Writing.
Warning: 18+, not suitable for work and the faint of heart.
So, I grabbed a few book covers from the Internet, trying to find a few good and bad examples... Some are fake. Some are funny. Some are exemplary cases of bad taste.
Ready? Hold on to your socks, keep the vinegar at hand to wash your eyeballs, because here are twenty-five... interesting book covers...
Background
If you're an (aspiring) author, please carefully consider your choice(s)...
Of course I tried the regular search terms as 'worst covers on kindle' etcetera, but I also browsed Reddit, trawled Amazon, and perused the darker corners of Discord and downloads.
And don't get me wrong. Some covers may be drawn by enthusiastic authors lacking funds, and I admire their spunk. I'm not trying to ridicule or downplay their efforts! It just might be MY taste in artwork that's bad... Decide for yourself.
Many of the offenders predate AI (well, that's something we have to thank AI for then, sparing us the worst cases).
And I admit some entries are more driven by the title or concept, than purely the cover art... As far as there is art.
Also, I'm not trying to ridicule the author or the artist, though, frankly, personally, I do have some reservations. But hey, if it floats your boat, then it floats your boat!
Anyway, here we go...
25. Pregnant
This is where I lost my hope for humanity. "The Purple Alien Prince's Pregnant Captive" is an actual book title.
Again.
"The Purple Alien Prince's Pregnant Captive."
Maybe the cover isn't that bad, but it's the title that does it for me. Perhaps this is what all pregnatlnt women dream of... banging a purple skinned prince?
If you shop on Amazon, you may find a lot of these 'smoldering hunks / alpha male bods' covers, typically fantasy / romance, and aimed at lonely women. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, and don't take my categorization too seriously, if you're a 250 pound fat bloke with a pendant for steamy romance, then you are totally entitled to these books! I'm just looking at covers right now...)
You know, this is what is going to save us from our AI overlords! We'll all buy this series, then throw the books at them, which would result in instant fatal errors on our AI overlords.
Hell, I suffered a fatal error from just the title!
24. Beef sandwich
Just to illustrate the point. There's no bad wolf in there, but hey! TWO ripped guys, and purple hair, that should do it! (And don't you worry, I'll target the Young Male Adult next.)
Look at that! Purple hair! I have to introduce more angels, that'll sell!
Is this sexualization and objectification of men? Projection of dark desires? You betcha! Both male and female readers love their covers...
It's just that many of those covers tend to be somewhat samey samey... look at this:
(click image to enlarge)
23. Unhealthy? Certainly!
Some book titles and covers are outright unhealthy!
"In further irrelevant news, the US Association of Unaligned Chiropractors and Fissure Specialists has decided to request their local libraries to remove certain titles from their catalogs, as the depicted covers may cause long-term harm to the spines of young women."
"One of their spokesmen said, 'We think it is a heavy problem that deserves twice the attention it receives.'"
Is there a link to that? Of course. Google.
Boobs. We want boobs. Big, huge kazonkas.
Is this sexualization and objectification of women? Projection of dark desires? Absolutely! Both male and female readers love their covers... Again.
22. Monster girls
Sex sells, and so you'll find a lot of similar covers, which are.... Well, I'll just show another such image. Boobs and probably underage, that'll do it.
Try Amazon's extensive 'harem' selection.
21. Weed all day
It's hard to tell what drove the artist to make the drawing, or the publisher to pick the image. But yeah, that actually is a real cover from a looooong time ago. It might be quite suitable to the story, I have no idea.
20. The Princess Bride
If you haven't seen the glorious movie The Princess Bride you're not a fantasy fan, and you shouldn't be on this blog. If you did then have a look at the cover of the book:
Don't ask. I guess the editor / publisher / artist actually smoked all the weed the robot didn't finish...
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