Thursday, April 7, 2011

Follow Friday: Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Q. Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Absolutely! For me its almost a take a pride in your work matter. If you just poured your heart and soul into a body of work, you spent months and sometimes years on that novel, why would you wrap it in crap? Or it could just be a matter of bad taste, if you have bad take in cover art what does it say for your taste in writing. Harsh, I know, but we are a visual society.  I have however been pleasantly surprised on some cover art. A couple of covers that I hated, but enjoyed the book:

Lets Face it, Christine Feehan has some of the WORST covers I have ever seen, this one might be the worst of the lot. It is so bad in my opinion I wouldn't even include it on my blog review. I grabbed the UK cover instead. LOL!

 

It's a good thing Ms. Kresley Cole grabbed me with some of her later covers because the beginning of the series covers are cheesy and I would have never picked up the series, if I had seen these covers first. This is probably the cheesiest of the first few novels.  

 

Now for some cover art I LOVE!

Ms. Kresley Cole redeemed herself in later covers

 

This one is from Gena Showalter and isn't out yet, but based on cover alone I can't wait!  

 

And for worst cover I think I have ever seen, again goes to Christine Feehan for a novel not yet out. I haven't read any in this series and based on covers alone I probably wont!

 

The chick on the cover looks exhausted, the jungle theme is cheesy as hell. What was C. Feehan thinking when she approved this cover? 

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Happy Follow Friday!

33 comments:

  1. I agree it's the cover that draws me in to the book. I like the shiny interesting looking covers.

    New follower. :)

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  2. Yes, I surely do judge a book by the cover. Not always but more often then not. I'm known for not reading synopsis so if your cover doesn't show me what I want to know or if someone doesn't recommend it... chances are I'm reading someone else's book.

    Please do stop by for a crumpet, find out about a new MeMe & to check out my newest giveaway :)

    Mad Scientist
    Steampunkery & Book Reviews
    Forbidden Steam  Adult- even the Mad Scientist gets naughty!

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  3. Savage Nature WHOAH! omg! ick!

    That Dark Taste of Rapture cover is yummy!

    Taming the Bookshelf

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  4. Thanks for the follow! I absolutely LOVE all of Gena Showalter's covers lately! Yummo! We have very similar book tastes...keep up the great work :)

    Helena (stop by anytime!)

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  5. Hopping through. New follower! I agree that the first Kresley Cole cover is pretty silly.
    My Hop
    Get a free download of Wings by Aprilynn Pike at my blog!

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  6. Hello! Thanks for stopping by and for the follow. I am now following you back. You're right: those are not good covers, especially the last one. It looks a bit retro, and not in a good way. Happy Friday!

    Marla @ Starting the Next Chapter

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  7. Hi Amanda, thank you for stopping by my blog :) I'm following you now ;) Thanks for connecting and keep in touch!

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  8. lol @ why would u wrap your hard work in crap!! I think some people have bad taste and super cheesy. I love the covers of those male they are super hot.. but thats besides the point, like i hate to pass by the adult romance section because those are some of the cheesiest covers.. It's a shame how a cover can totally ruin how your books sell.

    Great response!

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  9. You have some really great cover examples. I have to agree on all of them. KC's covers did get better. And that last one by CF? Makes me feel a bit nauseous.

    Maybe it's a matter of expense. Maybe they're choosing people they can afford to do their covers. I'm just trying to be fair and think of logical reasons why they publish their work, as you put it, "wrapped in crap." Can they truly not see how bad they look?

    Thank you for the following! I returned the favor =) Have a great Friday!

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  10. I think cover is about taste. But I never buy books based on its cover. But it's always nice to see great design in front. I think Author or publisher should pay more attention on this things.

    I am not a big fan of cover with abs of men in their front cover :D

    I follow your blog

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  11. Yes covers do matter. In fact, I've decided to read Dark Enchantment because I love the cover, after seeing it here on your blog. :) I am following you now as well! I haven't read very much in the paranormal romance genre, so I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on these books!

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  12. All of the books in the Dark Magick series have pretty good covers! Dark Enchantment is a great read! I got through it really fast! Keep in mind once you start down the Paranormal Romance path there may be no turning back! LOL! Im checking out your blog now. =)

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  13. Yes, that widget is awesome. I love having a visual reminder of what I've chosen to read for the month! Here's the link:

    https://widgets.amazon.com/Amazon-Carousel-Widget/

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  14. Hey Amanda! Thanks for following my blog. I'm quite new with the book blogging thing. Anyway, I would have to agree with finding a decent enough design to cover ones hard work. I'm following your blog now. Hope we get to interact more soon! :)

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  15. Haha I soo agree! Kresley Cole's first books were ugly - which put me off for so long until I saw how popular they were with everyone else.
    I love Dark taste of rapture's cover! Gena has some gorgeous covers out there.

    New Follower

    Come check out my blog if you have time :)
    www.tyrasbookaddiction.blogspot.com/

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  16. I wouldn't buy those books, those covers are bad. ;) lol. I love books with covers that stand out. I'll buy them even without knowing what they are about. ;)

    Happy Friday.

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  17. Hi Amanda thanks for following my blog via follow me Friday. I hadn't seen that Gena Showalter cover it is absolutely yummy. See that's me again judging a book by it's cover! I'm now a new follower.

    Lesley

    http://mykeepershelf.blogspot.com

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  18. Hey Amanda just following back, Dark Taste Of Rapture....That is an awesome cover!!

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  19. I pick books by their covers too! I am drawn to the really gorgeous covers. lol! Thanks for following! I'm following you in return!

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  20. Hi Amanda! New follower here! Would love for you to follow me. Nice to meet you.

    For me, it is the cover and the title that tempt me to read the blurb. If the blurb reads great, I'll grab the book. I remember the first time I saw Harry Potter's book covers, I was like, O_o...not sure if I liked them. Love the inside but the covers weren't really to my taste.
    Happy Follow Friday!!!
    You can check out my website http://www.judithleger.weebly.com and http://www.judithleger.blogspot.com to see what kind of books I write.
    I have two other pen names,
    L.J.Leger - http://www.ljleger.weebly.com
    Jadette Paige - http://www.jadettepaige.weebly.com and http://www.jadettepaige.blogspot.com

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  21. Hello from a new stalker ... I mean follower, yes follower.

    I agree with you about the cringe worthy covers you posted, covers are important to getting me to notice a new book unless it's written by an author I know and like.

    Given the critical overload out there between the eBook/printed books markets all books need to provide the best cover then can in hopes of attracting attention their way even it's one they created themselves.

    I've seen a couple pretty good ones created by the author themselves. Not professional but given the examples you yourself posted that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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  22. Thanks for vistiting my blog Im following here. I talked to a lot of authors and most of the time they dont really ahve a lot of say in what their cover is going to look like which is good and bad depending on how the artist sees their book lol.

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  23. The covers of Christine Feehans look like 80s romance movies. I love that cover of Gena Showalter's. Gorgeous.
    Thanks for stopping by and following! Returning the favor. :-)

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  24. Bahahaha..."Wrapped in Crap"...such a good way to put it ;)

    New follower here!

    http://readawaytheday.blogspot.com/2011/04/follow-friday-2.html

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  25. I'm a sucker for a good cover, but I've learned the hard way that the cover doesn't always make the book. I'm a new follower! My FF is at Coffee Table Reviews

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  26. Hi, this is my first time to participate in The Friday Follow My Blog Hop-A lot of the 500 or so blogs I do follow join in every week so I thought why not try it-I will happily return all follows

    The Reading Life

    Mel u

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  27. LOL So they should pay more attention to the covers, since that's what catches readers' s eye in the first place. I'm a sucker for beautiful covers and though I hate the cheesy, cheap-looking ones, I happened to read great books with not so great covers.
    I agree with you about Christine Feehan's cover, OMG!:)) And I haven't read Kresley Cole's books - those first covers might be a reason!:))

    xoxo
    Deea @ Deea's Journal

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  28. I think we can all agree that even the most beautiful book cover can't sell a book if the writing's not there. Book cover art may, at best, help steer me in the book's direction (especially if I'm in a book store) but it's not going to hypnotize me into buying it right then and there.

    I expound on all the marketing qualities of a good book. Just follow me back to my book blog - http://www.howardsherman.net

    Thank God it's Follow Friday!?

    Howard Sherman
    http://www.howardsherman.net

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  29. I completely agree with what you said. And I do think the covers of Christine Feehan's book are unattractive. Thanks for following! I'm following back! Happy Follow Friday!

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  30. Thanks for becoming a follower of mine! I'm now your latest follower and look forward to talking more about my favorite genre.

    The Scarf Princess

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  31. Hello!! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, Novel Addiction. It's great to meet you, fellow Amanda!

    I love that you provided examples with your answer - and I completely agree! I just recently bought the first book in Kresley Cole's series, so I hope to start that soon, when this pile o'review books is down to a more manageable molehill.
    Have a great weekend!
    Amanda
    glowsnoveladdiction.blogspot.com

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  32. Newest follower here via the blog hop.I am a new contemporary romance writer and a reader of almost everything! Hope you stop by a check out my blog.

    http://writerekelly.blogspot.com/

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  33. Frankly, most covers/titles do absolutely nothing for me. I think many authors have no control over their covers, anyway. Thankfully, there are a lot great review sites, so I use them before I buy a book.

    Still, when will the day come that we are no longer tortured by fugly covers?

    jan

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