That title is just so… odd. Taking the time to add a specific town and then just lazily adding the ZIP CODE abbreviation instead of the state’s name. Weird
As for the photos- they are awful. Floating slacker-dude looks like he’s getting ready to pee on the glowing little boy. And why isn’t the boy crying for his missing feet? This cover has a creepy feel, not a sweet romance feel. Fail.
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Second that. Even use of the old postal abbreviation state code for Missouri (“Mo” cap-lc) would not be appropriate in a book title. But the two letter introduced with the five number ZIP code in 1963 is not only inappropriate, it is anachronistic for a “Historical Romance”.
This cover is part of an epidemic: in the lousy book covers that appear here, in 19th century America, cowboys wore late 20th century rodeo clothes, trains were pulled by diesel locomotives, women wore 1980s cocktail dresses, and town names used ZIP postal codes for states.
Like many other lousy book covers, this would have been a good mock-up to send to a cover artist to do a professional cover without the cut’n’paste look.
If one were to take the jpeg and mock up a replacement cover, should one go with Two Lonely Hearts in Warsaw, Missouri
or Two Lonely Hearts in Warsaw, MO 65355?
The perspective for the older guy is a little off here. Specifically, I sang the theme song for “The Greatest American Hero” when I saw it. As in, “Believe it or not, I’m walking on air….”
The kid is too washed out, and the older guy is too dark/shadowed.
Basically, there are a lot of Photoshop mistakes here. The layout is otherwise decent.
![cover[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cover1105.jpg)
That title is just so… odd. Taking the time to add a specific town and then just lazily adding the ZIP CODE abbreviation instead of the state’s name. Weird
As for the photos- they are awful. Floating slacker-dude looks like he’s getting ready to pee on the glowing little boy. And why isn’t the boy crying for his missing feet? This cover has a creepy feel, not a sweet romance feel. Fail.
Second that. Even use of the old postal abbreviation state code for Missouri (“Mo” cap-lc) would not be appropriate in a book title. But the two letter introduced with the five number ZIP code in 1963 is not only inappropriate, it is anachronistic for a “Historical Romance”.
This cover is part of an epidemic: in the lousy book covers that appear here, in 19th century America, cowboys wore late 20th century rodeo clothes, trains were pulled by diesel locomotives, women wore 1980s cocktail dresses, and town names used ZIP postal codes for states.
Like many other lousy book covers, this would have been a good mock-up to send to a cover artist to do a professional cover without the cut’n’paste look.
If one were to take the jpeg and mock up a replacement cover, should one go with
Two Lonely Hearts in Warsaw, Missouri
or
Two Lonely Hearts in Warsaw, MO 65355?
I think you should either spell it out or cut the title to just Two Lonely Hearts.
The perspective for the older guy is a little off here. Specifically, I sang the theme song for “The Greatest American Hero” when I saw it. As in, “Believe it or not, I’m walking on air….”
The kid is too washed out, and the older guy is too dark/shadowed.
Basically, there are a lot of Photoshop mistakes here. The layout is otherwise decent.
Oops. Feel free to delete this dup. I tried to cancel posting when I saw the typo, but I guess I didn’t do so soon enough.