Using Others’ Art for Comic/Novel Cover

[VibrantFox]

Something I didn't notice (mainly since I'm guilty of not looking before) but the novels section on Tapas show the covers and the description at the side so even if a cover isn't what immediately grabs a reader there's still the opportunity to have an interesting blurb, no?

Like with all this I'm near tempted to just offer basic covers (photo editing) in exchange for like ink or shoutouts or some ko-fi.

Thinking even more I wonder if people consider bookstores and libraries where all a person has to go on is the appearance of a books spine if they're quickly browsing. The covers is only the addition to that and then what's got the main juice or fuel or whatever would be the back cover which gives the blurb

[Rin_sugarawa]

Just same with me. I would love to read the summary to decide should I read the novel ather than looking at its cover

[RosesnWater]

I think I get this because I’m my mind there are way more users on Wattpad, so if half of Wattpad migrated to tapas, suddenly the original tapas group would be almost a fraction on the site. Not to say its likely to happen, possibly not? But with tapas being as popular as they are (and honestly I like it WAY better than Wattpad in the way it present itself and supports its creators) I could definitely see more people switching given enough time.

[domisotto]

In a library, I would still pull the book off the shelf when i am picking, plus they display Staff picks always with the covers facing the readers. There is really no denying that a cover draws eyes.

Personally, a photo-realistic cover puts me off the book, but my taste is weird. I like colors and drawn stuff. That's why I lean toward doing a cover in Canva. Lol, the very first cover i did for my Wattpad book got 3/10 in a cover rating thread.

[RosesnWater]

Cover art on Wattpad that Never has a credit and is clearly just a cropped image of someone else’s work used to drive me crazy. But For example a REALLY POPULAR well written work that people may or may Have not heard of called “White Stag” originally used an image they did not make. Then the book got really popular and was even published by Wattpad. the original creator of the image didn’t want their drawing used as the cover and told them to cease and desist but by that time the cover had already done a lot of work In making people interested in the story. This is by no means a call out, but if you can see big published authors in the online writing community stealing art without any consequences, it’s telling of how much people don’t care what right artists actually have to their work once they’ve made it available online.

[VibrantFox]

Personally, a photo-realistic cover puts me off the book, but my taste is weird. I like colors and drawn stuff.

And honestly with this I'm the same but I also won't be completely put off by photos or photo realism. Even when browsing comics what's going to hook me the most is the blurb which is why for a time people were sharing and exchanging critiques to improve theirs so that it better represented the story in a catchy but succinct manner. If I had to put it into percents the cover is only about 10% of the rest of the work be it comics or novels (like an elevator pitch)

[RosesnWater]

Yah! The critiques for blurbs thing would be a nice thing to see again!

[domisotto]

There is no universal taste in the loglines either. I groan when I see questions as a part of the summary, particularly the rhetoric ones (what will she chose? Love or career? However would we know?) and don't like quotes. But tons of popular books use them and attract a huge following.

I use a quote instead of logline on Tapas (unlike Wattpad) because people responded enthusiastically to it.

Ideally, everything has to be top-notch. But, as a writer, I have infinite control over my logline, can change it as I see fit, but I have pretty much no control over the cover, unless I use Canva. In the end of the day, a writer is always at a disadvantage where the cover is concerned.

[SignedA]

sorry to jump into the conversation out of the blue, but your last message reminded me of something. In my country, every time a professional novelist is on TV to promote his book, I have noticed that the cover of it is very sober, ranging from a simple photo illustrating the subject of book with a simple text layout and a small photo of the author and his biography or a quote. There are even, if I have observed the publishing houses that have made it their trademark.

[domisotto]

And I applaud that, but the 'gentlemen prefer blondes' rule is in effect. The creative market for writing on the internet is a buyer's market, not the seller's, and HUGELY so.

[SignedA]

yes I understand that on the web there are not the same dynamics as for the library.