Book Covers

bropous · 03-12-2007, 02:36 PM

Okay, it is really shallow of me, and certainly goes counter to the old tried and true "can't judge a book by its cover" adage, but:

If a sci-fi/fantasy book has a really dull cover, I tend to pass it right by. I know I am missing some really good books. case in point: George Martin. I've passed these right by for years, because the cover just was so plain.

For me, the visual "hook" of an intriguing cover at least gets my attention to look deeper. Then, I look at the blurb on the back (or inside cover) to see what about it I would find interesting. A lot of books just rely on a short excerpt from the story, and then one or two sentences, to get you to buy it. For me, it is poor marketing.

However, the fact is that I have also seen some really cool covers but have not been drawn to purchasing the book. I guess it has to be a combination of a good cover, an intriguing blurb, and story material that appeals to me. It is a confession of a weakness, but then again, we all have our own criteria for what we find interesting.

How do the rest of you feel about the visual presentation of a cover in going further into finding whether you want to buy/read a book?

03-12-2007, 02:36 PM	#1
bropous EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Littleton, CO Posts: 1,176	Book Covers Okay, it is really shallow of me, and certainly goes counter to the old tried and true "can't judge a book by its cover" adage, but: If a sci-fi/fantasy book has a really dull cover, I tend to pass it right by. I know I am missing some really good books. case in point: George Martin. I've passed these right by for years, because the cover just was so plain. For me, the visual "hook" of an intriguing cover at least gets my attention to look deeper. Then, I look at the blurb on the back (or inside cover) to see what about it I would find interesting. A lot of books just rely on a short excerpt from the story, and then one or two sentences, to get you to buy it. For me, it is poor marketing. However, the fact is that I have also seen some really cool covers but have not been drawn to purchasing the book. I guess it has to be a combination of a good cover, an intriguing blurb, and story material that appeals to me. It is a confession of a weakness, but then again, we all have our own criteria for what we find interesting. How do the rest of you feel about the visual presentation of a cover in going further into finding whether you want to buy/read a book? __________________ "...[The Lord of the Rings] is to exemplify most clearly a recurrent theme: the place in 'world politics' of the unforeseen and unforeseeable acts of will, and deeds of virtue of the apparently small, ungreat, fogotten in the places of the Wise and Great (good as well as evil). A moral of the whole (after the primary symbolism of the Ring, as the will to mere power, seeking to make itself objective by physical force and mechanism, and so also inevitably by lies) is the obvious one that without the high and noble the simple and vulgar is utterly mean; and without the simple and ordinary the noble and heroic is meaningless." Letters of JRR Tolkien, page 160.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
The Lord of the Rings discussion project	azalea	LOTR Discussion Project	460	01-20-2008 11:35 AM
Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	King of The Istari	Harry Potter	72	05-30-2007 08:05 PM
This book is a bit too hard to read at times...	Peter_20	The Silmarillion	24	03-30-2007 10:02 AM
Emphasis on Characters in the Book and Movie	Nurvingiel	Lord of the Rings Movies	15	08-02-2006 12:35 AM
I am a writer!!!!!!!!	The Telcontarion	Writer's Workshop	2	06-17-2006 01:34 PM