Monday, June 19, 2006

In the eye of the beholder

And yes, I'm talking about art - and especially cover art. I remember being really turned off by poser cover art when I first started reading e-books. The covers were (to my eyes) really awful. But that didn't stop me from buying the books (I have to admit, I never judge a book by its cover art - I read the blurb...I don't even pay attention to reviews.) I got over it - the really awful poser cover art that used to bother me doesn't seem so awful anymore. I didn't mind when my first book (A Grand Passion) came out with a poser figure holding a soccer ball. I know that covers do sell, and I understand some authors who complain bitterly about covers, but I won't be one of them. Why? Because art and cover art is subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (Lots of clichés here, lol) But it's true - one person's disaster is another person's poster. I hate one of my covers (I won't tell you which one - it really doesn't matter) but one day a woman said to me, "I bought 'X' because of the cover. I just loved it." Lesson learned.

6 comments:

barista brat said...

i read agent nelson's blogs about covers and it really opened my eyes to a lot!

i'm really curious as to which cover of yours you don't like, haha.

Stacia said...

I agree. I tend to basically ignore covers and read the blurb instead, the exceptions being historicals. I look at those covers to give me an inkling of the time period, but even then it isn't always accurate and you have to look at the first page to be sure.

It's what's inside that counts. Some of the best covers I've ever seen were on books I didn't like, and some terrible covers have sheltered pages I read again and again.

Anonymous said...

The cover art is what initially gets my attention. But, that is not what makes me decide to read the book or not. The exception is romance novels. I don't really pay attention to it because it is usually, well, cheesy (although I have seen some intriguing ones on december quinn's site. -JTC

Sam said...

I wonder how many people are influenced by covers NOT to buy the book - I haven't done that yet, but maybe I'll see a cover some day that's so repulsive I won't even read the blurb!

And I'm sorry - I won't say which cover I don't like because it's so subjective and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings! LOL - it's really a matter of opinion after all!

Tara Marie said...

Covers don't overly influence me, and a bad cover isn't likely to stop me from buying a book I'm interested in. But, I wonder how many good book are missed because of bad covers, if it's a book that I'm not familiar with, will I pick it up. I don't know. I'll have to put it to the test.

paulmerrill said...

As a reader (and designer) I wish it would be possible to see all versions of each book's covers. It would be interesting to see which one matches the book best.

Do you have a lot of influence over which cover is the final one?