Can icon be different from book cover?

Ravenswd · 01-12-2014, 04:25 PM

Is it possible to specify that the thumbnail or icon displayed on a Kindle (or any other eReader) be a different image than the one used for the book cover? I self-publish, and my book covers tend to be rather busy and don't look good at small resolution. There's very specific marketing reasons for the way my covers are composed, so please don't suggest that I simply change the cover design.

What I'd like to do is upload a simpler cover for the thumbnail view and the full cover for the full-cover view.

On a related note, when you upload a book to be sold through Amazon, after the book is uploaded, they have you upload a "Catalog Cover Image", which is a hi-res version of the cover. I assume this is the image that appears on the Amazon website. Is it also used on the mobi file itself? If it isn't, would the people at Amazon get upset if you use a different image than the one that appears on the book itself?

Any help anyone could give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

eschwartz · 01-12-2014, 04:31 PM

The cover in the ebook file is completely independent of the picture you give to Amazon and displayed on the product page. The thumbnail you get on the Kindle is automatically generated (since it's grayscale on an e-ink) from the picture on the product page.

The thumbnail shows in cover view, and the book cover in the ebook file will be the first "page" of the book.

I know this because lots of big six publications have horrible generic covers inside the book, but the thumbnails are always from the product page.

Ravenswd · 01-12-2014, 04:37 PM

So if I'm understanding you correctly, if I wanted my icon to be different from the cover on the mobi file, I'd have to use the simplified cover as the "Catalog Cover", and that would be the one people see on Amazon.

Which is unfortunate, because I (obviously) want the nice-looking version to be the one that shows up on Amazon.

OK, thank you for your help.

01-12-2014, 04:25 PM	#1
Ravenswd Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 499264 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Kindle Fire 7"	Can icon be different from book cover? Is it possible to specify that the thumbnail or icon displayed on a Kindle (or any other eReader) be a different image than the one used for the book cover? I self-publish, and my book covers tend to be rather busy and don't look good at small resolution. There's very specific marketing reasons for the way my covers are composed, so please don't suggest that I simply change the cover design. What I'd like to do is upload a simpler cover for the thumbnail view and the full cover for the full-cover view. On a related note, when you upload a book to be sold through Amazon, after the book is uploaded, they have you upload a "Catalog Cover Image", which is a hi-res version of the cover. I assume this is the image that appears on the Amazon website. Is it also used on the mobi file itself? If it isn't, would the people at Amazon get upset if you use a different image than the one that appears on the book itself? Any help anyone could give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

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01-12-2014, 04:31 PM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	The cover in the ebook file is completely independent of the picture you give to Amazon and displayed on the product page. The thumbnail you get on the Kindle is automatically generated (since it's grayscale on an e-ink) from the picture on the product page. The thumbnail shows in cover view, and the book cover in the ebook file will be the first "page" of the book. I know this because lots of big six publications have horrible generic covers inside the book, but the thumbnails are always from the product page.

01-12-2014, 04:37 PM	#3
Ravenswd Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 499264 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Kindle Fire 7"	So if I'm understanding you correctly, if I wanted my icon to be different from the cover on the mobi file, I'd have to use the simplified cover as the "Catalog Cover", and that would be the one people see on Amazon. Which is unfortunate, because I (obviously) want the nice-looking version to be the one that shows up on Amazon. OK, thank you for your help.

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