As I grow older, my list of known favorites grows as well. At the same time, my free time for reading is shrinking. Thus I find myself taking far fewer chances on unknown authors. However, I definitely do judge a book by the cover. I find myself drawn to covers with lots of detail, rather than ones that are more abstract or are painted with broad strokes. I’m not so grabbed by “beautiful people” covers, but rather by ones that paint an interesting scene telling their own story.

As an e-book publisher, I still consider covers very important. In fact, they may be MORE important. It seems that customers who can’t pick up a physical book to browse through still depend heavily on covers to grab their attention. The main difference is that the customer’s first exposure to those covers are at about 200 pixels wide. That means a lot of detail is lost. Due to my own prejudices, I still call for detailed, painted covers when possible. However, in recognition of the medium, the cover’s subject is limited to a single focal point and large enough to be identifiable even when displayed as a thumbnail.