8 Comments

  1. I absolutely hate these “comic” character book covers. I retired 5 yrs ago, got into reading for my zen hour. My favs Christina Dodd, Lisa Kleypas, Kat Martin, Johanna Lindsey. The book covers is what drew my attention. I personally refer back to the cover throughout the read. It brings a face to the name. I connect with the characters. What doesn’t work is a cartoon or these stick people. Another annoyance is when the character depiction on the cover doesn’t match. If he has a patch and a scar, give him one. If she’s blonde with long flowing hair, make sure it’s not a brunette on the cover. It kills the read!
    I believe it’s the woke group that’s encouraged this change because they are “offended” at the supposed submission reference. Then don’t buy the book! Heck I’ll settle for a picture of the castle rather than a childish cartoon. I refuse to read or buy anything with these silly, low budget art, if you want to call it that. Just make sure the picture is accurate or a point and time reference in the book. Keep writing..Thank you.

    1. Thanks for sharing Vanda! It’s really interesting how much cover art is changing and I wonder how far it will swing…

  2. I personally hate them – I think these covers are childish and trivialise the work that the author has spent hours crafting. They arenโ€™t realistic or even appealing. I feel like they are unsophisticated and aimed only at an โ€œtween likeโ€ audience. They are kind of embarrassing. When you read, you transport yourself into the story and the visualisation created with the words are of real people so having a naive โ€œcartoonโ€ on the cover is a big disconnect from the story within the cover. I actively avoid books with these covers – the few I have read have also been โ€œtic tok sensationsโ€ and they were very average an uninspiring – it feels like an overcompensation.

  3. I find that the cartoon/graphic art covers suggest that what’s inside the covers will be fluffy, funny and sweet a la chick lit, whereas a photo or something more realistic suggests something more towards the suspense end of the spectrum. In spite of being told not to judge a book by its cover, we do get an idea of the genre. Guy with gun = romantic suspense; guy with sword = fantasy or medieval; lady in long gown = Regency or Victorian; guy and/or gal plus an animal = shifter romance

    1. I totally agree Megan. I definitely utilize a book cover to give me an idea of what’s inside on the pages.

  4. I fell out of my hobby of reading for a good decade , just purchased myself a kobo to catch up on my series and looking for new things outside of it I find myself seeing all these covers and wondering why its in my romance section.. These are the types of covers I would see as a teen/early 20s and think .. Well I know I don’t want to read that cause thats ment for less mature readers. Something I’d find in a young adult /teen section. As a person who only got into reading at age 12 (now 33) cause of a slightly smutty paranormal romance book their mother picked up at the store for them while grounded these covers just aren’t what I look for in a book and sadly like many I do judge a book by its cover.

    Needless to say I’m definately less likely to bother with a cover that looks like this.

  5. I’m conflicted that this type of covers is a romance trend because my books would fall into “joining the trend”. However, many of my romance books from over decades ago had these covers. Why? Because I love chick lit covers haha, so I didn’t care if it wasn’t the norm, I just want the books I’ve written (another name) to have it and now that it’s a trend… it’s sad. Why did it become a trend? Yes, I want to know too!

    1. I personally love the new trend. I’m actually more apt to pick up a book with an illustration rather than a photo as the cover art. And I find the cutesy graphic art characters more appealing than half-naked men, especially if you are reading in public. They are more discreet. And the covers are cute. On top of that, I find less detailed faces better for imagining the character. Often, when I am reading a novel, the person on the cover does not match the picture in my head. I like the vague suggestion because then the character on the cover is just enough fleshed out to resemble the character but I can fill in all the details. If it is going to be more detailed, I prefer illustrations like the cover art for “The Six Crimson Cranes” by Elizabeth Lim, which is not a romance book, more fantasy adventure with a small hint of a romance, like a grain of sand amount, or The Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn.

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