When covers go bad...

I started this blog after I discovered a particularly funny looking cover on the Amazon Vine program. It kind of made me think about some of the particularly bad cover artwork that I've seen over the years. So I'm going to copy what just about every other blog and their mother has done and do a "bad cover art" post. Some of these covers are awful. Others are merely funny. All of them are "bad" in one way or another, although occasionally I think this might be intentionally done.

I do want to state first and foremost that bad cover art does not automatically mean that the book itself is bad. I've read some books with absolutely awful covers that were fantastic and I've read books with beautiful and immaculate cover art that were absolute stinkers. I also want to say that when authors are working on a budget, what you can get for cover art almost always ends up being on the lower end of the scale. So that disclaimer aside, on with the badness!


1. Tiger's Eye by Barbra Annino. 

  The plot line of this actually sounds pretty good, but I couldn't get past the woman on the cover's lack of a nose. She's like Voldemort's sister or something. 

2. Innocence Lost in the Ice Cream Forest  by John Mansfeld

Is it ice cream or is it brains?

3. From a Drop of Water by various

I honestly can't begin to say what it is about this book cover that just creeps me out.

 

4. The Perils of Skinny-dipping by Julie Sandilands

Skinny-dipping makes her skin fall off the way tequila makes her clothes fall off?

5. Major Mischief by Michelle Kopra

Jean Reno from The Professional and Helen Hunt from As Good as it Gets brings you a love story that transcends time and space!

6. Moment of Truth by Maggie Price

Don't you hate it when you finally get to that point in your relationship where you're ready to give your man a handy in public and then find that he's less than a handful and melts in your hand almost instantly? 

7. Snooogles by Christopher Osman 

OK. I admit it. I'd read the hell out of this book. And then I'd hate myself for how much I loved this cheesy cover.

8. Traveller's Refuge by Anny Cook

I've seen a few photoshops in my time and something tells me that this has been heavily shooped.

9. The Best Dad is a Good Lover by Charlie W Shedd

OK. Now I admit that part of this is based on the title. I mean seriously, this is a WTF title in any time period. I'm posting both covers, but the "bad cover" has to be the second one with the little girl on the cover, which I think was the original one. There's just something about the look of abject fear in her face that makes me want to get a time machine and smack some sense into the person who thought that this title or cover was a good idea.

10. Drivers License for Women by Dr. Frank Stahl

Finally I give you this. Surprisingly it's not a cover for a manual on how to drive a car, but a manual on how to drive your man. Yeah.

If you want more, check out these links:

* Have you judged a book by its cover?
*10 Worst Book Covers In The History Of Literature