What do you think of this working cover?

[JSWolf]

And don't forget to see what your cover looks like on eInk.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And don't forget to see what your cover looks like on eInk.

Jon:

to be fair, let's not kid ourselves--that doesn't matter. The cover has one job, and one job only--it's CLICK BAIT. period. End statement, end of discussion. Its job is not to tell the story; not to show an event from inside the book, or anything like that. Its only job is to be genre-appropriate so that the prospective buyer says "hmmm...that looks like it might be for me," and then get them to CLICK.

Once that happens, the cover's job is done. It has nothing else to do. Amazon's statistics internally indicate that almost NOBODY flips back in an eBook to see the cover and the books are designed to open at Chapter 1, so...I mean, if Doc Drib wants to check it on an eInk, great, but all it has to do is entice.

Hitch

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Hitch

to be fair, let's not kid ourselves--that doesn't matter. The cover has one job, and one job only--it's CLICK BAIT. period. End statement, end of discussion. Its job is not to tell the story; not to show an event from inside the book, or anything like that. Its only job is to be genre-appropriate so that the prospective buyer says "hmmm...that looks like it might be for me," and then get them to CLICK.

Once that happens, the cover's job is done. It has nothing else to do. Amazon's statistics internally indicate that almost NOBODY flips back in an eBook to see the cover and the books are designed to open at Chapter 1, so...I mean, if Doc Drib wants to check it on an eInk, great, but all it has to do is entice.

Hitch

And yet amazon forces it to show up all over the place, even in list view.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

And yet amazon forces it to show up all over the place, even in list view.

Oh, I admit, that I don't mind that so much, as for me, it makes it easier for me to immediately spot it, but I would (YES) prefer it if they would JUST list them in text. Of course, that's likely a hopeless wish.

We all know that humans are sight-hounds on two legs; they judge almost everything, nearly instantaneously, by what they SEE. [shrug]. It's hard to argue with Amazon's logic, and they must have use statistics to back it up, by now.

Hitch

[j.p.s]

Whether amazon should be aloowed to get away with forcing thumbnails on list view is for another topic, but do you admit that in light of the amazon policy of all covers all the time that how a cover looks on eink does matter?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Whether amazon should be aloowed to get away with forcing thumbnails on list view is for another topic, but do you admit that in light of the amazon policy of all covers all the time that how a cover looks on eink does matter?

Well, @j.p.s. when you say "does it matter," do you mean, "does it matter AT ALL?" Sure, possibly. Most people don't see the thumbnails until after they've already bought the book, so...meh. IF people were downloading samples, left-right-and center, more than just skimming the LITB, that might matter more.

But hell, I have a crap-ton of books on my Kindle eInk (10th Gen PPW) right now and very few of them are real GRABBERS in eInk. They are (rightly) designed to look awesome on the website, in full living (ha) color. As I said--they have one job. Not to make the author happy, not to tell the story or illustrate a scene from the book, or anything else--just to get folks to click.

So, you could argue, and possibly you are, that IF a reader downloads 25 free samples to his eINK, having a great-on-eInk cover might matter, because it might make him click on that one, in his library, before others and then he might then buy it, over others. So, I'll grant that one to you.

BUT, long before he got to that--having the sample on his device, after all--he had to see the cover somewhere else, to click, and most likely, it was on the Amazon website in color. I see thumbs all the time, in the last section, the "rate this book" section and they pop up the next book in sequence or all that--and I only glance quickly at the thumbs. I know full well that they are not designed for eInks, so...IDK. Just not something to which I give a ton of thought, really, all things considered.

And when the thumbs are uber-tiny, as they tend to be in the Library...hell, it almost doesn't matter if it's color or B&W--you can't see them!

But...do they matter in eInk? To some extent, I'm sure that they do. If I had a wining cover, in color, and it wasn't that GREAT in eInk, would I change it, for that reason? No, probably not. Not if it was killer in color.


Hitch

[j.p.s]

Whether it increases sales is not the only consideration. There is also whether to foist indecipherability and/or ugliness onto the hapless reader.

The fact that many are virtually useless in grid view is part of my point that even tinier thumbnails have no place whatsoever in list view.

[JSWolf]

It also matters when people are browsing the store via their eInk device.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Whether it increases sales is not the only consideration. There is also whether to foist indecipherability and/or ugliness onto the hapless reader. [...]

Sure, I think any self-respecting publisher/self-publisher should want to choose covers that work in all environments, even when that limits the choices.

BUT Hitch's advice still stands as the primary consideration. The cover is about sales, which these days mostly means click-bait, everything else is secondary. "Secondary" doesn't mean it is ignored, it just means that it only counts after the first has been satisfied. Get half-a-dozen useful primary choices and the whittle them down or adjust them to fit secondary considerations.

[JSWolf]

There are plenty of good looking covers that work well on an eInk screen.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by gmw

BUT Hitch's advice still stands as the primary consideration. The cover is about sales, which these days mostly means click-bait, everything else is secondary. "Secondary" doesn't mean it is ignored, it just means that it only counts after the first has been satisfied. Get half-a-dozen useful primary choices and the whittle them down or adjust them to fit secondary considerations.

I never disputed that.

My beef was about the extremely emphatic assertion below that that there is no other consideration at all in conjunction with the fact that amazon et al shove covers into readers' faces all the time with little possibility of escape.

Originally Posted by Hitch

to be fair, let's not kid ourselves--that doesn't matter. The cover has one job, and one job only--it's CLICK BAIT. period. End statement, end of discussion.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It also matters when people are browsing the store via their eInk device.

Yes and FWIW, Jon, I do browse from my eInk, at the end of every book. Now, typically, I have a pretty good idea where I'm going and so...the covers are fine. But sure...it could have some effect.

Originally Posted by gmw

Sure, I think any self-respecting publisher/self-publisher should want to choose covers that work in all environments, even when that limits the choices.

BUT Hitch's advice still stands as the primary consideration. The cover is about sales, which these days mostly means click-bait, everything else is secondary. "Secondary" doesn't mean it is ignored, it just means that it only counts after the first has been satisfied. Get half-a-dozen useful primary choices and the whittle them down or adjust them to fit secondary considerations.

Yes, thanks, that is pretty much what I was trying to say.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There are plenty of good looking covers that work well on an eInk screen.

Y'know, I have one right now, I think I mentioned this--it's smokin' in color and it's not so great in eInk. Changing the things that would make it "better" in eInk would reduce some of the impact in color. I am going to bet real money that the publisher will choose to stick with the more emphatic cover.

We'll see!

Hitch

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

We do see the covers on the home screen and if the Reader goes to sleep while the cover is open.

My home screen has Thumbnails. My main way of selection is on the 'My Books' Screen (stock Kobo).

The only full screen cover is the Sleep Screen and by that time, not only have I CHOSEN the book, but am reading it.

I think Hitch is spot on with 'click bait'.
First you need the person to LOOK at the book, open the cover (Old school merchant here) . Why do you think Amazon has 'Look inside' . That is what sells the work, not the cover. The cover GOT YOUR ATTENTION.

I seem to be the outlier on large Author names. I do LOOK an my faves, but I don't go browsing for a Don Browles book. I Browse for a book that grabs my eye (the right way What were they thinking ).

So there are 2 ways to catch an EYE: 1) is the graphical look. 2) A catchy Title

[Quoth]

You tell when a publisher thinks an author is quite famous; the name is much larger than the title.
Really famous people have a tiny story title and almost no image or at least not pictorial?

3) Really famous person or author name really big.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by theducks

My home screen has Thumbnails. My main way of selection is on the 'My Books' Screen (stock Kobo).

The only full screen cover is the Sleep Screen and by that time, not only have I CHOSEN the book, but am reading it.

I think Hitch is spot on with 'click bait'.
First you need the person to LOOK at the book, open the cover (Old school merchant here) . Why do you think Amazon has 'Look inside' . That is what sells the work, not the cover. The cover GOT YOUR ATTENTION.

I seem to be the outlier on large Author names. I do LOOK an my faves, but I don't go browsing for a Don Browles book. I Browse for a book that grabs my eye (the right way What were they thinking ).

So there are 2 ways to catch an EYE: 1) is the graphical look. 2) A catchy Title

...Thanks for your thoughts on this issue.

Unfortunately, if you started browsing for a 'Don Browles" book, you wouldn't find one by me. . (I suppose I can always change my last name to 'Browles.')