So my question is...
How much does a book cover affect whether or not you read a book even though you know better (and I mean a book you know nothing about. Lets say you find it at a book warehouse sale)?
After 25 comments(you must also be a follower to win) I will randomly pick someone and send them a copy of one of the following:
Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater (after its release)
Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
Good luck and spread the word!
This contest is for anyone who posts including international (Thank you Princess Neve for the reminder! http://princessnevereviews.blogspot.com/)
31 comments:
I will admit I am a sucker for a good cover. When I blog hop I'll stop at posts with interesting book covers. Also when I go to Borders I'll walk around looking at the displays and pick up books with great covers. I rarely pick up books shelved so you only see the spines unless I go in purposely for that book.
Thanks for the contest! I've been wanting to read Academy 7 and Strange Angels.
dasuzuki at yahoo dot com
I think the 1st thing you notice in a book is its cover. When you know nothing about it, a good cover can do the trick, and make you pick it up and read the review (or summary, i don't know how you call it, I'm from Argentina!). I recently bought "Let's all kill Constance" by Ray Bradbury because of this, I had read Farenheit 451, and Dandelion Wine and loved them both, but I'd never heard of this one.
book cover:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_H5ZaOhZvc3Y/R3_C6bVuh5I/AAAAAAAAACk/1uDoAPix8pM/Matemos+todos+a+Constance.jpg
nice blog, I'm just starting with my reading! but I do love books :)
It depends if its an author I love already or not. If its one I *know* I have read and love, doesn't matter so much. If its a new author? I admit the cover attracts my attention first, then the title and finally the blurb. Occasionally price will be more of a factor (if its on a steep sale and the cover sucks, don't know the author but the blurb is cool).
The Brandon Sanderson Mistborn books, I hate the hardcover illustrations with a fierce passion. So ugly! The mass market paperback editions however are gorgeous. So I buy those instead of the hardcovers (even though my policy is to buy hardcover if its a series I love).
happy to see everything working again!
I'm more apt to read a book if I like the cover. If I've heard great things and the cover sucks then I'll read it.
I posted this contest on my sidebar:
http://bridget3420.blogspot.com
A book cover is HUGE in deciding what I read. In fact, maybe 20% of the time I grab books totally based on the cover, without even knowing what it's about.
I'm new to your blog, but I'm loving it. I hope you'll stop by mine as well.
gypsyrover21@yahoo.ca
Mary
zenrei57 (at) hotmail (dot) com
Hi there :) I just signed up to follow your great site as I love books, too!
And about the book covers... oh yes, I am VERY influenced (for good or ill lol) by the cover art!
I must admit that I am influenced by a good book cover if I know nothing about the author or the content. A great cover catches my eye, and if it has some similarity to other books I've read and enjoyed, then it is even more alluring. Despite what we were told as children, I believe you can indeed tell a book by its cover.
I love book covers and pick most of the books I read from the cover. With the exception of Twilight I dont usually pick books with black covers. I am trying to work on this and I am currently reading The Turnaround by George Pelecanos.
Please include me in your giveaway. I am a follower.
Thanks
Carlene
iluvreading(at)verizon.net
Usually when I go to a bookstore I browse for something that catches my eye. A fantastic book cover will make me pick up the book and read the back of it and see if it would be a novel I would be interested in reading
I am a follower
Hee hee. I just did a post on this over at I Heart Monster, but didn't put in my two cents. Thanks for the forum!
I am a total sucker for a cover. If the cover doesn't look appealing or looks super cheesy, even if it's been highly recommended, I generally won't read it. How very superficial of me, right? Honestly I hated the cover for Evernight, so it sat at the bottom of my pile for a long time. Too bad too, 'cause it was good!
I'm a follower (Shesten)
I really am a sucker for covers when it comes to first picking up a book. When I shop at Borders I tend to reach for any type of cover that looks intriguing and dealing with fantasy. I find that I've really been drawn to covers with closeups of female faces or part of their profile at least. Now, I do open the book and look through it before I read it. I'm not going to read a book based on a cover without knowing if it will fit my tastes. Willow for example - I'm really attracted to the cover of this book you reviewed, but since it turns out not to be a fantasy novel.
So, the cover gets me interested and once I find out more about the book, I decide whether or not to read it.
I know people always say don't judge a book by it's cover, but I sorry to say that most of the time I do. I'm a very visual person and a good cover draws me in. An attractive cover is what normally gets me to pick up a book and find out more about it.
I'm a follower.
Great giveaway!
lovinfitch(at)aol(dot)com
I'd love to participate to win Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund!
I'll be posting a blog later today!
ella_press(at)live.com.ar
I admit...yes I usually do judge a book by its cover. However, sometimes the best books really do have the best covers!
I'd love to be entered.
booksobsession(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks!
If it's a book that I don't know about and I'm just browsing, then I do judge a book by its cover. As long as it has something that catches my eye, I'll head over there and read the blurb to see if I want to pick it up or not.
~ Popin
proudbookworm[@]gmail[dot]com
I just came by your blog and I love it! This is just another reason to love it more. :)
Book covers play a major part when I choose books, about 80%? Looking at those covers on your background, I can immediately see some (okay most) that I want to read, even without knowing the synopsis, reading the blurb or readings reviews from other people. Let's take The Awakening for example. It looks mysterious. There's a lady holding a gem on the cover, which means it's probably a fantasy book.
I sure don't know what it's about but it looks intersting, so I'll read the blurb or browse through the book to see what it's about. Which increases the chance of me actually reading the book!
If it's hardcover, even better.
loony_balooga_91(AT)hotmail.com
I completely judge a book by its cover. It's make or break and the cover easily breaks. I know it's stupid but it matters.
quelleheure4[at]gmail{dot}com
I love a good cover. It'll make me pick the book up. Once that happens, it'll make me check the jacket copy. If I like it, I'll get it.
lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com
I'm a follower.
Just like we form impressions based on someone's appearance, the same principle applies to covers as well.
tehashley(at)yahoo(dot)com
I usually check out books from the library based on the cover...if it looks interesting I get it. When I buy books though I do more research about the content though.
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
I always judge books on their covers, sometimes it works, sometimes not. Luckily I read a lot of reviews too though so I don;t miss out on great books with blah covers :)
I LIVE on YA book covers. Do the cover reflect the quality of the book? Obviously not. But the cover is what grabs my attention in a book store. I don't plan to sit there for hours on end reading the first few chapters of every book to see if it sounds good. I glimpse at the cover, if it catches my attention, I'll jot down the author and title and do a little research if it sounds good.
I'm a new follower :)
I would like to see that I don't judge a book by its cover, but it does have a huge effect on whether I will pick it up while browsing a bookstore or library. If the cover looks gorgeous, I will want to see what the book is about. On the contrary, if the cover looks old, boring, or has elements that hint at a genre I wouldn't want to read, I might never look at the book. Unfortunately, this can lead to some good books being skipped.
I'm now a follower of your blog.
karenkincy [at] hotmail [dot] com
I'm so guilty of this, which is completely shameful since there are so many great books that probably didn't get a huge budget in the art department. What really surprised me, was to learn how much influence that the book stores have over the final covers. My editor told me that if a rep from *insert giant chain store here* doesn't like a cover, they can send it back and ask for it to be redesigned...talk about power!!!
I have to admit that I always tends to judge books by its cover. If I´m at any books store and I´m not looking for any book in particular, that´s the first think that I look, then the title, and if the two looks interesting enough, then I read the synopsis and decides if I`m going to buy it or not :)
ilonga.81@gmail.com
If it's not pretty, I definitely don't pick it up first. I only look at the bad ones when I'm done with the good looking ones. And it better have a good blurb!
Contest reposted at yacontests.blogspot.com
Now following.
neohippy10 [at] hotmail [dot] com
Followed you!
I know I'm probably too late, but I'm commenting anyway.
I'm sort of ashamed to say it, but book covers have a huge influence on whether I'll pick them up or buy them, unless I've seen good reviews. But if it's a book I've never heard of, I'll usually pick the one with the best cover and design. But content does matter more to me.
paradoxrevealed (at) aim (dot) com
If a book has an unattractive cover I will pass it up. I am a very visual person and love great looking covers. There have been some books I have gotten for review that are really good but the covers need some work. I sometimes wonder how they get passed the marketing departments.
Oh no too late!!
I will answer anyway.The book cover is really important to me.In fact a nice book cover has been known to keep me reading even when the book reached a slow stage.And if its a horrible cover I sometimes not even look at the back to see what it's about(lol)
Even though it's after 25 comments, I think I'll answer anyway.
I love books with catchy covers, that's what makes me stop to pick up a book. If the cover is unattractive, I won't necessarily ignore it, it's just going to be one of the last books I look at (which is unfortunate because sometimes they're the best books.
I was talking to the owners of my local bookstore, and we were discussing how they were trying to push The Hunger Games toward girls, who were passing it up because the girls thought it was a "book for boys". It was a great book, but the cover wasn't really all that appealing.
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