Beware the Ralph Beast of Empire!
Rough Beasts of Empire cover
- Thread starter DS9forever
- Start date
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
In the vast majority of cases, when one comes into a library, one hasn't researched all the books in there - one looks at the cover and, maybe, the description of a few.
In other words, in most cases, people DO judge a book by its cover.
And a generic 'floating heads' cover is an invitation to look for another book.
I wouldn't say majority, because the most people I see who browse the library are either reading the inner flap or the back.
Or... a Spock/TOS fan says, "Wow! When did he meet Sisko?"
A DS9 fan says, "At last! A new Sisko story. From his early days? And he meets Spock? Cool!"
My reaction the "Paths of Disharmony" cover?
Wow! Picard and Shar together! And it's a brand new Shar pic, too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37203498@N00/4868353050/
Floating heads don't always suck, especially if you are lukewarm to starship covers. (Damn, Flickr has revamped and I can't get the URLs to work to show an image here. You'll have to follow the link.)
Wow! Picard and Shar together! And it's a brand new Shar pic, too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37203498@N00/4868353050/
Floating heads don't always suck, especially if you are lukewarm to starship covers. (Damn, Flickr has revamped and I can't get the URLs to work to show an image here. You'll have to follow the link.)
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
Or not.
Do you actually think most potential buyers are hard core trek fans who know all these minutiae?
Or that they even bother to look twice at such a generic/poor cover - let alone analyse or read the description
? Sure they are - and do
.I wonder if Spock will mention anything to Sisko about was he on the Enterprise when he asked Kirk to sign his padd.
Frankly, that opinion astonishes me.
Or they're judging whether to spend money yet, or not. Amazing covers can cause impulse buys, but if people realize they really do want to read a particularly book/author - for whatever reason - even a crappy cover won't stop them. They aren't necessarily judging the writing.
Do most potential buyers of ST novels know that Spock is part of TOS and TNG but Sisko is part of DS9? Yes, they do!
I can tell you, if "floating heads" novel covers featuring the major characters didn't work, Pocket would have given up on them in the 80s.Or that they even bother to look twice at such a generic/poor cover - let alone analyse or read the description
Sure they are - and do
It's your opinion that it's a "generic/poor cover". The new editor and the marketing people and the designer obviously disagree with you. Many ST novels on the New York Times Bestseller List have had "floating head" covers and generic images taken from well-known publicity stills.
As for the blurb, the diehard fans learned long ago that it often isn't all the representational of the book. Blurbs are for people who are so tempted by the book's cover and title and author name that they pick up the book to look at the blurb. And Marketing knows that if they pick up the book and read the blurb, the chances of a purchase are greatly increased.
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
Really?
Tell me, how do you picture people buying books from a library?:
You think they to the section they're interested in and then read the blurbs (or first chapters) of ~100 books that are posted in that section?
Good luck with this one
.
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
Do they know Sisko had beard only until that episode and Spock looked like that only in that other episode?
Do they know Sisko never me Spock during DS9?
NO. Only hard core fans bother with such minutiae.
Pocket opted for a cheap cover - which is why this type of cover survived for so long.I can tell you, if "floating heads" novel covers featuring the major characters didn't work, Pocket would have given up on them in the 80s.Or that they even bother to look twice at such a generic/poor cover - let alone analyse or read the description
Sure they are - and do
It's your opinion that it's a "generic/poor cover". The new editor and the marketing people and the designer obviously disagree with you.
Diehard fans? Are these the only potential buyers? If so, the trek line in serious trouble.
Kind of disappointed with this cover, Spock and Sisko look far too young IMO. I really like the cover for Zero Sum Game and I think it's best of the Typhon Pact series. It's obvious they went with consistency and 'cheap' for these covers for the most part. The Titan cover annoys me because it looks like Riker is looking off to the right and I was always taught that you don't do that because of the spine, he should be looking either straight or towards Tuvok/his left.
Tell me, how do you picture people buying books from a library?:
You think they to the section they're interested in and then read the blurbs (or first chapters) of ~100 books that are posted in that section?
Good luck with this one
As a librarian, sure they do. They don't read all 100 excerpts before deciding, but yes, many people choose books based on whether Chapter 1 interests them, which is also why Borders started adding coffee shops.
Cover design can influence, but there are many other factors. Marketing people want browsers to be tempted to pick up the book. Then other elements take over.
It doesn't matter that they know all the details, but if a ST fan is so casual that they don't know that Sisko started the series with a clean-shaven face and finished with a beard then they're such a casual fan they'll never be looking to read a ST novel.
Covers are supposed to entice browsers to pick up the book. And I think this one would do that, especially since it is part of a matching series with similarly-designed covers.
No. The covers are aimed at both casual fans and diehards.
You know which scenes are being depicted already?
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
Tell me, how do you picture people buying books from a library?:
You think they to the section they're interested in and then read the blurbs (or first chapters) of ~100 books that are posted in that section?
Good luck with this one
As a librarian, sure they do. They don't read all 100 excerpts before deciding, but yes, many people choose books based on whether Chapter 1 interests them, which is also why Borders started adding coffee shops.
Cover design can influence, but there are many other factors. Marketing people want browsers to be tempted to pick up the book. Then other elements take over.
And how do people choose which books' excerpts to read? Covers, what's in front of the shelf, commercials.
In this particular case, the cover's influence is negative. Few casual fans would look at what's inside this cover.
This only means the entire series has sub-standard covers, not that this cover is better because it has equally generic/boring company.
Well, I'm glad you're here to tell us these things! Let me tell you, I value your opinion highly - you're a natural expert, since you have 1) no experience in publishing, 2) aren't a casual fan, and 3) have no evidence to back up your claims.
Keep up the good work!
I'm sorry ProtoAvatar, but I really doubt alot of people would actually use a book's cover art to decide if they are interested in it. The author, the genre, the topic, the setting, the series, the characters, the style, the title, I could see, but I really don't think the cover has anywhere near the amount of influence you seem to think it does. At least I know it never has with me.
Yeah, I guess I might be unusual then. I'll admit, I'm not even close to an impulse buyer, I tend to spend weeks researching something before I decide if I want to read it. Unless it's something that I know I'm gonna like, like Pillars of the Earth which I bought because I've been LOVING the miniseries.
I don't have to picture people buying books or borrowing them from the library, because I do it myself. Never in my entire life have I purchased or borrowed a book based on its cover, or failed to buy or borrow one based on its cover. That said, I'm sure that there are people who actually do judge a book by its cover, but your generalization that people do so in "most cases" does indeed astonish me.
