Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I Admit... Sometimes, I Judge

We've all heard the proverbial saying before...  I mean, its only been pounded into our heads like a million times since infancy. And don't tell me you've never heard it before.

Because I know you have....

Don't judge a book by its cover.

See, I told you you've heard it.

And don't get me wrong here, I know that's good advice. Really, I do. There are plenty of fantastic books I've read whose covers were, well, less than inspiring right off the shelf.

BUT... sometimes its just too gosh darned hard NOT to judge. Like this one:


I mean, how do you pick up that book and NOT want to read it?! Especially when it has: "A rousing adventure story in the tradition of The Hunger Games" plastered at the top. As an avid Hunger Games fan, that got me.

And the weird water eye thing? Yeah, that got me too.

There's something to be said for marketing, my friends.

And since I know I can't possibly be the only judg-er out there, what book covers have inspired--or UN-inspired--YOU?




P.s. This actually did turn out to be a pretty freakin' fantastic book. I read it in like 24 hours... I couldn't put it down! My only complaint was a slight issue with the ending. But I won't tell you what that issue was... don't want to give away any plot details! But for those of you who HAVE read it and would like to discuss spoilers, I'd be more than happy to hash it out with you!

7 comments:

Heather said...

A great cover is very important because it's the first impression the book gets too make. I do judge a book by the cover, but that doesn't mean I won't buy it if I don't like the cover. However, if I don't then there has to be something else that makes me pick it up. I never read the Sookie books until I saw True Blood because I HATED the covers. The books are great though!

Julie said...

Heather: that's such a good way to look at it, that the cover gives the first impression to a reader. Very good way to describe the importance of a cover!

Also, I totally agree with you about reading books with not so great covers... It's funny cause I actually thought the Harry Potter cover was kind of weird when I first saw everyone reading it. I thpught it looked like a strange book and it wasn't until after a friend recommended them to me that I finally picked up a copy and loved them!

Anonymous said...

That cover is stunning. A beautiful cover draws me in. If it doesn't, I'll still read the description.

Julie said...

Medeia: I know... its fantastic, right? By the way, I blog-stalked YOUR upcoming book... the cover looks snarky and funny, as does the description. Sounds like a good read!

Good luck with your upcoming release!

ali cross said...

That IS a beautiful cover! And I totally haven't heard of it so I'm adding it to my TBR right now!

Let's see . . . PARANORMALCY had a great cover that made me want to read it.

And . . . I'm drawing a blank on books that were great but I wouldn't have read if it was just by the cover and not on recommendations. :(

Great blog here! So glad you found me!

Paul Michael Murphy said...

Covers mean less to me than they used to just because of how I shop for books now. I'm pretty much exclusively a Kindle shopper now, meaning I finish one book and go hunting kindle for the next one. Usually, I find books through word of mouth (so maybe the cover influences me indirectly), reading about them on blogs, or taking recommendations from Amazon based on what I've read in the past.

Julie said...

Ali: Oooo! That sounds like a fun book! Yessssss. Another victim for my "to read" list!

Paul: you bring up a good point. With the surge in ebooks, how important will a good cover really be? Interesting thoughts...

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