[empathizer]

Only a few people are doing this, so you can get your digital book cover to stand out by having a GIF border around the book cover.

I will create this graphic for free for anyone interested, in exchange for a testimonial (if you like it) and use of your book cover as a sample (which will result in free publicity for your book).

I will charge for this service if there is a demand for it.

The example below is not great, because I designed the cover myself, but this GIF border should really enhance a professionally designed book cover.

 

[Gessert Books]

Sorry for the bad news, but animated gif is not widely supported for ebooks, and is explicitly unsupported for Kindle books.

 

[empathizer]

Sorry for the bad news, but animated gif is not widely supported for ebooks, and is explicitly unsupported for Kindle books.

These gifs are not to be included in ebooks. They are suppose to be used in social media, emails and on websites.

 

[ASG]

That looks awful! Reminds me of blinking text in the early days of the web. It was all the rage for a while, though everybody hated it. Thankfully, that died out.

 

[empathizer]

That looks awful! Reminds me of blinking text in the early days of the web. It was all the rage for a while, though everybody hated it. Thankfully, that died out.

Yes, it looks like there is not any interest in this idea. Back to the drawing board.

 

[jb1111]

It does catch the eye. But would it induce sales?

 

[travelinged]

Neon signs from the 50s for ebooks! Might work for a retro look.

 

[ImaWriter]

It does catch the eye. But would it induce sales?

It induces a migraine!

OP, no one will even look at the book cover, they're too distracted and appalled.

A good cover will do its job all by it self.

 

[jm2019]

No harm in putting out a concept and seeking feedback--it's the right approach. But I second some other opinions---this brings bad memories of the flashing graphics of terrible websites of a bygone era. But the concept itself--interesting borders to books, maybe there's something there to explore.

 

[ShayneRutherford]

It does catch the eye. But would it induce sales?

I think it's more likely to induce seizures.

 

[ShayneRutherford]

No harm in putting out a concept and seeking feedback--it's the right approach. But I second some other opinions---this brings bad memories of the flashing graphics of terrible websites of a bygone era. But the concept itself--interesting borders to books, maybe there's something there to explore.

Some people create animated covers. Not anything fancy, just a bit of magic swirling, or snow falling, etc. It's eye-catching without being too aggressive.

 

[travelinged]

Some people create animated covers. Not anything fancy, just a bit of magic swirling, or snow falling, etc. It's eye-catching without being too aggressive.

Some of those are rather nice. I've considered it, but it hasn't been high enough on my to-do list.

 

[jb1111]

I think it's more likely to induce seizures.

You serious? The gif in question that the OP posted was a mere example of the concept. Nearly every website has animated graphics in advertisements, including this one.

Now, this sort of thing isn't my cup of tea (personally I find it offputting) but the proof would be in someone using it and noting a definite surge in sales.

 

[ASG]

You serious? The gif in question that the OP posted was a mere example of the concept. Nearly every website has animated graphics in advertisements, including this one.

Now, this sort of thing isn't my cup of tea (personally I find it offputting) but the proof would be in someone using it and noting a definite surge in sales.

There's a difference though between smooth animations (like what Shayne mentioned in her other message), and what we're seeing here. This one's way too in-your-face with the flashy colors. If they were moving any faster, yeah, they could potentially cause seizures in those prone to such things. As is, it just hurts my eyes, heh.

 

[ShayneRutherford]

You serious? The gif in question that the OP posted was a mere example of the concept. Nearly every website has animated graphics in advertisements, including this one.

Now, this sort of thing isn't my cup of tea (personally I find it offputting) but the proof would be in someone using it and noting a definite surge in sales.

Do I think it will cause actual seizures? No, not at the speed it's going. But I find it extremely hard on the eyes, to the point that I want to look away from it immediately. I mean, maybe my eyes are more sensitive to this kind of thing than other people's, but I can't imagine I'm the only one who feels that way. Which is obviously the opposite of what the OP is going for. And I totally get the idea behind showing an example of a concept, but it won't work if you just knock something together and then expect people to imagine how good it's going to look. You have to put the effort in to make it look every bit as good as you want it to be.

 

[Crystal_]

I love animated covers for FB, as I can make great lookalike audiences from "video views." But I want a more subtle animated cover. Way more subtle. Canva has some nice effects.

 

[empathizer]

I have read your feedback, and I would like another go at this. I will try to create subtle animations for book covers. If you are interested, please send me your book cover and I will try to animate it in a more pleasant way. No charge.

 

[raverx]

Less is more. There are ways to animate a cover that enhance the design instead of a in your face animation

 

[unkownwriter]

Stuff like this triggers migraines for me. I can't look at sites with flashing things. This is why I have ad blockers and other things, or just don't go to sites that allow them (my fav TWD site gets almost no visits from me ) I also can't look at those Spiral Betty things crafty people do. Not worth the pain.

At any rate, this is like, super early 90s computer stuff. Does anybody miss that? I sure don't.

 

[jb1111]

Stuff like this triggers migraines for me. I can't look at sites with flashing things. This is why I have ad blockers and other things, or just don't go to sites that allow them (my fav TWD site gets almost no visits from me ) I also can't look at those Spiral Betty things crafty people do. Not worth the pain.

At any rate, this is like, super early 90s computer stuff. Does anybody miss that? I sure don't.

I don't miss it, either, but you know as well as I do that every website is loaded with animated ads for a reason. Apparently the internet advertisement industry doesn't miss it at all.

Some news sites I completely avoid because going there just to read a news story is an adventure in maneuvering through an imitation of 2000s-era virus style pop-ups everywhere, and then you have the video clips that always start automatically, and if you have a medium grade computer, it all just loads it down with tons of garbage, slowing it in the process.

Point is that these sites go heavy on the animation because it probably works -- otherwise, they wouldn't bother. So animated things may have some value in book retail.

Would I want to see a plethora of animated book covers on the Zon or some other retailer? Not really.

But I'll give props to the OP for trying to juice things up for those who may want something that's animated. Hey, some may try it. Indie publishing is a field where one can try various things to gain sales. Some do ads, others don't. Some load their books with backmatter, others not so much. I once read a review where some guy was complaining that the book he'd just read had so many 'ads' (i.e.so much back matter) that he felt he was paying for the author's advertising. But the author probably put that much backmatter in their books because it works.