Ready For Some Bad Cover Art?

Just playing around on the internet when I ran across a link for Lousy Book Covers. The following is in no means meant to be mean spirited. If left to my own devices I would create something far worse than anything featured on this site. Also, the guy who runs Lousy Book Covers points out several times that he doesn't condone judging a book by it's cover, and the negative comments that come with that type of attitude.

However, if you click on the link above, you will be hard pressed not to get all judgey. But really it's all in good fun. And maybe the attention they authors get for their covers will translate into readers. After all, not everyone can afford a top notch cover (have you seen how much that can cost?!?!?!).

This Tumblr is dedicated to some of the...interesting choices authors make when designing their book covers. I'm assuming, most, if not all, of the designs featured are from indie authors. And some of them - not being a design person and someone who is easily distracted by the color purple  - I don't think are half bad. A few look like something you might see on a cheap paperback from the seventies or eighties. But most of them...they're just...words can't describe.

The worst offenders seem to fall into four categories:

1. Trying to squeeze every plot point in the book into illustrated form on the cover.
2. They let their 12-year-old design the cover (or perhaps the author is also the designer, and 12-years-old, in which case - Bravo. You have accomplished more than I have).
3. The cover itself isn't so bad, but the text is in 3 different fonts that are colored nearly the same as the background image.
4. Really, really, really, (really), badly photoshopped images.

 Now, a few examples to entice you click on the link above:

This one, I don't hate. It feels like something that I would see in a book store. Except something is seriously wrong with this dude's arm:

 

 

 

Example of the anything goes school of thought:

 

 

I love how this faceless woman is threatening to shoot DNA:

 

 

 I...I might have to read this one: