How much do book covers affect you?

[WingTaken]

Every book has a cover. Even if there's nothing on it.

I remember standing in bookstores, holding books, touching their covers, sometimes because they had a special finish I wanted to feel, or sometimes because they just looked so stunning that I wanted to hold them even if I knew I couldn't buy (all of) them.

Have you ever bought a book just because you fell in love with the cover/the front?
How much of an impact do covers have on you? In hindsight, are there books you regret buying that drew you in with their cover?

[Booklover_CRJ]

I've always picked books based on the covers. I remember when I was in elementary school the librarian would always get on me about that and tell me "you can't choose a book based on its cover." Well I didn't listen so what she did was pull books that she knew would interest me but had blank/boring covers. So lesson learned!!

My default is still to look at the cover to decide yes or no on a book and I have to make conscience efforts to stop that. One of my great joys is going into a bookstore or library and just browsing by picking up books and seeing the wide range of covers! I've no doubt I've bought a book based off its cover and regreted it but nothing springs to mind.

[JodyVamp]

It depends on whether I know the author or not. If it's one I've read and trust to be good, then the cover is a bonus. If I'm just scanning the shelves, the title, preferable with a cool font, has to grab me or the cover has to be intriguing. If I've never heard of you and there's just some person in a boring pose, I'm probably going to write it off as a crappy romance/drama and keep going. If there's a goofy cartoon or some creepy house or something with some character to it, I'm snatching it up and at least reading the back cover to see what it's about.

[Astrocelot]

It's horrible, but I definitely make snap judgments based on the cover. What catches my attention isn't usually the beauty of the book though; what my eyes instantly go to are covers that look different for their genre. Photography of standard pretty people, for instance, doesn't halt me in my tracks as I'm browsing through hundreds of other similarly generic covers. It's gotta have style. It's gotta have PIZZAZZ. Even if that means making a strikingly plain white cover for a high fantasy novel, or an abstractly artsy piece for a non-fiction. JodyVamp really nails it, for me:

If I've never heard of you and there's just some person in a boring pose, I'm probably going to write it off as a crappy romance/drama and keep going. If there's a goofy cartoon or some creepy house or something with some character to it, I'm snatching it up and at least reading the back cover to see what it's about.

While I'd love to read the backs of every book at my local store, I'm not made of time, so what's important is a cover (or title) that jumps out at me all on its own. I found some of my favorite books this way, and my least favorite, so it's not really reliable but it gets the job done!

[RLDunnAuthor]

A book cover draws you in. Make's you curious. If faced with multiple books in the same genre..the most interesting cover wins

[ayoomisope]

We're told not to judge a book by its cover but most times I do. There's something about beautiful design that makes you want to see what's behind the cover page.

[kfwilson6]

I have been drawn to books by the cover but never bought one solely because of the cover. I would never buy a book without reading the synopsis. I'm sure I have passed up many books in the store because the cover didn't intrigue me and I may have missed out on a great story but there are so many, sometimes you need a method to narrow down your options and that is the easiest, quickest way.

[gregs317]

Yes, the cover design and book title are what usually make me decide whether or not to look inside the book. Then I will read the inside cover and/or back of the book.

The exceptions to this are if the book was highly promoted or recommended. Or if I already had a prior knowledge of the book's contents - like Tom Sawyer, from reading it in my youth.

[GabbiV]

I am very shallow and I very much choose to interact with books based on their cover. There are exceptions like if I'm familiar with the author or I'm specifically looking for a book, but other than that I won't even read the summary if I don't like the look of the cover. But that's what the book cover is for, to be judged! Otherwise, why have them?

[rave_2]

I pay more attention to how good the story is, rather than the cover itself. If the cover happens to be pretty or amazing, then that's a bonus.

[elinadsy]

to be honest, a LOT. and that's as a writer, and an artist.

a book cover tells me, ideally, everything i need to know about what the book is about and should entice me to read the blurb. if it's an ugly cover, then i'll give the blurb ago, but i'm definitely less enthused.

i know everyone says you can't judge a book by it's cover, but frankly, you absolutely can most of the time, and while it won't STOP me reading a book, it's the first thing that draws me to it. it says a lot about how professional this book is going to be, it tells me potentially when this book was published (depending on the art style) and most importantly, it tells me if i'm going to like it! if i see a very simple but clean cover, i'm interested. if i see a bright and colorful cover, i'm interested. i don't go looking for covers, but i know what i like when i see it.

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

A book cover influences my initial judgement a good deal. Often I pick up books based on their covers and titles. But whether or not I am going to read them depends mostly on the plot summary and the reviews, if available. Very showy and glossy covers tend to put me off, while something a bit mysterious or a little adventurous-looking immediately piques my interest.

[Snowhite189]

The cover of the book could be tricky, you might think that the content is real good but actually you were being fooled because of the cover, it really happened to me, this would be a lesson for everyone if you plan to buy a book have a research about it and consider the author and the reviews, you will get an idea.

[NRoach]

I've never picked a book based on its cover, but I sure as hell have decided against books based on it. Though, when I'm choosing books to review, I don't really pay attention to it.

[nikkyteewhy]

I pick books after checking the covers, the picture art on the cover then I turn it around to check the back for the book summary. The cover is a big deal to me.