Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Posting Jacket Covers

I thought you might be interested in this conversation over at the Law Library Blog. The topic? When is it OK for a library to post an image of a jacket cover of a book?

Not about blogs, but still, raises some good questions. I've gone back and forth on using images of books. Right now I use them, for a variety of reasons.

What are your thoughts?

4 comments:

Cheryl said...

I think posting the cover of a book on a blog where you're reviewing or talking about the book is important to do. The cover of a book is a big part of what attracts reader attention, and visuals engage a reader, get them interested, especially in this digital age and online when many readers don't want to spend the time with an article. And isn't that what we want--to get readers interested?

Becky said...

I typically try to post the cover along with a review. I think it's fairly standard to do so. Whether the review is seen as commentary or as trying to promote/advertise, I've never thought about it potentially being a bad thing. I think our culture very much judges a book by its cover...and the more visible it is...the better. For example, often when I read blog reviews, I can't quite remember the title or the author. But if I'm browsing at the library (or the store) I can recognize covers. And often that recognition leads me to pick it up.

Mary Lee said...

Very interesting article. Smart commenters. I never gave a thought to the use of thumbnails of the book cover with my reviews. That's just part of the blog review genre: cover image, details about the book's author and illustrator, review.

I'm like Becky, sometimes more likely to remember a book by its cover than by exact title and author.

Karen said...

I've been hesitant to look up the answer to the question of whether it's OK (legal) to post any book images within a blog. I've been posting covers and some inside images (usually one spread, but I'd like to include endpapers too sometimes when they're special).

I think it's useful to both the potential reader / buyer and also to the writer / illustrator / publisher to have their work featured and promoted. So, personally I feel like it's a good thing, and I'm hoping others view it as a win-win as well.