Bookmarks Subscribers discussion

A recent comment in another thread got me thinking about cover art, and I thought the topic could provide some good discussion along with some fun. The purpose of this folder is to talk about all things related to book covers. For instance, do you judge a book by its cover? What types of covers appeal to you? Do you see any trends in cover art? Have you come across different books with identical covers? What do you think about a single book having multiple covers?

I'd like to see separate threads opened up for some of these topics. I'm going to start with something fun, related to the discussion that spurred this thread. Feel free to start a thread of your own.

This is a good question that I am going to have to ponder. I know I have stood at the library and asked myself why a certain book is appealing and not others, but I'm not sure I've ever had an answer to that. It will be interesting to see what people are thinking on this.

I agree with Lynn. This is going to be fun. I am going to have to think about it.

O.K., for several years now, I have been the go-to-person for my local library's twice a year book sale. This means that I go through just about every book that is donated in the sale. (Last sale it was over 15,000 books.)
I don't know exactly what it is about a cover, but I've accumulated a few titles to add to my TBR list because a cover has enticed me. (And it isn't shirtless men or a heaving bosom.
This is only for fiction. For nonfiction, it's the subject itself that entices.

I thought it would be fun to open some threads where we could post book covers of some popular or not so popular cover art. Dig through your bookshelves to find examples of these covers. You can easily search your bookshelf by clicking on covers. It's interesting to see how many books you find when you are looking for these trends.

Check the threads under "That About COVERS It," then contribute some covers to add to our lists. Have fun!

Lisa wrote: "I thought it would be fun to open some threads where we could post book covers of some popular or not so popular cover art. Dig through your bookshelves to find examples of these covers. You can ..."

This will be a bit of fun to dig around on the shelves. It's a busy weekend for me, but I'll see if I can get some covers posted early next week.

I do pick books for their cover art. I thought had an interesting, original cover. I loved the face on the moon. The book will be a 3.5 though. Cover was more interesting than the story. Though the book does spend a lot of time on the art of brushing teeth!

Great topic! I think I was more influenced by covers prior to me getting Bookmarks and listening to book podcasts. Now I have amassed such a huge list of TBR books from those sources, and this group, that I don't really pay any attention to covers these days. On the flip side, i am more likely to pass up a book if I don't like the cover. As I've said, the faceless/back of the woman's head trend has been bugging me, so I will likely avoid those titles right now.

Have any of you been doing anything with book spine poetry? I heard about this on the Books on the Nightstand podcast recently. It's related to cover art so thought I'd bring it up here.

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

Huffing ton post had this article on the best book covers of 2011. I think Bed was my favorite.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10...

If you look at recent releases on Goodreads, you will see that many fiction books (historical, romance, fantasy) have very similar covers - photographic closeups of a person's face or body, or just parts of them. I think they are unpleasant (though a cover would never stop me from reading a book)

It's amusing how you can look at various editions of a classic (say War and Peace or Emma) in paperback and you can tell by the cover art whether the edition is from 1950, 1975, or 2000, even though the art is ostensibly of the historical characters.

That's a great points about the various editions, Robin. It's cool how a a cover can also make a lassie look more contemporary.

I've already started going through books for my library's used book sale next May. I'm impressed with the artwork of the older books - both covers and inside flies. Beautiful and unique depictions.

Linda, are you able to purchase any of the books prior to the sale?

Not any more. We try to keep it a level playing field for all. Why do you ask, Sera? These books are likely to be left over after the sale next May.

I was just curious if you had an inside track :)

An interesting addendum to our discussion here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/len-cri...

Wow, so some of those in that article are "just" similar. But some of the others actually used the same stock photo for the cover. I can't believe that. Boo.

Thank you, Betsy, for posting this interesting article. I wondered if some of the similar covers were intentional?

Sera wrote: "Thank you, Betsy, for posting this interesting article. I wondered if some of the similar covers were intentional?"

I wondered too - one trying to cash in on the success of the other? Or just lazy. Like Victoria, I was disappointed in those that used the same exact photo. Could it be a way to save money? Maybe not having to spend as much on designing something original?

I am not sure exactly the motive, except that it was commercially driven.

I remember cover pictures pretty well. If I pull a book off a shelf in a store and see a picture I know I've seen before on a book I've read, I would immediately think I had read it and put it back without looking further into the book. This is just laziness or, like Betsy said, maybe they think they can cash-in on the success of the other. If others shop like I do, this would not be good for the author's book sales.

That is a good point, Lynn. It might actually have the opposite effect intended.

Check this out!
http://www.purewow.com/books/Can-You-...