It reads a bit like a cross between a survivalist TV show, a castaway story, and a 50’s drive-in sci-fi flick (only not the incredibly specific shrunken-man movie you specified in your knee-jerk trash-talking out of the literally dozens of other shrinking-man movies). The mechanic itself is tempered with a bit of fish-out-of-water humor reminiscent of the old Runaway Ralph and Stuart Little books.
If you actually read it–and you should, it’s good–you’d know. Are you a bad enough dude to overcome your prejudice? Or are you going to brick yourself up behind your first impression and ignore this comment?
Jen
11 years ago
I’d be feeling pretty meek too if I ran into a cat that big.
James F. Brown: No, but it’s a similar premise on a global catastrophe scale.
Jaha Knight: Because it hadn’t been done before and I wanted to do it. Oh, you mean why the cover. Well, it was the best I could do.
Brenda: Exactly. Some groups in the book believe that it is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, while others believe it could be the precursor to an alien invasion or a secret experiment gone awry.
Whatever caused it, we don’t really fare well against our pets.
While that’s true (and I’ve been trying to get him to let me make him a cover for quite a while), it doesn’t give you an excuse to sit here and talk trash about a book you’ve never read, behind the author’s oblivious back. This is petty as hell.
Point #1: We’re not talking about the book we haven’t read, we’re talking about the cover we HAVE seen.
Point #2: Does that mean that you contact the director of every movie you ever see before you offer criticism to your friends? Do you make sure to contact the coach of any sports team before you express an opinion on their performance? Do you message every political candidate with your assessment of their platform before sharing your opinion of them with others? Have you ever seen a piece of fine art which did not impress you, but held your tongue speaking to others around you before you had a chance to discuss your concerns personally with the artist first? Unless your answer to ALL of these questions is “yes,” then I call you out as a hypocrite.
It’s not like we’re invading homes to criticize artwork in private. Once art or design has been published into the marketplace of ideas — especially when that art or design is design to market a product, i.e., to sell the book it represents — then any claims that criticizing that art or design in a forum equally as public is somehow illegitimate or “petty” is beyond juvenile.
When exactly did I say *anything* about the book? When did *anyone* say anything about the book? Because I don’t see anyone talking about it anywhere here.
Thank you for your advice. I am an old hillbilly from the hills of Arkansas, and raising three teenage daughters doesn’t leave much in the budget for pipe dreams. I did everything myself with the exception of editing, which I crowd-sourced, and I am proud of what I was able to accomplish on my own.
Believe me, if you pay someone to make your cover (and you can do it for less than 30 bucks, or as low as 5 bucks, if you look for it), your book will certainly sell more, so you’ll profit more. You should just do it, no excuses.
Or, I don’t know, look for a friend with more talent in design than you, so they can make your covers for free (or almost for free). You probably have one.
That James F. Brown guy is pointing out that the COVER of this book is “ripping off” (or, at the very least, taking its obvious cues from) the poster to the movie The Incredible Shrinking Man:
![cover[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cover180.jpg)
I usually cringe when I see lousy book covers. This one made me laugh. Thanks! I needed that.
So which one of those little guys is Brad?
Ripping off “The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)”?
BTW, the wonderful closing monologue to the movie can be downloaded from YouTube:
youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3iHjGBfT4
Nope.
It reads a bit like a cross between a survivalist TV show, a castaway story, and a 50’s drive-in sci-fi flick (only not the incredibly specific shrunken-man movie you specified in your knee-jerk trash-talking out of the literally dozens of other shrinking-man movies). The mechanic itself is tempered with a bit of fish-out-of-water humor reminiscent of the old Runaway Ralph and Stuart Little books.
If you actually read it–and you should, it’s good–you’d know. Are you a bad enough dude to overcome your prejudice? Or are you going to brick yourself up behind your first impression and ignore this comment?
I’d be feeling pretty meek too if I ran into a cat that big.
Just why?
…shall inherit the earth? Uh, maybe the meek will inherit the cat.
More eeek! than meek!
This is actually a really good book. It reads a bit like a cross between a survivalist TV show, a castaway story, and a 50’s drive-in sci-fi flick.
If everything you didn’t like was a rip-off of something you /do/ like, we’d all be in a world of shit, wouldn’t we?
Thanks for the unsolicited publicity.
To answer the questions posed;
Bruce : I am not in the book, I made it all up.
James F. Brown: No, but it’s a similar premise on a global catastrophe scale.
Jaha Knight: Because it hadn’t been done before and I wanted to do it. Oh, you mean why the cover. Well, it was the best I could do.
Brenda: Exactly. Some groups in the book believe that it is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, while others believe it could be the precursor to an alien invasion or a secret experiment gone awry.
Whatever caused it, we don’t really fare well against our pets.
Thanks again!
Brad
Here’s a thing. You should not do your cover yourself. You should pay someone to do it, so you could have an actually good cover.
While that’s true (and I’ve been trying to get him to let me make him a cover for quite a while), it doesn’t give you an excuse to sit here and talk trash about a book you’ve never read, behind the author’s oblivious back. This is petty as hell.
Point #1: We’re not talking about the book we haven’t read, we’re talking about the cover we HAVE seen.
Point #2: Does that mean that you contact the director of every movie you ever see before you offer criticism to your friends? Do you make sure to contact the coach of any sports team before you express an opinion on their performance? Do you message every political candidate with your assessment of their platform before sharing your opinion of them with others? Have you ever seen a piece of fine art which did not impress you, but held your tongue speaking to others around you before you had a chance to discuss your concerns personally with the artist first? Unless your answer to ALL of these questions is “yes,” then I call you out as a hypocrite.
It’s not like we’re invading homes to criticize artwork in private. Once art or design has been published into the marketplace of ideas — especially when that art or design is design to market a product, i.e., to sell the book it represents — then any claims that criticizing that art or design in a forum equally as public is somehow illegitimate or “petty” is beyond juvenile.
When exactly did I say *anything* about the book? When did *anyone* say anything about the book? Because I don’t see anyone talking about it anywhere here.
Thank you for your advice. I am an old hillbilly from the hills of Arkansas, and raising three teenage daughters doesn’t leave much in the budget for pipe dreams. I did everything myself with the exception of editing, which I crowd-sourced, and I am proud of what I was able to accomplish on my own.
Believe me, if you pay someone to make your cover (and you can do it for less than 30 bucks, or as low as 5 bucks, if you look for it), your book will certainly sell more, so you’ll profit more. You should just do it, no excuses.
Or, I don’t know, look for a friend with more talent in design than you, so they can make your covers for free (or almost for free). You probably have one.
I honestly wish you good luck.
Like that James F. Brown guy up there talking about rip-offs of movies? I wouldn’t go behind your back and call your book a rip-off.
Stick to the cover and leave the premise alone.
That James F. Brown guy is pointing out that the COVER of this book is “ripping off” (or, at the very least, taking its obvious cues from) the poster to the movie The Incredible Shrinking Man: