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?

hectorberlioz · 03-23-2007, 10:27 AM

I use to do the same thing with book covers for fantasy novels

...not so much these days since I don't read much fantasy anymore...not enough time you know

tolkienfan · 03-23-2007, 12:24 PM

I try not to ever judge a book by it's cover. I used to when I was younger, and it always turned out that the ones my mom forced me to read were far better than the sparkley covered girly books.
Another example: I'm trying to get my little sister to read good books, but she insists on reading junk because it has a cute puppy on the front.

She's learning though, when I point out that the ones she rereads 100 times are the ones I told her to read, and the cute junk goes in the trash.
So I try to read the books with the boring covers first, so I don't lose interest before giving it a chance. Of course you can never tell, just because it has a good cover doesn't mean it's bad.

brownjenkins · 03-23-2007, 02:06 PM

A cool cover will definitely draw me to a book. I remember buying this book:

Code:

http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/tekken/100/jpgs/jshadows.jpg

(the site doesn't support hotlinking, so you have to copy/paste the url)

just because I liked the cover, and it turned out to be a great story as well.

Interestingly enough, this cover is a much more common cover for the same book, and I'll admit that my eye probably would have never been drawn to that one.

***Earniel*** · 03-23-2007, 04:09 PM

I must confess I am led by eye-catching covers too. It's perhaps silly to think that books that have gorgeous or intriguing covers have ditto stories, but there you go. Those books are not necessarily what I end up buying, but they're usually the first I take off the shelf to read the back-text. That text and what I may have heard of the author or the book itself determine whether I take it home or not.

bropous · 03-27-2007, 07:07 PM

What I hate is the recent trend not to tell you what the book is about on the back cover blurb, but listing a group of glowing praise from this one or that one instead of telling us what the story is about.

brownjenkins · 03-27-2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bropous

What I hate is the recent trend not to tell you what the book is about on the back cover blurb, but listing a group of glowing praise from this one or that one instead of telling us what the story is about.

I agree. Though sometimes you can tell a bit about the book by how obscure the sources for the quotes are.

tolkienfan · 03-27-2007, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bropous

What I hate is the recent trend not to tell you what the book is about on the back cover blurb, but listing a group of glowing praise from this one or that one instead of telling us what the story is about.

Oh, yes!

That is really annoying.

***Tessar*** · 03-29-2007, 03:02 PM

I agree. I tend to pick up a book if the title looks interesting, then I glance at the cover art, and from there I tend to look for a blurb.

Then usually if any one of those things catch my interest, I pop the book open to the middle-ish and glance over a few paragraphs, then skip a few pages, and do that three or four times. That usually gives me a feel for whether or not I'll like the writing style at least.

**Mari** · 04-03-2007, 08:56 AM

I usually read books from the library, so you mostly see the title first. The title is what determines for me whether or not I am going to read the back of the book.
If the information on the back is appealing, I try it.

Come to think of it, I usually don't look at the cover at all untill it is on my desk.

I do agree that it is utterly annoying if there is no proper information about the book on the backside...

The Telcontarion · 04-03-2007, 09:42 AM

I think everyone goes through the stage of looking at the covers and other such gimmicks that are used.

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.

03-23-2007, 10:27 AM	#2
hectorberlioz Master of Orchestration President Emeritus of Entmoot 2004-2008 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Lost in the Opera House Posts: 9,328	I use to do the same thing with book covers for fantasy novels...not so much these days since I don't read much fantasy anymore...not enough time you know __________________ ACALEWIA- President of Entmoot hectorberlioz- Vice President of Entmoot Acaly und Hektor fur Presidants fur EntMut fur life! Join the discussion at Entmoot Election 2010. "Stupidissimo!"~Toscanini The Da CINDY Code The Epic Poem Of The Balrog of Entmoot: Here ~NEW! ~ Thinking of summer vacation? AboutNewJersey.com - NJ Travel & Tourism Guide

03-23-2007, 12:24 PM	#3
tolkienfan Elf Lord Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The Internet Posts: 803	I try not to ever judge a book by it's cover. I used to when I was younger, and it always turned out that the ones my mom forced me to read were far better than the sparkley covered girly books. Another example: I'm trying to get my little sister to read good books, but she insists on reading junk because it has a cute puppy on the front. She's learning though, when I point out that the ones she rereads 100 times are the ones I told her to read, and the cute junk goes in the trash. So I try to read the books with the boring covers first, so I don't lose interest before giving it a chance. Of course you can never tell, just because it has a good cover doesn't mean it's bad. __________________ Don't be hasty! Thanks so much to Last Child of Ungoliant, Twista, and BeardofPants for my avatar!

03-23-2007, 02:06 PM	#4
brownjenkins Advocatus Diaboli Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reality Posts: 3,767	A cool cover will definitely draw me to a book. I remember buying this book: Code: http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/tekken/100/jpgs/jshadows.jpg (the site doesn't support hotlinking, so you have to copy/paste the url) just because I liked the cover, and it turned out to be a great story as well. Interestingly enough, this cover is a much more common cover for the same book, and I'll admit that my eye probably would have never been drawn to that one. __________________ Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.

03-23-2007, 04:09 PM	#5
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	I must confess I am led by eye-catching covers too. It's perhaps silly to think that books that have gorgeous or intriguing covers have ditto stories, but there you go. Those books are not necessarily what I end up buying, but they're usually the first I take off the shelf to read the back-text. That text and what I may have heard of the author or the book itself determine whether I take it home or not. __________________ We are not things.

03-27-2007, 07:07 PM	#6
bropous EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Littleton, CO Posts: 1,176	What I hate is the recent trend not to tell you what the book is about on the back cover blurb, but listing a group of glowing praise from this one or that one instead of telling us what the story is about. __________________ "...[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.

03-29-2007, 03:02 PM	#9
*Tessar* Master and Wielder of the Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: IM IN UR POSTZ, EDITIN' UR WURDZ Posts: 6,433	I agree. I tend to pick up a book if the title looks interesting, then I glance at the cover art, and from there I tend to look for a blurb. Then usually if any one of those things catch my interest, I pop the book open to the middle-ish and glance over a few paragraphs, then skip a few pages, and do that three or four times. That usually gives me a feel for whether or not I'll like the writing style at least.

04-03-2007, 08:56 AM	#10
Mari Elf Lady Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: In the lands where mountains are but a fairytale Posts: 8,588	I usually read books from the library, so you mostly see the title first. The title is what determines for me whether or not I am going to read the back of the book. If the information on the back is appealing, I try it. Come to think of it, I usually don't look at the cover at all untill it is on my desk. I do agree that it is utterly annoying if there is no proper information about the book on the backside... __________________ Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply. ...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"...

04-03-2007, 09:42 AM	#11
The Telcontarion The one true King of the human race, direct descendant of Adam and heir to the kings of old. "You owe me your fealty." The Tar Minyaturion Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: By the shores of cuivinien Posts: 694	I think everyone goes through the stage of looking at the covers and other such gimmicks that are used. __________________ Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Ecclesiasticus 2:1-5 1 My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation... ...4 Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. 5 For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; Last edited by The Telcontarion : 04-03-2007 at 11:24 PM.

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