things that much?
I am surprised at the number of (Calibre) requests to show-sort Authors Fn Ln When I was young, I learned to go to the W drawer for David Weber not the D one.
or
File "The books Title" under 'T' for "The", not 'B", as I would expect.

To me, a decent Jacket catches the eye. That is its purpose.
After that spread, the shop files 'spine out' books by Author (and in a Genre section) because the cover art is no longer in play.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yep. The book stores/libraries were primarily presented spine out and I was looking for specific titles/authors anyway. I was a card-catalog junkie. I can't remember a time when I was browsing for books by looking at covers. There may have been such a time when I was really young, but I realized early on that there was rarely a connection between me liking a cover and me liking a book (and vice-versa). I never really did get the connection between artwork and book-writing/reading. Maybe if it was an book of art, I'd feel differently.

[Pulpmeister]

No, not really, I chose what I read by author. Many covers, both way back and now, had little relation to content.

I do like covers, though, and appreciate a good one. My all-time favourite is the paperback edition of Agatha Christie's "Death in the Clouds" Fontana paperback edition, with an outsize bee monstering a 1930s Handley Page Imperial Airways airliner. The book cover guest-appeared in an episode of Dr Who...

If I get an e-book with a poor cover, I will hunt down a good one and replace it, because I browse my Calibre library by covers. Years ago I scanned all of my then book covers so i have a huge library to chose from.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yep. The book stores/libraries were primarily presented spine out and I was looking for specific titles/authors anyway. I was a card-catalog junkie. I can't remember a time when I was browsing for books by looking at covers. There may have been such a time when I was really young, but I realized early on that there was rarely a connection between me liking a cover and me liking a book (and vice-versa). I never really did get the connection between artwork and book-writing/reading. Maybe if it was an book of art, I'd feel differently.

ok. I'm starting to see why we have very different ideas on discoverability.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I do use the cover as at least some sort of guide. If the cover is slapdash and poor, I wonder how much effort has gone into writing and editing the book.

Look, with a title like Time Ninja, it has to be the greatest book of all, right? But that cover is warning me away.



Call me shallow.

Shallow.

Based on the responses so far, there definitely seems to be a very different approach to book browsing by people. It's interesting.

[DiapDealer]

Looking for pleasing visual images just seems like an odd way to find books one might like to read to me. Did people that do use that book discovery method also browse album covers (back when you could browse music by album cover) to find new music to listen to? Did you pick cereal you wanted to eat by the picture on the box? Can you eat cereal from a box that has a lousy (or no) picture on it?

I can appreciate good artwork (on book covers or elsewhere) when someone asks my opinion of it (or when I see it in an art book, or hanging in a frame on a wall), but I guess I just tune that stuff out when it comes to activities that, to me, have zero connection to the appreciation of visual art. Like, you know ... reading.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

For my part: by talking to people whose interests intersect with my own. Or by finding out an author I know I already like has a new release out. Browsing covers just isn't part of my process. I usually can't even make out the titles/authors in the cover thumbnails being presented to me in searches on retail sites, so there's no real reason for me to even focus on them. They're typically just tiny swatches of colors that have no discernable features I can make out anyway. By the time I get to the details page, it's all about the description at that point.

Exactly. For most books, I couldn't tell you anything about the cover, and this has always been true. In bookstores and libraries, I would look at the title and blurb of every book to find the ones I was going to take home that day. I don't think I've ever chosen a book by its cover.

Shari

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

How do you ever find a new book?

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

For my part: by talking to people whose interests intersect with my own. Or by finding out an author I know I already like has a new release out. Browsing covers just isn't part of my process. I usually can't even make out the titles/authors in the cover thumbnails being presented to me in searches on retail sites, so there's no real reason for me to even focus on them. They're typically just tiny swatches of colors that have no discernable features I can make out anyway. By the time I get to the details page, it's all about the description at that point.

This is what I do too. I realized, a long time ago, that most book covers don't even relate to what the book is about. I doubt the artists have even read the books when they create the covers.
Apache

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Looking for pleasing visual images just seems like an odd way to find books one might like to read to me. Did people that do use that book discovery method also browse album covers (back when you could browse music by album cover) to find new music to listen to? Did you pick cereal you wanted to eat by the picture on the box? Can you eat cereal from a box that has a lousy (or no) picture on it?

I can appreciate good artwork (on book covers or elsewhere) when someone asks my opinion of it (or when I see it in an art book, or hanging in a frame on a wall), but I guess I just tune that stuff out when it comes to activities that, to me, have zero connection to the appreciation of visual art. Like, you know ... reading.

I don't look for pleasing images to pick a book. I look at the books on the shelf in the bookshop, or listed in the on-line store. If a cover catches my eye, I look at it. Sometimes its a serious look because I like whatever idea the cover expresses. Sometimes it is because I can't work out the cover. Sometimes it is just because I like the picture. I don't think I have ever bought a book just because of the cover. But, I have definitely bought books because the cover attracted my attention and when I looked at the book, I decided I wanted to read it.

That's how I discovered Roger Zelazny. I was in a bookshop, saw a cover with a unicorn playing chess, was amused and intrigued. I looked at the description of the short stories it contained, and some of the other books by him the shop had. I decided to try it and then binged on his books for a while. This was pre-internet, so it wasn't as easy to find information about books. Nowadays, I'd be looking for reviews or other descriptions before choosing, but, the cover can be what started the process of picking a book.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by theducks

Weird, the number of NO's here!

Then why do the publishers $pend so much effort on a cover (Jacket)?
Why do bookshops give "Face out space" to new titles?

Has the Digital Age change things that much?
I am surprised at the number of (Calibre) requests to show-sort Authors Fn Ln When I was young, I learned to go to the W drawer for David Weber not the D one.
or
File "The books Title" under 'T' for "The", not 'B", as I would expect.

To me, a decent Jacket catches the eye. That is its purpose.
After that spread, the shop files 'spine out' books by Author (and in a Genre section) because the cover art is no longer in play.

My old Sony readers sorted authors by first name (at least some of the time). I hated that. While I do miss some things about those readers, at least the Kobo I have now sorts authors by last name.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Looking for pleasing visual images just seems like an odd way to find books one might like to read to me.

You mean you don't look for those shirtless hunk covers to find your next read? ha

I don't look at covers as a way to find a book. I use them as one piece of information. If I'm looking through new listings on Overdrive, am not familiar with the author and don't feel like taking the time to look up reviews, the cover art is one clue as to whether I'd be interested in the book. I rely more on the synopsis, though.

[theducks]

It is not that I look for a 'pleasing ' cover . I look for an "Interesting" cover, that is relevant to the genre I read (and the STORY).

Wrong for the book, is ..just Wrong!
(And Cheaply/sloppily done is just hurting the book in many cases. A few Writers here at MR, get opinions on covers they do (to save $), so they are not glaringly 'cheap' )

My bigger Nit is covers that violate the story. eg. A main character who does not use weapons, shown with a big honk'n ray gun.
A first time buyer may not know, but someone who follows the series, WILL

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by theducks

My bigger Nit is covers that violate the story. eg. A main character who does not use weapons, shown with a big honk'n ray gun.
A first time buyer may not know, but someone who follows the series, WILL

Which to me, sounds like just one more reason not to place much emphasis on them.

It would be one thing if the author were the cover artist, or worked hand-in-hand with the artist to create a cover for their work. But just knowing that it's something that the author rarely has a bit of say in really doesn't convince me of their relevance. They're all just slapped on as afterthought by the publisher anyway, so why should I give them much thought either? I'm not big on baubles.