Horrifying Thrillers discussion

Just curious...do the covers on books effect whether you decide to read them or not?

I have to say for myself yes and I am ashamed of that. I have not read something due to the picture on the cover only to pick it up at another time and love it! I think a lot of times, especially with horror books they can be misleading.

My New Year resolution is to stop being a book cover snob..lol

They may attract my attention to pick it up and look at it, but the description would be more deciding on whether to buy it or not

Sometimes I wonder if the artist is even given a plot synopsis before they do the cover...

In speaking with a couple of artists, what they've said is that yes they are given the plot synopsis (or have read the book) before doing the cover art. I will admit that good artwork has gotten me to pick up many books, whether I bought them or not depended on what the story contained however. I love this cover for A Choir of Ill Children, check it out- http://www.feoamante.com/Stories/Revi...
It's not gory in the least but artistically I find it very typical of something I would take a second glance at.

I like that cover Jenn may have to seek out the book! Glad to see that I am not alone. I do read the back of a book too. Laugh if you want but I always read the first paragraph or two of the book. If it grabs me I will buy it.

I have to admit that I always look at the covers. As an artist myself I have to!
While a cover may catch my eye, I still read some of the book before buying it. The story is the most important part. The art helps, but I visualize the story myself so it's not important to my decision to purchase.

A bad cover won't stop me from reading a book, BUT... a good cover might entice me to buy a book that's for sure!

I learned my lesson on book covers after spending money on "Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse" which although the title was brilliant, and the cover was hysterical... the story was retarded.

Thanks for the warning Kristen as I really like the cover of that one myself, but have yet to read it!

Just goes to show how different we all are. I really liked that book! The cover on mine is boring, actually.

Covers do have an influence. Book publishers spend plenty of dough to make sure the right cover ends up in the right market. For me, I love the book Intensity, by Koontz, but I hate the covers of the US editions so much that I bought the UK edition (thanks eBay).

I'm with you on that. I tend to like British covers more than US ones anyway. The art is nearly always more to my taste. Many US covers are pretty boring.
Not all, but enough.

I agree. US covers are always really bland to my eye and UK covers are always better. Fortunately we tend to get the UK ones here in Australia.

Book covers have a tendency to sucker me in...but usually once I read a description, that's the deciding factor for me.

Oh, and I totally agree about UK covers--they're always better it seems!

I have also discovered a liking for Australian horror and science fiction. The main drawback there is that it's even harder to get than the UK books! Shipping to and from Australia is nuts!

Leigh Blackmore and Terry Dowling come to mind. Leigh has been quite friendly in giving me links and such to other horror writers down there.

Then there is science fiction and fantasy. Buts that's for another group. -grin-

I admire a lot of cover art I see, yet some are really bland. The worst IMO are the romance covers.

One of the more enticing covers I've ever seen is for Berserk. Here's a link to it: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgur...

The cover for Scott Sigler's Infected caught my eye when it was on a library shelf and I picked it up. Glad I did. I've had many enjoyable hours of reading and listening to his podcasts.

I'm sure I've ignored some good books because the covers didn't entice me enough to pick it up and read the flap.

Yes! The '80s were the worst for horror book covers. Tinfoil was everywhere. Or that cheesy little cutout that exposed a hidden horror beneath an otherwise innocuous cover.

What do you think of these covers?



:)

I don't know, Alan. A skull and a knife. Not very original. I don't think I'd be drawn to these books even if the stories are great reads. No offense.

V. C. Andrews books always had the tackiest covers. Well, they still do since she's still churning them out back at the graveyard.

Book covers are always the reason why anyone would pick up a book... especially if they are a new author in the industry. Established authors can get away with covers like Cussler's (no offense, but just so plain) and still sell endless amounts though. Personally, I want to be impressed by the whole book, cover to cover.

Actually, a cover of ours is up for an award, Antarktos Rising. You should check it out in the store! Emboss/deboss/gloss/matte, it came out great.

Oh, and Erik Hollander's art is incredible as well, I forgot to put that in my last post.

Ah well, just as well the story inside grabs people from the first page! :)

I would like to nominate my cover as an attention grabber. I drew both sides of the covers in crayons. ( Yes, they do not trust me with sharp objects yet.)
I hope you all like it.

But Alan is right. It's the story that counts, not the cover.

Brett wrote: "I'm with you on that. I tend to like British covers more than US ones anyway. The art is nearly always more to my taste. Many US covers are pretty boring.
Not all, but enough."

Hi Brett,
How are You?
I'm w/you about the English covers... When I have the chance to pick up a British Cover book, I will... I usually go 2 abebooks.com cuz they are more reasonable in price.
But keep in mind American readers, they're spelling is different on so many words. I'm sure you know this but I have read reviews where the proof reader needs to return 2 school, only to find out it was written in England. Blah, blah, blah

The cover makes me pick a book up, but it's the content that keeps me reading.

OH MOST DEFINETLY!!! I love a book that has a dust jacket on it...if it is just the backing then I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO READ IT...When I buy my books from Amazon.com I MAKE SURE that they have a DJ....I think it is just the visual appeal that makes me want to read the book. If the DJ has a great scene/picture on it...Im DEFINETLY gonna wanna read it. Now, weather or not I FINISH the book is another story :)

in my opinion covers are not the most important thing...but i believe that when someone writes a good book he must be smart enough to make a good cover for it...!

Typically, I'll stay with authors I've previously read or that have been recommended to me. However, I will admit that a nice cover grabs my attention and I will at least read what books are about if the cover is interesting or well-done. Sometimes, that does lead me to buy the book.

hi im maya well its the cover that gets me to pick up the book but i always read the back and if i dont like the summary of the story i dont get it and i usually stick with the usual authors like Stephen King, Mark Billingham, Kelley Armstrong, Cecelia Ahern and Sophie Kinsella but i have come across some new authors like Evelyn Cosgrave, Niamh Greene, Mark Haddon

Tressa wrote: "Yes! The '80s were the worst for horror book covers. Tinfoil was everywhere. Or that cheesy little cutout that exposed a hidden horror beneath an otherwise innocuous cover."

HA, and here I am a year later commenting that one of my favorite book covers is for an early edition of one of Kings short story collections. It has a cutout cover, a man's bandaged hand and the reveal is that he has eyebals growing on his hand. I LOVED that cover so much!!

I think a cover has a lot to do with buying a book, just like a trailer can hurt or help a movie. This is so much so now that there are groups who just evaluate movie trailers. And one of the features I enjoy on GR is that alternate book covers are shown.

I can say that I pick up a book at a store because the cover appeals to me, but if the synopsis or random pages are not interesting, I won't buy it. But half the battle is already won, because I at least picked it up and evaluated it.

Something that irks me a bit though is when a book gets a movie tie in, and then they release new covers with the movie characters on the cover. I actually don't want to read a book when the character is already been shown to me. I like to paint them in my minds eye myself first.

A bad cover will definitely prevent me from even picking up a book though.

You know what, I have read some wonderful books based on reviews and recommendations alone, with no idea what the book cover looked like. And I remember still being sad about a bad cover for that book. A cover should set the tone for the story.

I'm not sure if this group is very active anymore, but I will just blather on.

One of my qualms is dolls, hate them, still scared of them. That said, if there is a doll on the cover of a book, I probably won't even pick it up to read the synopsis!! I just saw the cover of "A Choir of Ill Children" and I don't think I could buy it.

HA! the things you cannot escape from that are planted in childhood.....

Covers may grab my attention, but there has to be substance to keep it.

Andrew E. Kaufman/Author
www.andrewekaufman.com

Covers get me to take a look when I am standing in a book store looking at shelf after shelf of books. Sometimes the art is so amazing that I might be drawn to a genre I wouldn't normally read. Of course, if I hate the book I won't get lured again :-).

I'd have to say the combination of the tiltle and the cover gets my attention, but that's just the initial attention. I still read the first dozen pages to determine if I want it or not.
Covers are becoming less relevant these days because half of the books I get are eBooks, some of which don't even have covers.

Title is usually what grabs my eye, since I mostly read the spines. Then the cover, but most importantly, the blurb explaining it all. However, I have put books back inspite of how interested I was because of a rediculous cover.

A book cover may cause me to pick it up and read the description to find out more but I would never read/not read a book based on the cover alone. If it sounds interesting, I would read it even if the cover is lame. Likewise, a great cover will not cause me to read a book that sounds like something to avoid.

At the bookstore the covers are obviously what draws my atention but I've developed the habit of trying to learn a bit about the book before buying it.

Personal opinion only, but sadly I do feel that most books ARE judges by their covers. It's sort of the writer's first line of defense. Catch the eye with something interesting, then hook them with a good title, then pray the blurb on the back is enough to get them to open it and go further. In all cases, there are some downright awful books out there is amazing covers, and some real gems with what appears to be very amateurish covers. As a buyer and someone who loves to read, I'm less likely to pick up a book that looks like the author couldn't be bothered to go the distance. If you took the time to write your book, and get it published, take the time to make it look professional. I've picked up books in sections I wouldn't normally look in, because I found the cover interesting.

Definitly, I look at a cover. If it interests me enough to pick it up, then I read the summary on the inside cover. Sometimes, I will see the title and do the same thing, but generally, it's more likely the cover art that gets my attention.

I don't mind the cover, I'm sure the artist doesn't even know for what book the design will be!!! But sometimes when i saw a really good one(cover) i just have to read the excerpt to see if it's good!

Yep, a cover at least gets you to read the insert.

Whatever helps us make the best reading choice, after all that's what our senses are for, but cover alone will never save the book, so it' all matters, but it wont hurt ;P

Tressa wrote: "I don't know, Alan. A skull and a knife. Not very original. I don't think I'd be drawn to these books even if the stories are great reads. No offense.

V. C. Andrews books always had the tackiest c..."

ouch

Your book cover is the same as introducing yourself to the reader. Originality, sophistication, whatever it is you are trying to convey will say it all when the reader sees your cover art.

The book cover initially attracts my attention, but it's the story that I buy a book for.