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You can almost hear the dramatic synth music swelling in the background when you look at Clouded Thoughts III. What promises to be a contemplative collection of poetry has instead walked straight out of a vaporwave weather simulator powered by mid-tier AI. It’s not so...
If you've ever wondered what would happen if a vintage postcard collection got into a bar fight with a public domain clipart folder, behold the chaos that is The Rover: Early Adventures of Charles “Doc” Noble. This cover is a rootin’-tootin’ rodeo of graphic design...
Gather 'round, seekers of enlightenment and misplaced design choices, because The Cosmic Heart Collection: AI and I has descended from the astral plane—or possibly a stock photo site—and it’s here to align your chakras with Microsoft Word’s default settings. Let’s...
Tropical? Check. Reverse harem? Check. Graphic design? Nope. What we have here is a romantic comedy cover that looks like it was cobbled together during a layover in Canva hell. My Ex-Fiancé’s Best Men is a spicy contemporary romance, but the cover screams "graphic...
This cover is less The Oath and more The Anatomical Atrocity. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a fantasy romance gets shoved through a blender set to “clip art collision,” look no further. Let’s start with the dynamic duo front and center. The rider in back...
Hearts in Orbit dares to ask the question: what if a tree had a meltdown in space? The result is this fever dream of a book cover, where an interstellar willow weeps into the void, and design coherence floats just out of reach. Let’s address the big, leafy elephant in...
If this is drawing for gold, I can only assume the competition was judged by blindfolded squirrels. Welcome to a cover that takes aim — and misses the target, the point, and possibly the genre. Let’s start with the obvious. Our heroic archer stands confidently before...
Some book covers whisper elegance. Others shout their genre from rooftops. The Power of Paradox doesn’t whisper or shout — it mumbles inspirational clichés into a beige void while pointing awkwardly at a stock yin-yang symbol. This cover looks like someone discovered...
Ah yes, The Littlest Eye, brought to you by the fine folks at Graphic Design Is My Passion Publishing. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a ransom note and a postcard from 1973 have a lovechild, this cover is your answer. Let’s start with the font—clearly...
Welcome to this week’s entry in “Glow Stick Disasters in Space,” starring a cover that asks: What if a radioactive butterfly crash-landed in a cyberpunk nightclub and then forgot why it was there? Behold: Expedition, Volume 5 of The Valmoran Chronicles. What does it...
Imagine grabbing a stack of clip art from a '90s educational CD-ROM, dumping it onto a beach, and calling it a mystery novel. Congratulations, you've just recreated the cover of Booking a Killer Wave. If this cover were a surfing competition, it wiped out before it...
Some covers whisper pain. This one scream-cries it with three fonts, a murdery glow effect, and what looks like a coffee stain splashed onto the emotional climax. Welcome to the visual therapy session no one asked for: My Pain Is My Identity, where font selection is...
A Note to Authors Featured Here
The purpose of Horrible Covers is not only to critique but also to highlight how much cover design matters to a book’s success. Many authors set out with the best intentions but end up with covers that don’t reflect the quality of their writing — sometimes because they tried to do it themselves, sometimes because they relied on someone who wasn’t a professional cover designer.
We understand how frustrating that can be.
Our aim is simple: to help writers put their best work forward with cover art that does justice to the story inside. If you’ve been featured here and are ready to level up your presentation, reach out through our contact form and mention “Horrible Covers Author.”