If I know and like the author, I don't. If it's an author I don't know, a cover can influence my decision to look closer

Ugh, I really try not to, I swear, but sometimes, a book cover will put me off so much I just can't bring myself to waste money or time on it. I've been pleasantly surprised a few times though, so I always read the synopsis even if the cover is off-putting.. but sometimes a very cheap-looking cover with no obvious effort put into it pretty much reflects the writing a lot of times.

Sometimes I do because I like paranormals,so I just have to look at the picture and I know it's my genre but normally I read the reviews in godreads before I read it.

not really, i prefer by its reviews.. ))

[SFP]

Covers are there to attract your attention so, to some extent, it's hard to avoid them if you're looking at books on a shelf.

Titles in lists also make a difference and I'm likely to dismiss, or explore books with titles that intrigue me, then synopsis and, sometimes, reviews.

[Azhrey]

Nope. I do not judge a book after it's cover. I had series I have read without checking the cover at all, until years later. Mostly what I look at a book is: Author ( Have I heard of him/her, how old he/she is, maybe what other books the author has written), Genre, Title ( the title I don't care so much about it anymore, there are too many book which have similar titles and they completly different) , Hook in the synopsis ( per example I avoid post-apocaliptic stuff like the plague, I don't care how good the book, if it does not have a good hook outside of being zombies, postapocaliptic it's a no-go for me), Part of a series if yes how far along it is ( I don't like series which have just started, if it does not have at least 3 books I usually add it to the list and come back to it in about 18-24 months, cliffhangers are killing me ). Reviews maybe depends on how desperate I am to read something new.

sometimes. seeing how amateur the cover is, i can expect what's coming. not that a proper professional-well-done cover could redeem a bad content. at least the cover is pretty
i did found a few books with ugly covers that later become my favorite tho.

I’d like to think I use the cover of a book to determine the genre of the book ( totally a flawed system I know). I feel like it’s more of an unconscious snap judgement. But yes... I totally judge books by their covers.

A cover attracts my eyes but it makes no difference to my decision on the book.

Take science fiction, for example - 90% of the cover pictures have only a very tenuous relation to the story line; they are there JUST to attract your eye.

Sometimes I do but lots of good books have ugly covers on them

[miastar]

If the subject of the story is right the cover doesn't influence my decision to read it, but sometimes a cover will inspire me to pick up and read a book that I otherwise might not have considered.

By cover as well as by content.

[pony123]

Yes, a good illustration and art work will influence and creep into my overall judgement of the book.

Yes. Sometimes.

Well there is this.. If the paranormal romance cover feature a bare chested bloke in the foreground who clearly takes far too many steroids to have functioning balls, and if there is a wolf in the background where it can easily be ignored - Then I am going to expect a lot more romance than paranormal.