When it comes to the age-old question about whether readers judge a book by its cover, there remains some discrepancy in official reader surveys.

This recent survey discovered that the majority of its respondents say that a book cover is very important when it comes to influencing their decision to buy a book. The results look a bit different when it comes to audiobooks: readers said the book description is most important, whereas the cover is least important.

This article shows similar results in one survey but variations in others. One survey found that the book cover influenced most readers (53% of respondents) but other surveys discovered the cover is further down on the list (18% in one and 7% in another). In the latter surveys, things like preferred genre and the availability of preferred format were far more important for readers.

I’m curious to know where you might land on this issue.

As a test, we’re featuring some fantasy books by various indie and traditionally published authors, at various price points, formats, and cover designs.

Which books generate more interest for you? Which are you more inclined to buy?

Trad CoverIndie CoverPopular Author CoverLess Popular Author CoverBestseller e-book CoverBestseller print Cover

These are examples of well-designed book covers that have elements that are intriguing for different reasons (depending on what creative style catches your eye). Some are more popular, some are more expensive, some have yet to hit a bestseller list.

Readers might not agree on whether you should judge a book by its cover, but they probably agree that the cover design alone is not enough. As all surveys discover, there are multiple factors that influence our book buying and reading behavior.

What influences YOU the most?

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