Do you judge a book by its cover?

[Emily V, Head Mod]

Sometimes I find it impossible not too. Do you?

[Michael]

I probably have but it can often depend why I am looking at those books in the first place. Once I know that I like an author I might end up browsing the books and make a decision based on the cover and the name of the book.

If I judged books solely by their cover my shelves would probably be full of zombie, vampire and romance novels. They always seem to feature semi-naked women on the front for some reason.

I guess that makes me a bit of a pervert.

[Stephanie (Bookfever)]

I do. A pretty cover will make me buy a book more than a not pretty one :P

[Emily V, Head Mod]

The version of the book Uglies that I read had a very ugly cover kinda freaky too. But it turned out to be a great book. Whereas I love the torment cover but it was a letdown

[Stephanie (Bookfever)]

Covers can be misleading :p

[Emily V, Head Mod]

They can!

[Normandy]

I will definitely pick up a book based on the cover. Then I read the jacket synopsis and may or may not buy it based on that.

[Wana]

Never by the cover, only by the critiques and reviews of the readers..and by the spoilers, can't help myself not knowing in advance..

[Christi]

ALWAYS! Covers are there to spike your interest. Or so I say. *laughs*

[Marta (gavina)]

I try not to do it, but sometimes it's impossible not to do it.

[Annie]

Covers are an important aspect of a book and I pay special attention to them because it shows how much the author cares about portraying their book in the most effective way. If there is no cover or the cover is very unattractive, the author clearly didn't care enough to work more on the cover, so the actual written part could be just as sloppy.

[Elisa]

The covers convince me to pick them up, but usually goodreads reviews convince me to buy!

[Auggie]

Covers are the initial appeal. If the cover is unappealing then it won't catch my interest enough to really pick it up an give it a look.

I am not partial to books with realistic people portrayed on the cover unless they are biographies or non-fiction books. Maybe a bit odd now that I've actually said it but it's true.

All of that being said, if a books is recommended to me then normally I'll pick it up regardless of the cover. That's how I got into Jennifer Crusie and her book .

[Sadie]

I do to a certain extent. I won't bother to pick an ugly one up to even read the blurb, and if I don't read the blurb nothing will interest me. However, if I am looking for a book that has been recommended I tend to ignore the cover.

[Melanie]

The cover change on Beautiful Disaster between editions was similar I wouldn't have bothered picking up:

the whole tongue thing - ewwww - I wouldn't have wanted to hold it if it had been a paperback

but

looks lovely - still not sure I get the metaphorical connection between this image and the book though...

[Emily V, Head Mod]

I love the second!

[Melanie]

have you read Beautiful Disaster?

[Karina]

Yes, always and I think most people do. It's the first impression a readers get's from a book, then they look at the blurb and then maybe the reviews before they buy. I'm so proud of my covers. I was lucky to get exactly what I wanted.











I'd love to know what you all think? Be honest :)

[Emily V, Head Mod]

Melanie wrote: "have you read Beautiful Disaster?"

Nope any good?

[Emily V, Head Mod]

Karina - LadyHawk wrote: "Yes, always and I think most people do. It's the first impression a readers get's from a book, then they look at the blurb and then maybe the reviews before they buy. I'm so proud of my covers. I w..."

nice

[aside*from*writing]

Emily wrote: "Melanie wrote: "have you read Beautiful Disaster?"

Nope any good?"

People seem to love it or loathe it - not much in between - several of us read it as the author was going to come on the blog (but then didn't). Personally for me it was OK - it is fun to read if you like seeing car-crash relationships and there's lots of action, but if you don't like the main characters I can see how it would be a tough read.

From the really negative reviews I expected more bad stuff going on, but it was pretty standard tbh - writing was alright - not great - if the girl's face had 'compressed' one more time when she cried I'd have probably launched the kindle - there are other facial expressions lol

[aside*from*writing]

Have to say - have just picked up this and I love the cover - good production values according to Emma

[aside*from*writing]

Karina - LadyHawk wrote: "Yes, always and I think most people do. It's the first impression a readers get's from a book, then they look at the blurb and then maybe the reviews before they buy. I'm so proud of my covers. I w..."

I usually like quite plain covers - where there's a strong single image to focus your attention, otherwise things can look a bit busy, but that's just me. I think good fonts are important - stone cold and huntress work best for me of yours :)

[Sabrina]

Emily wrote: "Sometimes I find it impossible not too. Do you?"

i judge books by the cover as well! if there was a book with a really nice cover, and a plain one with only the title, i would get the pretty one.
I think good covers help the books sell more.

[J.D.]

Covers attract readers' attention, and then it is up to the blurb and the writing to keep it. I know for me, unless I have a specific recommendation for a particular book, I pick up or click on what catches my eye and looks interesting - and the cover is what I have to judge by at first glance.

I think Smithcraft Press did an amazing job with the cover to my first novel, and, apparently, a few other people thought so, too, because it placed 2nd in Tor.com's Readers' Choice Awards for "Best Cover".

[Thomas]

I don't buy or check out a book based on its cover, but it's absolutely why I pick it up. Unless it's by an author I know, or am looking for in particular, the cover is the reason I notice it.

[Kelly]

I absolutely do. The other day I was in CVS and i walked by the book section. One thing that jumped out at me was the fact that on every single cover, the author's name was featured as prominently as the title and more so than any artwork. Now, keeping in mind that this was a drugstore, they really only carried hits. So what sold those novels? The author's names or the titles of books people had already planned to read.

But outside of releases by the big, easily recognizable authors, a debut novel or a novel by a lesser known author cannot rely on the author's name as a grab in and of itself.

So what is it then, that makes us move past the image on the front, to the blurb to see if we actually want to invest the time to read the book?

First I would say the overall package. It needs to be a pleasing and intriguing picture. It has to make us ask "what is that book about?" so that we will pick it up and read the blurb. Or, it has to make us go oh look! I think that book is about dragons, I love dragons!"

Part of my morning routine is to scan the amazon top 100 paid/free every morning on the lookout for new authors to try. And each and every time it is a cover that looks professional and grabbing that will make me click on it to read more about it. Then, once I am actually on the product page and can see the cover closer, if it looks sloppy i don't purchase it, not even if its free. Even if I like the blurb. If the cover looks sloppy, I will walk away.

Mentioning the amazon list brings me to another thought. I imagine that I am not the only one that frequently scans book lists where all we see is the small icon sized graphic. In that instance, a clean, uncluttered cover is far more captivating than something so detailed because it presents a polished image even in small scale.

I have been working on trying to develop a cover for my first novel that I am still on the fence about self publishing or not.

I actually just posted my in progress cover on my blog, I would love to hear thoughts on it as well.


[image error]

[Thomas]

Kelly wrote: "I absolutely do. The other day I was in CVS and i walked by the book section. One thing that jumped out at me was the fact that on every single cover, the author's name was featured as prominently ..."
So much wisdom in one so young :)
I agree. If an author has a good work, then take the extra care to package it nicely. First impressions still rule - even if there IS a dragon on the cover...
Yours looks quite good, by the way. From here it looks...desolate, uninviting, and perilous...
Thomas

[Andrew]

A good cover doesn't really affect my decision to buy a book, but a bad cover can really put me off. This is my approach as a reader. As a writer, I'm probably in no place to talk with the very homebrew approach of Something Nice:

[Thomas]

Andrew,

Not necessarily on the "homebrew" comment. Your cover is simplistic, but even simple can have a charm. In fact, if it follows the theme of your content, it can be downright perfect.

[Kelly]

Thomas wrote: "So much wisdom in one so young :)"

You sure know how to make my morning!

[Emiko]

most of the time, yeah~ *guilty as charged*

[Leo]

Unless I've heard that a book is good beforehand, I'll definitely buy it based on the cover :-)

"Never judge a book by its cover" is a phrase that is best left as a metaphor, because otherwise all of our book covers would be recycled toilet rolls. Practical.

And I would ask for the instatement of a phrase an old boss of mine used to say: "Never judge a sausage by its skin" but that's just weird, because you can pretty much always see in a sausage at the juicy delectable contents. So it makes no sense. I just judged him instead.

Please judge this comment based on my awesome profile picture of a cosmic polar bear.

[Thomas]

Kelly wrote: "Thomas wrote: "So much wisdom in one so young :)"

You sure know how to make my morning!"
So, what is Cornerstone about?

[Melanie]

Kelly wrote: "I absolutely do. The other day I was in CVS and i walked by the book section. One thing that jumped out at me was the fact that on every single cover, the author's name was featured as prominently ..."

Great thoughts, I'm quite similar in leaving books with sloppy covers behind, even in self pub (if not more) it's important to be as professional as possible.

I like your cover, strong single image which is intriguing, I'd pick it up to check out the blurb :)

[[deleted user]]

I was gratified to see that one of my covers made it to a list here on Goodreads of beautiful covers. It didn't win, mind you, but this small-time graphic artist was pleasantly surprised to see it there.

[J.D.]

Kelly wrote: "Mentioning the amazon list brings me to another thought. I imagine that I am not the only one that frequently scans book lists where all we see is the small icon sized graphic. In that instance, a clean, uncluttered cover is far more captivating than something so detailed because it presents a polished image even in small scale."

Have you looked at your cover in small thumbnail size, especially on a smartphone?

I have a feeling that there is not going to be enough contrast between the title and the background at that size for readers to see your title clearly.

It would be a great cover for a bookstore shelf.

[Kelly]

No not yet. Right now I've stopped spending much time tweaking it. An agent finally requested the full manuscript, so I'm in the waiting game on Cornerstone for up to 2 months while she gets to it. In the meantime, I am catching up on a bit of reading, as well as starting on Book 2.

[Bruce]

Am eternally grateful to the reviewer who recently started her website review of my book as:
"Okay, ignoring the undeniably bad cover...." then went on to suggest it as a good read.

I did the covers myself. (I heard that)

All I wanted to do was say, 'this is a series about two young adults in the world of magic and adventure', get the title, and my name across. Which I did.

So honest opinions folks, go to the bookshelf for the group, I've just added the two Scarpthorne books, and tell me what you really think of the covers. It's okay, I've got a thick skin. And a box of kleenex.
Bruce Gregor Hodge

[Kelly]

Bruce -
All in all I've seen covers that look much worse, but I've also seen much better.

Pros : your font work is crisp clean and professional with no amateur looking jagged edges. It is uncluttered and portrays exactly what you said you wanted it too.

Con: this one is really hard for me to try and put into words, but the best way I can explain it, is that the lightening doesn't match between the people and the background, giving it away that it was transplanted on there. Furthermore, there is the gap between the words and the people, which again, gives away the fact that they were transplanted and a slight white haze behind the girls hair, again same thing. Let me show you what a simple change in lighting can do to make the entire thing more snazzy and dynamic.



I'd prolly lose the the orange for your name as well.

[J.D.]

Kelly wrote: "No not yet. Right now I've stopped spending much time tweaking it. An agent finally requested the full manuscript, so I'm in the waiting game on Cornerstone for up to 2 months while she gets to it...."

Congratulations on the "full" request!

As for the cover design, sometimes the best thing to do with a creative project is to give it a rest. And with any luck, you won't be the one doing the design work for the final cover, anyway, if the agent manages to sell it for you. In the event that you do end up designing the final cover, making sure you view the image at small sizes as well as larger ones can make a big difference in which cover you decide to go with.

[B.C.]

Guilty.

Yep I totally judge books by there cover, but since I designed my own book covers it seems fair.

[Kitty]

Yeah I'm guilty. The cover grabs my attention, the back cover tickles my curiosity, the story gets read.

[Ruby]

I definitely buy ebooks influenced by the cover (and blurb & reviews). In bookshops I go for title and author, usually with a 'to read' list in my mind.

[Joyce]

Yes. I look at the cover and read a little at the front and at the end. I know you aren't supposed to read the end, but I do rather than waste my time on a book that doesn't end well. I don't really care about who the author is.

[[deleted user]]

Michael wrote: "I probably have but it can often depend why I am looking at those books in the first place. Once I know that I like an author I might end up browsing the books and make a decision based on the cov..."

It does not make you a pervert. It just makes you a healthy male

[[deleted user]]

Stephanie ♥Loves Adrian Ivashkov♥ wrote: "I do. A pretty cover will make me buy a book more than a not pretty one :P"


I have heard from readers of The First Marie and the Queen of Scots, my debut historical, that they purchased it based on the cover and the Look Inside feature. Others were curious to discover the identity of the woman in the cover sketch, and progressed to the Look Inside sample. My second cover for The Last Knight and the Queen of Scots is not as provocative, but I was targeting a wider male audience, perhaps a mistake. I have been playing with the ebook cover, which on Kindle books is easy to do, but fooling with a CS cover can be costly. Due to pricing factors, my books are only available online. They are too long to be competively priced in bookstores. I have learned my lesson with book three, a story which I am breaking into two segments so I can do a wider distribution.

[Jenelle]

If I'm just browsing through the library/bookstore with nothing in mind, then definitely I judge books by their covers (in that, I will pick something up if the cover grabs my attention or reject it if the title grabs my attention but the cover tips me off that the book may not be up my alley despite the title).

However, if I already know what I want to read (based on recommendations, the next book in a series I already like, books by an author I am already familiar with, etc) then I may not even notice the cover or at least it doesn't weigh very heavily on my already-made-decision to read the book.

[Jeanette]

You try not to, but it happens.

[Stephen]

I read or heard a stat recently at a convention that about 50% of books being sold on their cover. If the cover is interesting people will pick it up, if not they move on. It's obviously a different story when you know the author, but say you read SF and you've read all of your usual authors, and you browse that section, you have to judge it by its cover, or read the back of every single book in there which will take hours. Or go on recommendations from other people. So to some degree, readers always judge the book by it's cover. But they're getting sneakier now, putting quotes from one author you might know and like, on the cover of another. 'Whoa Jim Butcher gave this a thumbs up on the cover' got me to buy one book, really didn't enjoy it. The actual artwork was not very good, but it made me pick it up, read the back and give it a try.