Monday, March 19, 2012

Musing Monday...Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover.



Wow, another Monday already, the start of another week and time to head over and check out this week's Musing from Miz B at  at Should Be Reading.


This week’s musing asks…
Would you choose to review a book if its description sounded interesting but the cover was terrible?

You know, my first instinct is to say that yes, I am a shallow person and yes, covers are very important to me. As if that were a bad thing. After all, don't we say, don't judge a book by it's cover?
But that is wrong, isn't it?

Covers are meant to grab our attention, to help sell the book. Otherwise, publishers would just put books out with plain solid covers, just the title and the author's name. So there is nothing to be ashamed of, saying that covers effect us.
And sure a really nice cover may make me pick up a book and a really bad cover may make me walk by it. So many book...
If you walk into a book store..or even are just looking at ads for book online, something has to grabs us, make us pause for a minute. Maybe the title or the author is familiar. Maybe we have read a review. Maybe there is a blurb from another author we know. Or maybe there is a really striking cover. It is just the first step, to get our attention. But it is important. I think a bad cover can really hurt a book and perhaps, a really striking cover helps a book..a bit.

As far as books I review though, maybe not so much.
If I see a book that is being offered for review, I think the description, maybe an excerpt, is WAY more important. Unlike a bookstore, or even the library, there are a lot fewer choices being considered and probably every book get consideration. I would probably check out just about any book that sounds interesting, even if they showed no cover at all..Not that I think that happens, does it? I Google it, read descriptions, really try to see if this is something that would interest me. And honestly, for better or worse, the cover on a review copy is often not the final cover. Sometimes there is no cover art at all.

So, for buying, yes, a cover plays a slightly bigger role, at least in those very first minutes. In deciding whether to review a book, no, not so much.

12 comments:

  1. I agree with you as well on the cover being important for book sales. As a fan of art, beautiful covers do grab my attention when I walked in a bookstore. But it's a quite different story when someone requested me to review his/her book.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  2. Love your answer! Eye catching covers usually are my selling point, but most times I am pleasantly surprised at what is on the inside. :)

    Here's mine:

    http://amylunderman.blogspot.com/2012/03/musing-mondays-movie-review-we-bought.html

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  3. I actually did agree to review a book based on the synopsis; several key words like WWII and stolen art grabbed me right away. Was I surprised when I got a book that looked like erotica! I think you remember this one.

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  4. I agree with you, I think in a bookstore the cover art alway grabs me and draws me to the book. Then I read the synopsis to make my final decision. But then again rules are made to be broken. I have been known to buy a book because I just loved the cover art.

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  5. I do read the descriptions before I accept a review book, but also admit that a great cover can grab me.

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  6. I agree, I too am shallow enough to pick up a book because the cover attracts me .. isnt that what the purpose of a cover is? Aside from protecting the actual hard cover .. but before I buy, I read the recappage/synopsis ... if I am not wanting to know more, the cover no matter how dazzling wont tempt me to purchase

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  7. I agree. I just read Under the Never Sky because it won on the poll I had asking what I should read next. I wasn't really looking forward to it bc the cover (the white one with the guy holding the girl) really didn't catch my eye. I ended up reading that book in a day it was that good. So after that experience I shouldn't judge by covers anymore lol Here's my MM http://harleybearbookblog.blogspot.com

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  8. If I am going to review it I can admit that I will take that into consideration, but I will ask if it is the final cover it is horrible. I haven't had a lot of covers I hate, I just had one and I was able to tell her how much it sucked because she was someone I had worked with before plus she had a better cover first. Some of these authors do not have much choice and have a bad designer working for their small publisher ANYWAY here is mine because it does not totally take all that into consideration, I had an evil librarian PTSD related panic attack while reading. no seriously! http://cabingoddess.com/2012/03/musing-mondays-march-19

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  9. I have never done a review so that part of the question doesn't really apply to me, but I'm a total cover snob.

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  10. I do think a cover makes a difference when you're just browsing in a book store. It is what gets you to stop and pause and pay attention.

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  11. Great answer, have to agree! :) Cover does play a bigger role when I'm browsing books to buy, but not so much when I'm deciding whether to review a book or not!

    Thanks for sharing, and thanks for stopping by! :)

    Monaliz @ Mind Reading?

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  12. Hi! Thanks for dropping by my blog!

    Wonderful answer! Covers do not influence my reviews either but they do influence my buying habits to a certain degree.

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