This is my favorite lousy book cover, because I get compliments on it and ever have been asked to reproduce it as wall art. Oriental fonts (I’ve done typesetting also) are generally illegible. In this case I used good old reliable Souvenir. The closest use of Orientalesque typefaces should be reserved for Delfin or Presidential. When using Chop Suey fonts, you run the risk of being descriminating. Very touchy about descriminations, being Gay and all that – so I shy away from ethnic stuff. I could have used Characters (Tze), but I’d only have sales in China, where my books are proscribed (I’ve said some things about Human Rights in the Jade Owl series, which willmost likely assure I never set foot in China again. Pity that. I wanted to go back before I hit seventy in a few years).
So this has something to do with China or Asia–the title tells me that. The rest of the cover, the overplay of clashing images and mottled colors, fails utterly to show me what the book is about. It doesn’t sell the story…although it does a great job inducing headache and eye strain.
It’s about war, murder, rape, mayhem, political intrigue, boats, and is the 2nd book in the series of five and is only bought by readers who have read Book I and actually know what the cover means, if they look at the cover at all. A lesson for Lousy cover critics. While the first book in a series can be declared a cover disaster because it doesn’t attract or even repels a reader from purchasing a book, subsequent titles in a series (if they’re not stand-alone) could have picture of a barnyard animal chewing on the Empire State Building and it wouldn’t matter. That’s what I love about serial covers – not Wheaties or Cheerios. They’re designed for me and my readers – those people already walking the path with me. Lesson over. Back to the fun.
And any writer with a wisp of marketing knowledge knows everything you just said is BS. Every cover, whether #1 in a series or #7 is a sales tool that must independently sell itself to readers. This is true if for no other reason than many readers’ first contact with any series could be the first book, the last, or somewhere in the middle.
BTW, I’m a professional editor who has worked in printing, publishing, and marketing. I take this opportunity to inform other readers, writers, and posters here (the few who don’t already know) that your “lesson” is laced with such nonsense I have to say thanks for the laughs! And ask the Goddess to guide others to never take you seriously. ;-P
This Edward guy looks to be a serial offender. I thought at first he lost a bet, but then to find he’s actually defending his crap? Wow…just wow. If it was a bet he lost, it was a big one since every one of his covers has drunk from the poison well.
I’m not defending the covers. They’re lousy by design and I’ve taught dozens of other authors how to go against the traditional cover design. No. I plead guilty and should be taken out and shot. No blindfold please. And who are you calling a guy, dear?
![cover[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cover126.jpg)
This is my favorite lousy book cover, because I get compliments on it and ever have been asked to reproduce it as wall art. Oriental fonts (I’ve done typesetting also) are generally illegible. In this case I used good old reliable Souvenir. The closest use of Orientalesque typefaces should be reserved for Delfin or Presidential. When using Chop Suey fonts, you run the risk of being descriminating. Very touchy about descriminations, being Gay and all that – so I shy away from ethnic stuff. I could have used Characters (Tze), but I’d only have sales in China, where my books are proscribed (I’ve said some things about Human Rights in the Jade Owl series, which willmost likely assure I never set foot in China again. Pity that. I wanted to go back before I hit seventy in a few years).
So this has something to do with China or Asia–the title tells me that. The rest of the cover, the overplay of clashing images and mottled colors, fails utterly to show me what the book is about. It doesn’t sell the story…although it does a great job inducing headache and eye strain.
It’s about war, murder, rape, mayhem, political intrigue, boats, and is the 2nd book in the series of five and is only bought by readers who have read Book I and actually know what the cover means, if they look at the cover at all. A lesson for Lousy cover critics. While the first book in a series can be declared a cover disaster because it doesn’t attract or even repels a reader from purchasing a book, subsequent titles in a series (if they’re not stand-alone) could have picture of a barnyard animal chewing on the Empire State Building and it wouldn’t matter. That’s what I love about serial covers – not Wheaties or Cheerios. They’re designed for me and my readers – those people already walking the path with me. Lesson over. Back to the fun.
PS: The title translates as “Southern Migration,” which I could have used, but that the series is The Southern Swallow – and migration, well . . .
And any writer with a wisp of marketing knowledge knows everything you just said is BS. Every cover, whether #1 in a series or #7 is a sales tool that must independently sell itself to readers. This is true if for no other reason than many readers’ first contact with any series could be the first book, the last, or somewhere in the middle.
BTW, I’m a professional editor who has worked in printing, publishing, and marketing. I take this opportunity to inform other readers, writers, and posters here (the few who don’t already know) that your “lesson” is laced with such nonsense I have to say thanks for the laughs! And ask the Goddess to guide others to never take you seriously. ;-P
This Edward guy looks to be a serial offender. I thought at first he lost a bet, but then to find he’s actually defending his crap? Wow…just wow. If it was a bet he lost, it was a big one since every one of his covers has drunk from the poison well.
I’m not defending the covers. They’re lousy by design and I’ve taught dozens of other authors how to go against the traditional cover design. No. I plead guilty and should be taken out and shot. No blindfold please. And who are you calling a guy, dear?