How important is a cover?

[Lloyd]

I see some fiction do just fine with a poor cover or even no cover, however I think these cases may be heavily dependant on tags. For example, people are much more willing to dig to the bottom of the barrel for smut stories, while the LitRPG really needs a good cover to stand out. I'm curious what other people's experiences are with this.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Cover is important.

 

[Nhatduongg]

Cover is important.

I’m so dead.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I’m so dead.

So am I.

 

[Nhatduongg]

So am I.

I can see you got some nice covers though…

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I can see you got some nice covers though…

I prefer a cover for my new, unreleased story.

 

[Nhatduongg]

I prefer a cover for my new, unreleased story.

Oh okay, I’m also back with drawing ugly ass cover for my new novel.

 

[whitesculptor]

It was only when I placed a good cover in both my works that the views started increasing.
This to say that they're both litrpg style.
Without cover I had max 20-30 readers, then when I placed a cover it reached 120 very fast.
I believe that no matter the type of art, the eyes are the first to consume a share of it.

 

[JayDirex]

I don't write popular tags, so my covers are of utmost importance

 

[lnv]

I see some fiction do just fine with a poor cover or even no cover, however I think these cases may be heavily dependant on tags. For example, people are much more willing to dig to the bottom of the barrel for smut stories, while the LitRPG really needs a good cover to stand out. I'm curious what other people's experiences are with this.

Uhm, don't you need a cover to get on NU and on trending list? So even a crappy cover is better than no cover.

 

[Saileri]

It's always important as visual cues bring people to click on it. With the old cover for BIAW, my trending gained readers were like 30-40, and when I switched to the current cover, the next time I was on trending it got ~140-150 new readers. A cover is nothing else than a bait. At the same time, almost any cover is better than no cover since it already makes the story stand out amongst the sea of stories. And it does partially show that the author cares enough for the story to at least find a suitable image if not commission it.

 

[Kitsura]

Very important

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

I write smut but based more on the story. I learned that one should have a suitable cover before posting any type of story. No matter the tags, no matter anything else.

I mean, someone out there can get lucky and get a good base without a cover. But if you want higher chances to grab attention from the hoards of other stories, then you need something to draw the attention.

I will use myself for example. If the cover doesn't draw me in, I will not read the synopsis, and then I won't read the story. I don't know why I did not realize this before posting my first story. But I was nooblet then. For my second story, I will fix that.

And the more vibrant the colors, the more attention it might draw.

 

[JM_Webb]

Cover is super important. My readership has tripled since replacing the last cover I had.

 

[RavenWolf]

Cover is super important. It represent your book. It is like your clothes which represent you. You don't go out to public wearing potato sack do you? First thing people notice is your clothes and they judge you by how you look. Same is for books. Covers are essential! There is reason why we have saying: "don't judge book by the cover" because almost everyone does this anyway.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

I see some fiction do just fine with a poor cover or even no cover, however I think these cases may be heavily dependant on tags. For example, people are much more willing to dig to the bottom of the barrel for smut stories, while the LitRPG really needs a good cover to stand out. I'm curious what other people's experiences are with this.

In the words of the great Mary Poppins, "a cover is not the book"

But I'm not going to read a book with no cover or stick figures for a cover.

Maybe the title will get my interest, or tags, but otherwise I wont even click on a story with no cover or a shitty cover

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

Covers are what get people to click along with the title. Gotta get that sexy anime girl in your cover(tbh even simple covers work, just don't put shitty drawings unless you're writing satire)

 

[EternalSunset0]

Well, I put the most effort in presentation (covers, glossary character profiles, omake chapters, art) in my series, so I'm going to say yes.

 

[Armored99]

Its pretty important, but 90% of the covers here are edited anime photos. So, anything that isn't that will stand out.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I have a joke cover I got from the forum a few months ago. I'm hoping to upgrade soon, but I'm not even updating my story now, so I'm not sure it matters.