What book covers attract you and turn you off?

[xcomplex]

I always hear people say don't judge a book by it's cover, but face it everyone does. I mean how else do you choose which book to look at? Even if you are trying to pick up the bad cover art books you are still judging by the cover. So what type of book covers attract you? For me I tend to like more dark and mysterious covers, sometimes a bit creepy sometimes with a knight or something and usually fantasy.
So here is another interesting question. What type of covers turn you off?
For me it's if a book is very pink, girly or has old time cowboys on it. Also I don't like much space stuff. ;) So tell me what you guys think!

[Shaun]

Anything with pink or shiny glitter letters. If it contains both, I pick it up off the shelf and burn it in the store. Usually the clerks understand that I'm doing mankind a favor.

[xcomplex]

haha out with the glittery pink!

[Zombified]

I LOVE books that have monsters on them. You know, zombies, or sea creatures, that kind of thing. Traditionally, in horror, if there is a monster on the cover, it's going to be a gorefest B-Movie kind of novel. And I eat that shit up!

[Andy]

Ahahahaha :D

http://www.cracked.com/article_14790_best-worst-fantasy-science-fiction-book-covers.html

I like covers that don't portray action, such as ones that are centered on an object, or an environment. If it has that, then I guess the title determines it. I like simple titles, preferably without the names of people in them, ones that are able to grab your attention by the meaning in the words, not the number of words.

[Shaun]

Ah, The Golden Queen. One of the best gay jokes ever made in a book cover...

[xcomplex]

Those covers are AMAZING!! no im just kidding. I would never buy a book with covers like those lolz

[Iridescence]

Covers that Attract: Mystical-looking covers. Covers that scream "Fantasy", "Adventure", "Action". Covers with characters on them are also rather appealing, if done properly. For example, one very attractive cover I've seen was for the book Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. Weird title, but the art was very pretty: it had a picture of a boy standing in the rain, or under shooting stars, and you can see the rain running down his face. The background is shades of bluish-purple, and he's got a weird silvery creature on his shoulder. While I believe the story could have been written better, the cover art was very nice. Another cover I love is the one for the His Dark Materials series, which shows a girl in a parka resting her hand on the head of a giant polar bear (Iorek Byrnison! :3). Covers that are vague, elegant and mysterious are also attractive.

Covers that turn off: Badly drawn characters; covers with machines/heavy influences of technology; girly, frilly covers; covers without fantastical, adventurous, or action-like implements.

[Majyk]

I don't even bother picking up books with covers that, as you said, are pink or girly. If it has a real-looking picture on it, I usually tend to leave it alone, too. I read fantasy, and prefer it when I find the covers interesting. It's hard to describe what I consider "interesting", but if you've read/seen a book called "The Dragon Heir", I love that cover, along with the other two books in that series.

[miss_smiley]

Well...I pick stuff that looks interesting to me. Usually all of them have fairly rich colours (hey, I can't help that I'm a visual person...) and good contrast, and include a picture that interests me (usually in cartoon form, I'm afraid. I'm a bit of a comedy fan). I don't even bother picking up pink, glittery books - I might buy them for my cousins (they're three), so I can watch my uncle's torment in later years, but I'm not so interested in them myself.
But usually it's the title that reels me in anyhows. Interesting twists of wording, good alliteration or just plain bad grammar are always guaranteed to make me take it off the shelf, although I may just cross out the bad grammar and correct it with my handy felt-tip. :)

[graysey]

A primary reason why readers pick up a book is its cover. A book cover can make or break a reader's decision to want to buy your book. However, it should not overpower the book's content. You want to impress your readers mainly by the story you are telling, not just by its face value, otherwise your readers can get disappointed.

The book cover should go with the story or genre. Children's books and cookbooks should use rich and bright colors, while dark colors go well for suspense thrillers and mystery books. If you are unsure how to go about your book cover, it would be best to get a professional designer or illustrator to do the job for you.

[Shaun]

By the way, before anyone gets the illusion that you'll be able to have a say in the cover for your book if you go by traditional publishing methods: you will have zero say whatsoever. Book publishers pretty much assume you don't know jack about book covers as marketing agents, and so will select the cover for you, rather than allowing you to have much of a say. You get a little more power if you sell a lot of books, though. Some small presses take things differently, and then there's vanity or self-publishing, which you have full control of, but have to pay for (which, by the way, is not real publishing, just an exercise in futility; do not self publish...).

[Rowenny]

A very good question, actually I have never thought about it.
I guess I usually choose books that have dark covers. Or more like I choose books that don't have a color splash on them. I like covers in one color or in colors that match together. Like, blue/black/a little bit of green sounds like a good cover to me. I don't really like bright covers.
But as much as I can I'm trying not to judge a book by its cover. I usually try to look inside and read some parts of it and if I like it, the cover then doesn't matter to me anymore.

[Rouge]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nXknRDZBs0E/SxSQvQb6YKI/AAAAAAAAEXQ/QhAJrG-1-48/s1600/heights.jpg
^ I got that copy for Christmas. Makes me want to read it a lot more than:
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/greatest-novels-of-all-time/40-1.jpg

... And I hate books that look like:
http://www.salemhigh.com/mc/RFL09Images/atonement.jpg
And
http://josbookshelf.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/the-other-boleyn-girl1.jpg
As in, covers with pictures from the movie.

Also, I prefer hardback books where I can take the cover off so as not to mess it up, however, I can't afford hardback books anymore. :(

Also, the only book that can get away with a movie picture on it is:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71R6ERS920L.gif
And that's only because it's Fight Club. I have this copy
http://thebookcart.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/palahniuk-fight-club.jpg

So yeah, does that give you an idea? :P

[Shaun]

I'm with you, Tsuki. I can't stand movie-editions of books. I won't buy them. The sad thing is that usually when the movie version comes out, the old, official version becomes impossible to find...*grumble*

[Rouge]

I'm with you, Tsuki. I can't stand movie-editions of books. I won't buy them. The sad thing is that usually when the movie version comes out, the old, official version becomes impossible to find...*grumble*
It's worse when there are pictures and shit from the movies in the middle of the book. Annoying as hell, that is.

[ScottyMcGee]

YES, ADRI! I HATTEEEEE MOVIE COVERS!


I went out of my way to read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" because I only had the Blade Runner cover and didn't want to read it until I got the real cover.

[Elisa]

I am defintely against movie covers.
Basically covers that have an intriguing picture on the front. Something curious, though generally dark. I don't like closeups of faces though. It may seem silly, but those books generally end up with the summary showing instead of the cover. Plus books that have a lot of intricate pictures or maybe inconspicuous picutres are pretty great.

[Death]

I like simple, elegant covers for serious books, and good caricatures for comic ones. What makes me run out of the world is the Barbarian, the Blonde Chick In Metal Bikini and the Dragon posing on a cover, especially if it's Vallejo. (But when the late Kirby parodies this style - now that's adorable.)

But the best kind of cover to me is one that doesn't make the book too heavy but it's made well so it wouldn't fall apart.

[MetallicGryffon]

I like covers that the book will later describe, like tunnels.

[lostbookworm]

I hate movie covers. I got Eragon with the movie cover, never looked at it again. I got Baudlino same day, read that extremely quickly.

I prefer a cover which means something to the overall book, and not just a part. I also hate books with monsters on it.

[MasterCarlton]

The type of book cover that really captures my interest usually consists of two things.

They have to be hand drawn and must capture the feel of the novel, book cover art that show raw power and at the same time a sense of eloquence.

This for example: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/994332712_07b087f464.jpg?v=0

[peepingthesmurf]

I would usually pick up a book with a cover that will make me want to find out what the hell is happening as soon as possible, because it is so awesome. I also like to have a clear picture of the main character's face, because I want to know what the person I'm reading about looks like. The Harry Potter covers are nice.

I really hate covers that use generic, stock images. They're boring, and it gives me the impression that it's a generic book. And, I dislike when the author's name is bigger than the freakin' title.

[Banana]

Like almost everyone else here, I normally don't go for the brightly coloured books because they’re usually very tweeny and shallow. (But then again, I recently purchased a pink and silver book, so I'm not really one to talk) Unless it has an award. Books with awards always win by default.

And has anyone noticed that the teen section has become a lot darker (as in, there are a lot less brightly coloured books) ever since the infestation of vampire literature? I remember being almost blinded by all the pinks, neon greens, and yellows.

[Phi]

I will never go for a book that has a bad looking picture on the front. No matter how good someone tells me it is.