Book Blogger Hop #5 ~ September 3-6

Click the picture to find out more about the Hop!

This weeks question:

Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover?

As a graphic designer, yes, yes I do.
But let me explain, because it's only true to a certain extent.

In the book store, surrounded by thousands and thousands of choices... so much so that often it's overwhelming... and you kind of start to get that vision where things go fuzzy around the edges and the room starts to spin... if my eye is drawn to a fantastic cover, I am more prone to pick the book up to see what its about.

This is a Bookstore ONLY phenomenon.
I have had books given and recommended to me that have AWFUL covers... but I judge the book by my opinion of the person handing it to me, not by the cover.

Case in point, George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones (or almost any of his books).
They were recommended to me by someone I highly respected, so the fact that it had a mediocre, 'never going to stand out on the fantasy bookshelf' cover was something I didn't even pay mind to. In fact, I didn't really pay that much attention to the cover until after I'd finished the book and realized how very inappropriate the cover illustration was.

The cover I had showed a robust, 20-something, handsome male astride a horse... the character in the book that that was supposed to be... was a child. So that was actually a cover that annoyed me more in retrospect XD

But for a final answer, Yes, and No.
If I'm reaching for something I'm unfamiliar with... then yes, a really well designed cover will make me pick it up... but it won't make me buy it. The first page and the summary on the book jacket have to do that.

Granted, I've run into the occasional cover that was SO COOL I wished I wanted to buy the book... but regardless of the awesome cover... after reading the inside a bit, I still put it back and opted for a less flashy cover choice.