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Some covers scream “I am mysterious, edgy, and dangerous.” Wreckless Rules doesn’t scream—it coughs. Because all we really get here is smoke. Endless, shapeless, choking smoke. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if someone designed a book cover entirely with...
Some covers try to be cozy. Some try to be whimsical. The Uncomplicated Café tries so hard to be both that it ends up looking like a Hallmark postcard designed in The Sims. Let’s start with the café itself. Perfect siding, perfect balcony, perfect little sign reading...
Cozy mystery covers are supposed to be warm, inviting, and a little quirky. Turmeric and Turmoil, however, took “quirky” and decided it meant dropping Barbie into Clipart Town and calling it a day. Front and center, we’ve got our heroine—pink dress, black glasses, and...
Some covers stumble into chaos, some drown in clipart—but Velvet Sin is guilty of the worst crime of all: crushing mediocrity. This isn’t a book cover. This is the Photoshop template that romance cover designers pull out when they’re late on a deadline and need to get...
Some covers whisper their themes, some declare them boldly, and some—like Wolf Moon—sprint into Photoshop at midnight, screaming “throw everything in and we’ll sort it out later.” Spoiler: they did not sort it out later. Front and center we’ve got a dog pile of sled...
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if someone designed a book cover entirely in Microsoft Publisher during their lunch break, look no further than Write a Novel in a Year. This isn’t just bad—it’s corporate-training-manual bad. First, let’s take a moment to...
There are covers that underwhelm, and then there’s Writing for Passion, which manages to take the word “passion” and strip it of every ounce of energy, color, and life. This is less “writing on fire” and more “writing in line at the DMV.” Let’s start with the color...
Some covers promise the secrets of the cosmos. This one promises the secrets of a Microsoft PowerPoint template. “The 7 Universal Laws” should feel like a grand cosmic revelation, but instead, it looks like someone Googled “galaxy clip art” and clicked download. The...
Paris. The city of lights. The city of love. The city of… whatever this cover is trying to be. All the Gossip from Paris bills itself as a “royal fashion romance,” but the only thing fashionable here is the boldness it took to approve this design. Front and center...
At first glance, The Princess and Shadows looks like a tasteful, storybook-style fantasy cover. A moody knight, a solemn princess, flowers, a dreamy village—what could go wrong? Answer: everything, the longer you look. This cover is a masterclass in “don’t zoom in.”...
If fantasy covers had a bingo card, A Shadow’s Vendetta would black out the whole board in one go. Hooded rogue with glowing eyes? Check. Dramatic swirling cloak? Check. Snowy barren forest that screams “grim”? Check. Overwrought metallic title font that looks like it...
There are covers that whisper “historical romance,” and then there are covers that scream, “I was assembled in Canva with one free coffee left in my system.” A Victorian Visitor unfortunately falls firmly in the latter camp. The first crime? Floating Head Syndrome....
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.”