Do Ebooks Need Book Covers?

I, for one, get so excited when I get a new book cover. It's like Christmas. The other day I read where someone wondered why ebooks needed covers and suggested they do away with them altogether. (gasp, the horror of it all)

What would you think if you saw this image on a book cover? Old house, spooky, ghost story maybe? Contemporary about a couple fixing up a house and falling in love? The title has a lot to do with what our minds assume as well, but without the image, it would prove to be more than difficult. They went on to say that the covers for print books are to pull readers in or 'hook' them. Well I believe they do the same thing for ebooks. I can't imagine any type of book without a cover. If you find a print book without a cover it means it's a 'dead' book that has been supposedly destroyed and no one made money from that copy, not the author or the publisher. Now I have an image of all of these 'dead' ebooks lurking in my head- not pretty! Authors, cover artists and publishers spend many hours dreaming and implementing book covers. I've seen covers make or break book sales. I received a cover once that didn't have anything to do with my story. Luckily my publisher agreed and had them change it for me. When I see a coming soon book cover I anticipate what the cover will look like. I know when I find a print cover I like, it usually gets me to buy the book. Now, looking from the other side of the coin. I do know a few epublishers who agree with this theory. Torquere Press does not create covers for all of it's sips or short stories. They have a standard cover that is used over and over again, no people or objects that related to that specific story, but something that identifies it as a short with that publisher. I know another publisher, Logical-Lust, that uses a real picture of the author as the cover for shorts. All they have to do is add the title and author's name, very economical. I actually kind of like that idea as an author and a reader. I have one publisher who creates book covers, but then doesn't include them on the actual book that you buy. It was sort of a disappointment to me when I opened the first book, so I can't imagine not having one at all. Would you rather buy a book, possibly a bit cheaper, with no cover at all? (And I'm addressing print and ebooks alike here) Does the next wave of the future exist with no book covers?