Kobo's Best Indie Cover Contest - Page 2

gmw · 01-04-2020, 08:14 AM

Except that, other than the distraction concerning the Twilight covers, with the link of the OP we are not talking of the same sort of disparity in the authors. There probably is some, but is it enough to outweigh the public access factor? No idea, but I have my doubts. With such low voter numbers almost anyone (artist, author, fan, random-outsider looking to amuse themselves) could potentially have swayed the result.

VydorScope · 01-04-2020, 08:20 AM

So what you are saying is I should have activated my list and swept the contest?

gmw · 01-04-2020, 08:33 AM

If you want to prove your point you'd have to use your first cover. The one's you have been using more recently are high enough quality that they might well win against the current list whether you send out a notice to your fans or not. Win with your first cover, against the current field, and I would consider your point made.

VydorScope · 01-04-2020, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmw

If you want to prove your point you'd have to use your first cover. The one's you have been using more recently are high enough quality that they might well win against the current list whether you send out a notice to your fans or not. Win with your first cover, against the current field, and I would consider your point made.

Covers have become my second largest expense in this game.

Long gone are the days I could just slap some pics in GIMP add Papyrus text and call it done.

Deskisamess · 01-04-2020, 12:59 PM

What one person considers "good art" is subjective. I think it is virtually impossible to separate a cover from the content of the book. Even if you've never read the book, but have basic knowledge of the content, as an example, the Twilight books. A distaste of the content is going to affect your opinion of the cover. I'm not sure how it couldn't.

I've not read the books, but have seen bits of a couple of the movies. I also don't like the covers, they seem as if they are trying too hard to be mysterious and naughty. Covers designed with 13 year old girls in mind.

(effect?)

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Pretend for a moment I was a Stephen King level author.

Who do you think would win that contest? The person with the best cover, or the biggest loyal following. I will leave the answer as an exercise for the reader.

My money is on this guy:

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Covers designed with 13 year old girls in mind.

(effect?)

Who should the covers have been designed for? 86 year-old men?

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Long gone are the days I could just slap some pics in GIMP add Papyrus text and call it done.

And readers everywhere are thankful.

Deskisamess · 01-04-2020, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Who should the covers have been designed for? 86 year-old men?

I didn't say that. The covers were designed with the target audience in mind.

Please don't put words in my mouth.

JSWolf · 01-04-2020, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

In my opinion, the best book cover is the cover for The Great Gatsby:

To me, it looks like a charcter from a Doctor Who episode.

JSWolf · 01-04-2020, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmw

If I understand your post correctly, you object to book cover popularity contests* because you believe they often become content popularity contests. I suspect a formal study would find such a correlation exists, but cause and effect could be harder to isolate.

It is possible that a book gained popularity as a result of its attractive cover. It is possible that a cover looks attractive to people because it matches other books in a popular genre and so just becomes a refinement of something people already associate with enjoyment. And speaking of associations, think Pavlov's dogs: "every time I picked up that image I had a good time so I find that image attractive", sort of thing.

* Any contest that looks only at the cover image without considering whether it is appropriate to the content is not looking for good covers, it is only looking for popular covers.

It is possible to have a popular book with a good cover. But Twilight is not it. A popular book with a rubbish cover.

JSWolf · 01-04-2020, 02:01 PM

The best way to do a cover contest would be to have covers with no words and just the cover picture. That way if you are not familiar with the book or author, you would be more likely to vote for the cover and not the book.

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I didn't say that. The covers were designed with the target audience in mind.

Please don't put words in my mouth.

You were criticising the covers for being designed exactly for their target demographic. Otherwise, why mention who the covers were designed for?

I will say in the early days of Twilight, before the sequels, before I knew what the books were, I used to see the cover all the time and was curious about what it was.

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The best way to do a cover contest would be to have covers with no words and just the cover picture. That way if you are not familiar with the book or author, you would be more likely to vote for the cover and not the book.

I disagree with the assertion that covers need to be based on the art alone. That is nonsense. It isn't an art contest. It is a cover contest.

The Star Wars poster is a great poster for Star Wars. It would be a bad poster for The Godfather.

ZodWallop · 01-04-2020, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To me, it looks like a charcter from a Doctor Who episode.

You show your bad taste.

In your humble opinion, what is a good cover? Please specify one.

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01-04-2020, 08:14 AM	#16
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	Except that, other than the distraction concerning the Twilight covers, with the link of the OP we are not talking of the same sort of disparity in the authors. There probably is some, but is it enough to outweigh the public access factor? No idea, but I have my doubts. With such low voter numbers almost anyone (artist, author, fan, random-outsider looking to amuse themselves) could potentially have swayed the result.

01-04-2020, 08:20 AM	#17
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	So what you are saying is I should have activated my list and swept the contest?

01-04-2020, 08:33 AM	#18
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	If you want to prove your point you'd have to use your first cover. The one's you have been using more recently are high enough quality that they might well win against the current list whether you send out a notice to your fans or not. Win with your first cover, against the current field, and I would consider your point made.

01-04-2020, 12:59 PM	#20
Deskisamess Wizard Posts: 2,609 Karma: 42697471 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Ohio Device: iPhone 7+, iPad mini, 2021 iPad Pro 12.9",Paperwhite 6.8"	What one person considers "good art" is subjective. I think it is virtually impossible to separate a cover from the content of the book. Even if you've never read the book, but have basic knowledge of the content, as an example, the Twilight books. A distaste of the content is going to affect your opinion of the cover. I'm not sure how it couldn't. I've not read the books, but have seen bits of a couple of the movies. I also don't like the covers, they seem as if they are trying too hard to be mysterious and naughty. Covers designed with 13 year old girls in mind. (effect?)

01-04-2020, 02:01 PM	#27
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,987 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The best way to do a cover contest would be to have covers with no words and just the cover picture. That way if you are not familiar with the book or author, you would be more likely to vote for the cover and not the book.

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