I miss not getting any more book covers with my Kindle books. There is something about holding a book for a few hours, or days, while reading it, and getting used to the cover art. While the publishers still make cover art for books, since most books still come out in hardcopy, that will doubtless change.

Come to think of it, how many books have I bought for their cover? Very, very many. At least that’s gone now since I buy my books on the Kindle. The cover art is not the triggering factor for the purchase anymore. It’s the reviews and the sample that help me with the purchase decision.

The change in buying behavior based on cover art may be similar with the music album cover transition. I am old enough that when I first bought music, there were only vinyl records. I still have several boxes of those that were my favorites at the time. There was something special about those album covers. Who does not have Tapestry by Carole King and who cannot picture it (provided being old enough)? When CD’s came out, the much smaller pictures of the albums were not quite the same. I don’t even look at the displays on the iPod, of course. They might as well not bother anymore.

But back to books. I always got a kick out of the terribly hokey science fiction cover art of the classic age (1940 – 1970). There is an example in the post below for Seeds of Light, and there is another one here:

The cover and illustrations are by Jack Gaughan. Seriously, check out the red shining eyes.

I have issues with very hokey cover art, like this, but perhaps it’s because I am not a teenager, or because I am an artist.

Cover art for classic science fiction is as hokey as it gets. Check out my friend’s site Science Fiction Ruminations which specializes in classic science fiction and its cover art. I have learned a lot from Joachim, and I have read several books based on his recommendations. He is a treasure trove of resources on science fiction. And there is a wealth of cover art to check out, so I’ll stop here.

It’s easy to criticize someone else’s work.

What would I paint for Entry to Elsewhen? So I hold my peace.