Does a Good Book Cover -Make you want to read it?

[Shelley]

In book shops I am drawn to covers and like Roshio, I chose Left Hand of God by the cover and really enjoyed it and the sequels. I do enjoy romantic fantasy (e.g. JR Ward) but am put off by the "eye candy" on the covers! It's very hypocritcal of me, but I get really embarrassed by these! Besides, I prefer to imagine how the hero looks! lol. I bought the Twilight series in one go because I found the art work on the covers impressive. But I found the main character of the stories VERY tiresome and had to grit my teeth to get through them as I had bought them.......

[Cheryl]

Honestly, I don't even really look at book covers that much. Usually, it's the title that grabs me first and then the blurb. If the premise sounds interesting, I'll be tempted to read the book, even if it has a blank cover with just the title and author's name on it. Pretty or striking covers are fine, but I'm drawn to the book more by the description of the story inside. It's unfortunate that a lot of good books are probably overlooked because the cover might not be eye-catching. And, in my opinion, a great cover does not in any way guarantee a great story.

[Shelley]

I have to agree Cheryl! I have picked up books, especially in second hand shops and have really enjoyed them despite their covers. I think there could be a psychological aspect - bright colours perhaps attract the eye. I have found the most thoughtful books can have bland covers. But I get caught every time - title, cover, blurb.

[Jason]

I love bookcovers, myself. They can be so incredibly beautiful, or incredibly ugly. I like the former best, obviously. LOL

[Laurel]

A few of my, now, favorite series I had refused to try because of their slutty looking covers. Thank goodness I got over it!

[Jason]

Those are pretty bad, Laurel. LOL

Though you're also right in that the Patricia Briggs Mercy books are pretty good. I haven't read the Kim Harrison yet.

[Cheryl]

This is the cover of the book I have for John Wyndham's "Midwich Cuckoos". It's definitely not pretty or eye-catching, but I picked it up because I really like the author and his other books, especially "Day of the Triffids" and "The Chrysalids".

[Shannon]

Laurel wrote: "A few of my, now, favorite series I had refused to try because of their slutty looking covers. Thank goodness I got over it!

[bo..."

Laurel, I felt exactly the same way about the Mercy Thompson series. I almost didn't try them because I hated the covers so much and I ending up loving the series!

[Mach]

I am like Kevinb when it comes to covers i like them plain and simple. I am getting sick of covers with dragons and men with swords on it. My favorite cover is
, i have seen several of his other books and they all have beatiful covers.

[Traci]

I hate covers with glossy pictures of models. It's okay for romance but on a fantasy book it just looks cheesy. Medievel Times.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I love the Mercy covers, lol. I've always been more focused on the tattoos. I also hate the covers because the tattoos are never consistent but someone mentioned that the tattoos reflect the story.

[Maybe]

I love a good book cover but it in no way makes want to read the book. I look at it as an artists view of something from the book. The author in most cases has nothing to do with it, as the publisher usually has the art done for the book by a third party.

[Mach]

A pretty cover is good but it don't make me want to buy it. A bad cover might convince me not to if i am in doubt though, you won't see me buying books with half naked guys and girls that's for sure, lol.

[Jon]

I hope so, because I love my book covers!

Seriously, yes. I'm a sucker for good cover. It has led me a stray a few times, but I still can't help myself.

[Jon]

Also, I prefer original paintings/drawings to clip art covers. And cannot stand cartoon-y fantasy covers.

[Bill]

Jon wrote: "Also, I prefer original paintings/drawings to clip art covers. And cannot stand cartoon-y fantasy covers."

I completely agree. I generally don't like covers with real people on them or even character drawings. I like to create my own images of how a character looks.

[Terry]

Being a lover of anime, I tend to sway toward covers that look anime style or usually anything depicting some good looking, well drawn characters on the front. Kind of what made me have my cover done the way it is. Characters doing some kind of magic is a plus or just some outlandish looking creature that would pique my interest.

[Scarlet]

I think the cover is a very important aspect of a book..I usually don't judge books by their covers but I love looking at them and trying to guess what part of the story it is, or how the characters look like, thus I hate covers that are unrelated to books or just some meaningless picture!!

[Lawrenz]

The cover will make me pick up the book, but the topic will tell me if I will read it.

[Roshio]

If its an author i recognise or a story i read about already, i won't care what it looks like. But if its a book i know nothing about, I would judge it by its cover unless the summary at the back changes my mind. case in point Magic Bites, hated this cover so badly i wouldn't touch it for ages. but when i did pick it up, loved it! i try not to, but the cover really does count for something.

[Reading]

The cover does catch my eye but usually I look more at the tittle. But I have in the past bought books with cool covers and interesting titles and found them terrible. I have learned to alway read a review or synopsis before wasting my money on something that looks good.

[Charlene]

For all you writers out there I would of said the cover was not important, but I just finished M K Baxley"s novel "The Mistress' black veil". I have put off buying and reading it because the pic looked too gothic for me and I thought it was going to be scifi-ish. Anyway I did love her to other books and decided to read some of the reviews. I liked the reviews and decided to give the book a try. WOW loved the book and I've gotta say I was put off by the cover. I wished I looked beyond and I could of enjoyed this book sooner! Learned someting about myself!!

[Tracy]

Yes definitely. I have read many books because of the cover.

[K.]

Yes and no. They'll make me pick up the book, but only to read the summary. For example, Everneath has a beautiful cover, but the synopsis really turned me off.

[Red]

It depends on what you mean by good, I always find that term very subjective. What some people find attractive in book covers, I might not...but that's a given.

I've never read a book solely because of its cover, it has to be what its about and the synopsis, as well as checking the writing style. I've definitely been turned away from reading a book because of its cover. Or I should say, "less likely."

I definitely think the cover can be a large factor in purchases, whether negatively or positively affecting a sale. I think genre can play a part in it also, for example, in paranormal romance or the popular "supernatural" genres (werewolves, vampires, etc.) a really great cover seems to front very average work. While I review a lot of sci-fi books which may not have a "real" cover at all, but the strength of the synopsis and story is its strong points.

[Karen]

A good book cover definitely makes me consider the book, but the story has to check out as well. One of the things I like to do with a paper book is to randomly open the book and read a few pages. If I get nothing but jargon (some fantasy and sci fi books get carried away with made-up jargon and spend all their time slinging jargon instead of writing a story) then I don't read the book.

[Olga]

I just read a great book - The Sword-Edged Blonde. The cover art is atrocious, the worst I have seen in a fantasy novel, but the story flows so fast and it was so enjoyable, I was able to disregard that cover. On the other hand, if someone from GR didn't recommend it, I'd never pick it up, because... the cover art is so terrible. It matters. It really does.