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Well, here it is — a shining example of how to make your fantasy novel look less like an epic saga and more like a high school PowerPoint presentation. The glowing book at the center could have been interesting if it weren’t so obviously a stock photo just dumped onto...
Every once in a while, a cover crosses our desk that makes us stop, squint, and ask: Is this the final version… or did someone accidentally upload the placeholder file? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exiverance: Vine of Valeon, which looks less like a fantasy novel...
Sometimes a cover tries so hard to be serious and dramatic that it loops all the way back around to being unintentionally hilarious. Quicksilver by Callie Hart is exactly that kind of cover. First, let’s talk about the main character. He looks like he’s auditioning...
Some covers whisper mystery, some shout suspense, and then there’s The Whooten State Forest Mystery: Ties That Bind. This one just kind of coughs in the fog and hopes you’ll squint long enough to care. The first crime here is the typography. The title alone eats half...
Ah, Memory Loss. And after seeing this cover, I’m starting to think erasing it from my mind wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Let’s start with the neon blue background — a color choice so loud it could probably be used to guide lost ships back to shore. Then, floating at...
Ahoy, sailors of design disaster — today we’re cracking open a bottle of pure cover chaos: Rum 101 for Dummies Like Me. And trust me, this thing looks less like a book and more like a souvenir coaster you’d pick up in a Caribbean dive bar after one too many. At first...
Today’s contestant in the Hall of Horrors is The Dance by Kaye Spencer — and let me tell you, this one two-steps right off the dance floor into disaster. At first glance, it’s clear the designer had commitment issues. Instead of choosing a single unifying image, they...
If silence was the goal, this cover nailed it — because no one will hear about this book once they scroll past the limp design. Let’s start with the font crimes. The title is in one style, the subtitle in another, and the author name in yet another. None of them work...
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...
When you name your book A Bold Bargain, I don’t think anyone expected the bargain to be with the gods of graphic design — and let’s just say, they shortchanged you. Front and center, we have what appears to be a wolf pup… or maybe a plush toy… or maybe a taxidermy...
Welcome to Dungeon Farm, the only place where cows, crops, and cleavage all battle for narrative dominance. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a demon girl cosplayer wandered onto the set of Little House on the Prairie, wonder no more — the cover delivers...
Every once in a while, a book cover comes along that makes you stop and ask, “Wait… is this the final draft?” Exiverance: Vine of Valeon is one of those covers. It’s less “professional book design” and more “student project abandoned halfway through because the Wi-Fi...
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.”