# How Important Are the Covers When You Select a Book on Kindle?



## Monti (Apr 4, 2009)

When I was participating in a book festival on Saturday, I started to wonder about the importance of book covers to readers as they decide what book to purchase. I noticed that an author who had a sea shell, etc. display with her books attracted a lot of attention, and her book with the sea theme cover was selling well. I had my three novels on display, and the one that gathered the most attention was _*Secrets by the Sea *_with its beach scene cover. When you pick out your Kindle books, does anything about the cover figure in your decision?

Mary Montague Sikes
www.marymontaguesikes.com
http://otpblog.blogspot.com/


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I'll admit that the cover does matter when I first check out a book... If the cover is poor - or non-existent - it does give me a bad first impression. If I am looking at the book because it was recommended elsewhere, I will look at the description, and the reviews, before deciding to get a sample.

After that, I no longer think about the cover.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

I had thought that covers weren't an issue with me, but then I realized that I hadn't bought Rogue Hunter because the cover made me think of a video game and I wasn't interested in that genre.  But when I thought about it a second time, I bought the book and loved it.  So now I'm trying to look beyond covers, but will admit that a pretty cover is more likely to catch my eye and get me to sample the book.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I think that a cover needs to (a) get the shopper's attention and (b) communicate something about the book that will make it attractive to its target audience. I've never bought a book simply because of its cover, but certainly I have had a first impression made on me by a cover that got me to look more closely, checking out the blurbs and brief description and _then_ deciding if it's something I might be interested in reading.

I suppose it's a bit like going to a social occasion and meeting new people. A visual first impression can make a big difference on if and how you might approach a new acquaintance and strike up a conversation, but after that first impression you still need to talk and find out if there is anything about that person beneath the surface that actually interests you. The wall flower you barely notice might never get the opportunity to meet you, even if s/he would, in fact, be a perfect match.

Of course, once you get to be famous, all you need are some bright colors and your name in huge, embossed, metallic letters across the top of the cover.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think covers influence me more when I'm shopping in a brick and mortar book store.  Not so much at Amazon -- even before I got my Kindle.

Though, I admit, that when I look at what they recommend, I can frequently tell if it's a certain type of book that I don't usually read.  It's usually a clue to me that I 'bought' a freebie and forgot to tell them to ignore it for recommendation purposes.    At this point, I probably go more by author names. . .and, of course, what people recommend here. . . .


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I agree with Ann.  I was shopping at a brick and mortar store last week and I did pay a lot of attention to covers.  But on Amazon I normally pay closer attention to the description, and some attention to the reviews.
deb


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Covers definitely matter but I've found myself relying on them less and less especially after getting my Kindle.  A lot of the independent authors just don't have money to get a professionally done cover image and let's face it, just because you can write doesn't necessarily mean you're good artistic design.  So yeah, the cover does still grab me and one might turn me off at first glance, but even then I will try to see what the reviews and the synopsis says before passing judgment.

Romance books, however, are apparently the most cover-dependent genre.  I read a study somewhere, in fact, that showed how much a cover on a Romance books matters in whether it's purchased or not.  So now you know why all the half-dressed men and women are up there.  The article had a whole history of why they're like that.  I'll have to see if I can find it.


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

Unfortunately I agree.  I wish covers didn't matter, but unless something has a glowing review from here, I find it hard to buy even a Kindle book with a cheesy cover.  If it looks home made, then I assume the book is as well.  The cover should be a visual representation of your book, so in our minds cheesy cover=cheesy book, stunning cover=stunning book.  We have nothing else to go on at that point.  Though I have found in actuality this is rarely the case (because if a book has a glowing review form here I will sample it at least no matter what the cover looks like).  But I think even digital only authors would try and put as much thought and time into their covers as they do their book, it does make a very strong first impression.  
Rachel


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## joanne29 (Jun 30, 2009)

Very important, because it is like curb appeal for your house in that if the cover looks bad or uninviting I do not stop to go in. The way I do is if it is highly recommended. I guess you do judge a book by its cover.


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## MonaSW (Nov 16, 2008)

I miss seeing the covers for Kindle books, most of them have a sort of generic meaningless cover.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

I'll still partial to covers when I'm looking online at Amazon, more to see what catches my eye if I'm looking at something new or only "partially" recommended (something I see mentioned in passing or on other websites).  If it's highly recommended here, I'm not as worried if the cover is blah or non-existent. I don't care at all if the cover transfers to the Kindle (a lot don't, even when they show on the Kindle version on Amazon), I rarely have any reason to look at it there.

So yeah, covers still matter when it comes to the initial interest/purchase...


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Very little. I think that I might have sampled a couple of books because of the cover but mostly I look for a particular author, or a particular book, and most of the authors/books that I look into are because something posted on the Kindleboards catches my interest, but I always sample first.


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## askenase13 (Mar 1, 2009)

Let me throw this in-  I think the TITLE is most important.  When I'm in a library or store, you don't see the covers, only the spines.  So, the title is important to catch my attention.  then I pull it out and look at the cover.

Buying on line, especially at Amazon, I first see the Title, then the ratings.  I glance briefly at the cover (which is small), and concentrate on the reviews.


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## Monti (Apr 4, 2009)

These are great answers and very helpful as I think about the best covers to draw attention to my book.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Monti


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## Monti (Apr 4, 2009)

joanne29 said:


> Very important, because it is like curb appeal for your house in that if the cover looks bad or uninviting I do not stop to go in. The way I do is if it is highly recommended. I guess you do judge a book by its cover.


Like curb appeal for your house--I like that analogy. Thanks! 
Monti


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## MarthaT (Mar 3, 2009)

I try to read reviews on the book before hand so that the cover does not sway me one way or the other


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## jrector (May 24, 2009)

They're important to me.  If a writer is too lazy to find a good cover to represent their book, then I can't help but think they're too lazy to write a good story.


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## Monti (Apr 4, 2009)

jrector said:


> They're important to me. If a writer is too lazy to find a good cover to represent their book, then I can't help but think they're too lazy to write a good story.


Interesting thought. Since the covers of all my books (so far) feature my art work, I am very involved in the covers. _*Hearts Across Forever *_features a pastel painting; _*Eagle Rising*_ has a portion of an acrylic painting on canvas; _*Secrets by the Sea*_ has a photograph I took along one of my favorite Atlantic Coast beaches. My publisher, Oak Tree, has sent the art files to her New York cover designer who creates the finished product.

Monti


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

jrector said:


> They're important to me. If a writer is too lazy to find a good cover to represent their book, then I can't help but think they're too lazy to write a good story.


I agree. Would we pay Tiffany prices for Tiffany jewelry that came wrapped in cellophane? Just like when someone buys something like Microsoft Office, they could throw that in a little CD case and sell it like that, but would you be willing to paying over $100 for just a CD case? Probably not, so instead they put it in a brightly colored, substantially sized box that really contains little more than a cd case, and no one balks at the over $100 price tag. We have been conditioned that if something is worth anything, it will be well packaged. Whether this is good or bad doesn't matter, it's the truth. And it would behoove any author to realize this and use it to their advantage.

Rachel


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## Katydid (Oct 28, 2008)

I love cover art and very much miss it with the Kindle.  (Although, I absolutely adore my Kindle!)  The book artwork influences me more than it should.  If I'm shopping for books and I see heaving breasts--forget it.  If it's too busy, cheesy-looking or dark--forget it.  "The simpler the better," "less is more" and all that.

That's not to say that I've never read books with these kinds of covers; but they were either recommended to me or given to me.  I just try to overlook the artwork.  Like others have said, the artwork attracts me to the book; then I read the blurb (and reviews if I'm on Amazon) to determine if it's my type of read.

Someone on KB has suggested that the cover should be the screensaver on the K; and I, for one, love that idea.  I've always enjoyed picking up a paper book and seeing the artwork.


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## OliviaD (Jul 21, 2009)

The cover always draws my attention first when I'm in a real bookstore and I carry that over to my searches on Amazon Kindle Store as well.  I think it was entirely automatic for me.  If a cover looks interesting or strikes my fancy, then I will read the blurb and on Kindle, download the sample.  A definite plus, IMHO.  Beryl


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Beryl said:


> The cover always draws my attention first when I'm in a real bookstore and I carry that over to my searches on Amazon Kindle Store as well. I think it was entirely automatic for me.


I'm thinking that that is exactly what most people have done. I have nothing to carry over as it's been quite a while since I've even stepped inside a book store, let alone browsed or purchased a book in one, and much longer still to the time where I actively read. If not for _Harry Potter_ and _The Wheel of Time_ series I would have been as much of a non reader as one could possibly have been when I bought my first Kindle, but even then it wasn't until I got my DX that I became an active reader again (I'm reading on my lunch breaks now which is something that I have never done previously).

I consider e-books to be the ink that is loaded onto the blank pages of the Kindle, which is then wrapped in whatever cover the owner of the Kindle has selected. All of my e-books are Hardcovers (thanks to the size of the DX screen) and come wrapped in better covers than any I ever had with my DTB's thanks to my Oberons (a Purple Roof of Heaven and a Red River Garden respectively).

When it comes to the presentation of e-books I am most affected by whether they match a cover-less DTB. Take the sample for _Crack-Up_ for instance, it doesn't give any pretense to being a book at all, it just starts with Chapter 1, if not for the fact that the book was actively recommended to me I would have discarded any thoughts of reading the book owing to it's poor presentation.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

I'm a bit confused by the responses here.  So far, none of the books I've ordered on my Kindle 2 have had any covers at all in the Kindle version.  Are others receiving cover pages as part of their downloads?  To answer your question, however, I choose most of my books in the bookstore.  I browse the bookstore, make notes on my blackberry of what looks interesting, then go home and read reviews on my computer.  So, while the cover may attract me at first, I rarely buy a book based upon its cover alone.  Ultimately, it is the reviews of other readers that helps me to decide.  But the covers definitely do have a role in the process.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Sometimes there is a cover image.  When you download a book from Amazon the default for where it opens first time is where the actually story begins.  But I always "go to cover" first.  Frequently there's a picture, and then several pages with the usual stuff you find in the first few pages of a book.  Also, lots of authors have a quote from a poem or or prologue before the actually story starts.  You miss that if you don't sort of go look for it.

But not all books have a formal cover. . .sometimes the 'cover' is just a title/author page a la college term papers.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks, Ann.  I'll check it out.  I don't want to miss anything.


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## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

fancynancy said:


> I'm a bit confused by the responses here. So far, none of the books I've ordered on my Kindle 2 have had any covers at all in the Kindle version. Are others receiving cover pages as part of their downloads? To answer your question, however, I choose most of my books in the bookstore. I browse the bookstore, make notes on my blackberry of what looks interesting, then go home and read reviews on my computer. So, while the cover may attract me at first, I rarely buy a book based upon its cover alone. Ultimately, it is the reviews of other readers that helps me to decide. But the covers definitely do have a role in the process.


I *believe* most of us are talking about the cover that shows in the Amazon store, on their website before you buy, not what actually shows up in the book on my Kindle. If it's on my Kindle I have already bought it, so by then I don't really care what the cover looks like. Or at least that's what I am talking about! 

Rachel


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