Have you ever purchased a book because of the cover art?

[Jesscar6]

I haven't.
I always read the description on the book.
The cover is important. It gives an idea of the professionalism of it and definitely adds to the appeal, but a book can have a beautiful cover, and still not be the type of book I personally like to read.

[Alice Thokchom]

No, I have never done that. I always check the content to see if the book has something of my interest.

[dianaterrado]

Yes! This one time I fell in love with the cover so much but ended up not reading it. I can't even remember what the title was now. I've donated that book years ago.

[Bluebird03]

I don't think I've ever purchased a book solely on the cover art. But I certainly do notice the cover and think to myself if it seems to be a good fit for the book title etc.

[_Delly_01]

Sometimes, I preemptively judge a book by its cover to get a sense for the genre blend or tone, and then I read the blurb for more information. Other times, the cover is the deciding factor because it's attractive. I know I might get a bit of flack for it, but a bad quality cover tells you a lot. Especially with self-published books and dodgy cut-and-paste editing. I've never bought a book judging solely by its cover, though.

[Letora]

Yes, I've purchased books based on their cover art. Unfortunately, they aren't always good and I keep trying to remind myself not to buy based on the cover.

[ayomie]

I'm always influenced by the cover art on books.

[ElizaPeaks]

I will admit that I often purchase books for their covers but only if I think that they'll be a good read as well! And, with self-publishing becoming accessible to anyone with a computer, I find myself trusting books with nice covers over ones with less appealing covers. A lot of self-publishers are looking for the cheapest way to publish their books, so they pay for cheaper cover designers or design them themselves. While some turn out really nice, there are so many that look like they've been slapped together last minute. I was appalled when I saw a mock design for one of my friend's self-published book; the designer had made some really basic design mistakes! And he said that, unless she had any suggestions, it was the final product! I know a book has been really taken care of by how well the cover is designed... and of course, there are some great self-published books with less-than-pleasing covers that I'll still enjoy! However, the cover can really tell you a lot about the quality of the book...

[Maralynx]

Oh yes, more than once. For example, I saw a book of an author from my country, and the cover was so bizarre that I was entranced. I don't really read books from authors from my country, mostly because of the writing style. But the cover was incredible, the book was new, so it wasn't expensive and I bought it. It turned out to be a great read, and a couple of months later it won the most prestigious award in my country. I was so happy.

[SavannahJones]

When I was about 12, my family went to Park City, Utah. We (being the nerds we are) stopped in a bookstore. While we were browsing, my mom pointed out a new book. I looked at the cover and the title and was sucked in. The book was The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. To this day, I still love to read this book over and over again.

[Aditi Sapate]

Cover art, colour of the book, font of the title, size of the book, price of the book, you name it.

[cxsimpson]

I bought a copy of The Wizard of Oz once just because the cover was pretty. It was just the same story as it's always been, but it looked great in pictures.

[tanner87cbs]

Guilty as charged. Did I read said books? Yes and no. I have done this a few times. Sometimes I do read them sometimes I don't.

Yes, I am not the only one.

[eliviac35]

I have never purchased one based on the cover alone, but when I was in school, I always picked which Nancy Drew book to read next based on the cover.

[Henrytbab]

Many years ago, I was on a shopping trip to Chicago. I saw a book in the bookstore that had the coolest art on the cover. I purchased the book without ever looking at the title, the author or reading the description. I just thought it would be pretty cool sitting on a table in my office.

Later, I would start hearing about this must read book that everyone was looking all over for. I recognized the cover immediately. It was the book sitting in my office. Feeling somewhat foolish and guilty, I actually sat down and read the book. It was the first Harry Potter book and it was amazing.

Have you ever purchased a book based on the artwork on the cover? If so, did you ever actually read the book?

Yes. I think I have done that several times, especially when I was a child.