Cover Art & Story Popularity

[blue98]

Curious how cover art plays into people's reading decisions. (I always like playing with min-maxing read stats when I'm new to a site.)

As a reader are you more likely to click on something with a drawn art cover? More realistic photo cover? Words on cover cover? Regular scribble hub cover? Don't really care about the cover? Will a bad cover drive you away, but a good cover doesn't pull you in?

And for authors, have you noticed a trend about which of your stories are/aren't popular based on any cover trends? Or is it really more a meritocracy where story themes and tags play the larger role in stats?

 

[Mihou]

I mean, there was that one ScribbleHub story which had a borderline NSFW cover art and it gained over 100ish readers in one day... so cover really matters a lot despite the many people saying "Covers don't matter, the story does". If you can, then you can try making a cover that attracts people, there's no harm in doing so.

something with a drawn art cover? More realistic photo cover? Words on cover cover? Regular scribble hub cover? Don't really care about the cover? Will a bad cover drive you away, but a good cover doesn't pull you in?

I will admit, a good cover will definitely pull me into a story but bad covers definitely won't drive me away, rather bad covers pulls my curiosity in.

 

[AliceShiki]

If your story has no cover, I don't even click it.

As for what exactly draws me in? I'm not sure in all honesty, I just need to like the cover... Though I guess my preference is for anime-style covers. In particular cute stuff.

 

[BloodyLycoris]

I would say for me it is 70% title and 30% cover for the novel.
Regarding what type of covers it may be hand drawn or realistic covers... As long as cover are appealing to me I will definitely click on the novel to know about the description and genre.
Then decide to read them if they are to my liking.

 

[SourDaiDai]

I'ma sucker for a cover.

If I see that waterfall thing (No cover) I ain't even gonna click it!

If the cover sucks, I'll still give it a chance, just don't change the cover too much because I don't really pay attention to the title.
I don't really care what style the cover's in, just as long as it's visually appealing. Ah, but please don't just to a cleavage shot, I ain't about that.

Spoiler: Personal preferences : Just me yapping:

With covers, try not to make the character just standing there...especially in a blank void. Nah Nah. I personally enjoy colours but it really matters about the type of atmosphere/tone you're trying to set up. The poses also help.
TIP : Do a silhouette [to help make a more clear pose]
Keep in mind that most people are going to see the mini version, also apparently there's a night mode???? Help???
Try to make it clear what's going on, please.

And remember, even if your cover sucks, at least you didn't steal it!

 

[Moonpearl]

I honestly think that I pay more attention to the title than the cover. Even if a cover puts me off to begin with, I'll reconsider based on the title.

However, I have to say that I'm kind of put off by stories that just take an image from the internet and use it without any changes. Even if the original image is pretty, the lack of effort put into the cover makes me think I'm dealing with a low-effort story.
(I've been fooled by some that manage to use these well enough that they look commissioned, of course. It's pretty rare, though.)

That said, I'll click anything with a cover that promises me elements that I'll like. Dragons, fairies, yuri... Covers that say something about their story trump everything else.

And I do click cover-less stories over stories with bad covers. But a lack of cover won't deter me at all.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Something eye-catching would probably attract more viewers. I think, or humanoids at least, attract viewers the most. Especially lewd or weird (in a cool way) covers

 

[NCKZMA]

Cover and Title attract users to visit your synopsis, good synopsis attract the user to read your first few chapters, and an impactful first few chapters will make people want to read more of your story.

 

[AliceShiki]

also apparently there's a night mode???? Help???

To access the Night Mode on Scribbly, click on your username/avatar and a drop down menu will appear. In this menu, there should be a box saying Theme and Default. Click the "Default" thingy and a pop up should appear with two options, Default and Dark. Click on Dark and you'll be on Night Mode.

To access Night Mode on the forums, scroll down to the bottom of the page. In the bottom left corner you should find a "Default Style" option. Click it and you'll get a pop up allowing you to change to Default Dark.

I hope this helps~

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Curious how cover art plays into people's reading decisions. (I always like playing with min-maxing read stats when I'm new to a site.)

As a reader are you more likely to click on something with a drawn art cover? More realistic photo cover? Words on cover cover? Regular scribble hub cover? Don't really care about the cover? Will a bad cover drive you away, but a good cover doesn't pull you in?

And for authors, have you noticed a trend about which of your stories are/aren't popular based on any cover trends? Or is it really more a meritocracy where story themes and tags play the larger role in stats?

If it has hot women , i click.

 

[DDTStudios]

I seriously cannot write a good synopsis without spoiling anything. So yeah I have to compensate for it with my cover image which is just a city scape. I'm okay with some lewd pics but overall, I prefer not to use them especially when there is no lewd scenes or ecchi in my novel.

 

[BenJepheneT]

If it has hot women , i click.

Simple and straightforward

 

[Chaos_Sinner777]

I haven't tried posting a story without any cover art, but there was a fair difference between how much attention my two stories got with their first chapters, perhaps due to the difference in the art I'm using for them now. Demon kitty draws more attention than mannequins, I suppose. Though when it comes to what I read, I look at the cover art, then the name. Even if a story doesn't have a cover, if the name is interesting I'll probably add it to my read later list.

 

[gaylolis]

i checked whether it's a romance between a man / woman and their airbag

or anything absurd / surreal enough that appeals to me.

 

[JayDirex]

Its better to have an attractive cover because a good cover will get me to click. But it won't get me to stay. Story not interesting, I'm gone. and I've never clicked on a non-cover story. To me that means amateur hour!

 

[K5Rakitan]

I spent my money on chapter illustrations, but maybe I should be using one of those as cover art.

 

[sereminar]

I am a sucker for solid cover art. It's kinda embarasing because like, i know that making/finding free art for the cover is hard and time consuming on the authors part but my brain just goes "pretty picture click!"

Specifically I won't click on a story with what looks like gross sexualization of children, or if it has a man on the cover lol, or if it looks to military/cop. Idk, all i really ever want to read is stories with female leads so...yeah

 

[Maple-Leaf]

I am a sucker for solid cover art. It's kinda embarasing because like, i know that making/finding free art for the cover is hard and time consuming on the authors part but my brain just goes "pretty picture click!"

Right? I feel like a total Face-con except for book covers. I hardly pay attention to titles but if I take a second look and it seems interesting I’ll click to see the summary. I’ve been reading more CN’s recently, which have weirdest covers I’ve ever seen, so I‘ve begun to make my decision to read entirely based on how interesting the summary makes the story seem. Might be just me though.

 

[tiaf]

I am a sucker for solid cover art. It's kinda embarasing because like, i know that making/finding free art for the cover is hard and time consuming on the authors part but my brain just goes "pretty picture click!"

Specifically I won't click on a story with what looks like gross sexualization of children, or if it has a man on the cover lol, or if it looks to military/cop. Idk, all i really ever want to read is stories with female leads so...yeah

No men?? What about animal covers?

 

[sereminar]

No men?? What about animal covers?

NO MEN! Society has moved past the need for cis/straight men writing things. They've had their run, now the rest of us should get a turn being the only ones allowed to write for the next few centuries.