Do You Judge a Book By Its Cover... Literally?

by The Big Question Posted 2012/08/30 00:42:08

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	Yes	162 votes	56%
	No	129 votes	44%

More polls by The Big Question

KeithL 2012/09/06 16:03:04
josi 2012/09/02 17:37:14

No

No we didn't

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PonToki 2012/09/02 03:53:16

No

I'm actually more drawn into a book by its title.

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Altering_Minds. 2012/09/02 01:56:41

No

I judge it by it's name...

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it'skrissie!d:) 2012/09/02 01:43:53

No

There needs to be a kind of. I pick up books that catch my eyes, like great designs or...shiny. Lol. I always read the summary of the book, though, and if I don't like it, I put it away. So...kind of!

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Tallulah 2012/09/02 01:35:43

Yes

To be completely honest. But I only do this with books definitely not with people.

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me being me 2012/09/02 01:23:54

No

I read the summary on the back, but the cover does need to be catching to the eye before I pick it up.

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kick2head 2012/09/02 01:10:05

No

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8cd...

I will generally look it up on goodreads.com. I just started reading "The List" by Robert Whitlow.

http://www.goodreads.com/book...

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Lerro DeHazel 2012/09/02 00:55:52

Yes

Yes, I have before.

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katywon 2012/09/02 00:53:10

No

If you go to a library and most of the books are classified in sections like Fiction and Non-Fiction. Most of them that have been there awhile have no covers. Doesn't anyone pick books by topics or subject. In a book-store or ad its a different story. Then the covers seem to make a difference. People seem to judge books by word of mouth and the X factor. As long as you read it does not matter.

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Rob Williams 2012/09/02 00:35:19

No

I look at the précis and recommendations on the sleeve and the pages before the title. Then I read the first few pages and flick to a random one further on. It's not fool proof but it serves me quite well!

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pammerjammer 2012/09/02 00:14:41

Yes

While browsing a book display I will look to those first that have a cool cover. Graphics on covers gets my interest up!

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pammerj... to pammerj... 2012/09/02 00:24:30

The biggest pet peeve I have is when they put a new cover on a long released book. They need to let the reader know there is a new cover. Have bought books, even after reading some of it at the store, only to discover I have read it already.

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_Ganjaa 2012/09/02 00:04:59

No

I read the back

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MoonTroll 2012/09/01 23:49:25

Yes

Partly, yes. I also judge a book by the first few pages and the blurb.

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GoreGirl 2012/09/01 23:48:50

No

I judge by the random page i flip to in the middle...if that sucks I don't bother.

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WWZ Captain 2012/09/01 23:44:35
Molly Taylor 2012/09/01 23:36:24

Yes

I do. I've seen a super cool book cover before, and I picked up the book, checked it out, and barely kept my head up while reading it. One of my favorite books that I have is just a plain red cover, which is astonishing. In all honesty, cool cover art will first catch my eye, and then the story when I read it...

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Sweet Insanity 2012/09/01 23:20:08

Yes

+1
I don't read much so when i see a creative cover it sparks my interest.

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kelly to Sweet I... 2012/09/07 15:39:50

+1
i might help you to find a book you might like!

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kelly to Sweet I... 2012/09/11 18:30:52

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Sweet I... to kelly 2012/09/12 02:52:09

+1

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kelly to Sweet I... 2012/09/18 15:19:34

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TheBorg 2012/09/01 23:15:55

No

The vast majority of my books are IT books and my determination on whether or not to buy them is based on reviews.

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Max7 2012/09/01 23:02:56

No

In order to know what a book is about, you have to read the book, you have to go within the writing, to know a person, you have to go within, you cannot judge a book by its cover.

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Laoz496 2012/09/01 23:00:42

Yes

OF course. That is why there's a cover on the first place.

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Red 2012/09/01 22:44:41
Elizabeth 2012/09/01 21:03:56

Yes

usually when the cover is good, the book is good.

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mckayla 2012/09/01 21:02:43

Yes

And what it says on the back.. I guess that kinda counts as the cover though. :o

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..tisha... 2012/09/01 21:01:21

Yes

+1
Because a big part of publishing is making the novel appealing to a potential reader, and unless the book is really old and outdated, then I do put a degree of thought into the overall design of the book. If the illustration/cover is unappealing- it jumps to the conclusion that the author who 'ok'd' the design is mediocre as well.

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Omni to ..tisha... 2012/09/01 21:48:55

Wow...

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..tisha... to Omni 2012/09/01 22:19:21

+1
Being a graphic designer I put a lot of emphasis on design- if a book cover design is terrible then no matter how good the story is, it's still going to be subjected to bias. Its Harsh but it's the truth...if you can look at a book beyond it's cover then that's great- but when it comes to selling something, the cover does matter to a product.

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Okie Lady 2012/09/01 20:49:18

No

I voted no, and that's usually true, but the cover often draws me to look more closely at the book. Some covers, of course, are just off putting, so I usually don't pay as much attention to them as to the ones that speak to me.

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GothicaVende††aSquiggles\(#... 2012/09/01 20:10:38

Yes

$GothicaVende††aSquiggles\(#_#)/$

...the cover is what the book is about. So...yeah.

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Omni to Gothica... 2012/09/01 21:48:35

No.

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Gothica... to Omni 2012/09/01 21:50:39

$GothicaVende††aSquiggles\(#_#)/$

Yes. :)

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Omni to Gothica... 2012/09/01 21:51:23

The cover is not indicative on what the book is about. I don't remember ever seeing apples in Twilight.

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Gothica... to Omni 2012/09/01 22:02:12

$GothicaVende††aSquiggles\(#_#)/$

Maybe so. But all the books I've read sorta gave clues to the book's story.

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Missile 2012/09/01 20:04:59

No

No, by what it's about usually.

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Omni 2012/09/01 19:51:50 (edited)