See the coveted Flying Monkey Awards presented Daily on YouTube!
And see who wins the Flying Monkey Award!
Ladies, gentlemen, and those unbothered by the laws of God and man, we present to you today a cover that finally answers the eternal question: What if cow print lingerie was the only design element a book needed? Heiress to Hucow delivers exactly what it says on the...
Ah, yes. The minimalist self-help cover that whispers, “I didn’t pay a designer, I just spiritually aligned myself with Microsoft Word.” Let’s start with the bold artistic choice: striking out the word “from.” This is not just graphic design — it’s graphic...
Somewhere deep in the halls of Romancelandia, a designer whispered: “What if we just put a shirtless dude glaring at the reader and called it a day?” And thus, August’s Bad Boy Garner was born. This cover is the spiritual equivalent of someone shouting, “Look at my...
Sometimes a book cover whispers. Sometimes it sings. And sometimes, it stands shirtless in the forest at midnight, clutching a toy-sized gargoyle that looks like it came free with a Burger King kids’ meal. Welcome to Serving My Dragon. This is a cover that practically...
Oh, look. Another romance cover featuring a shirtless man who looks like he just wrestled a grizzly, oiled himself up, and decided pants were too mainstream. Marked by the Brooding Mountain Man is the kind of title that makes you wonder if the author just hit...
Ah yes, Stilettos & Whiskey, the romance novel that boldly asks the question: what if law enforcement ditched uniforms, procedure, and dignity — but kept the sheriff’s badge floating like an awkward clip-art sticker? This cover isn’t so much “sexy Western” as it...
There are covers that whisper “dystopia.” There are covers that roar “apocalypse.” And then there’s Day One: Tales of the Scour: Book One, which sort of mutters, “I downloaded three free fonts and a stock sunset, please clap.” Let’s start with the title: “DAY ONE”...
Somewhere out there, in the galaxy of Photoshop folders, exists the original stock photo of this man. He probably never expected his likeness to be cut, pasted, and unceremoniously launched into the vacuum of space like a floating head that missed its Uber to the...
Every so often, a cover comes along that makes you stop, stare, and wonder if you’ve accidentally wandered into the adult coloring book aisle at Walmart instead of the sci-fi/fantasy section. Full Throttle to the Past is that cover. Let’s begin with the obvious: the...
Rom-com covers should sparkle, pop, and maybe even make you laugh before you turn the first page. Not That Sea-rious does none of these things. Instead, it looks like a coloring book page that accidentally wandered into Canva, slapped on some fonts, and called it a...
Some book covers grab you with atmosphere, some with drama, and some with raw emotional tension. And then there are covers like Piper’s Impasse, which grab you with Bigfoot’s dead-eyed stare from the background shrubbery. Let’s break down the lineup. In the front, we...
There’s “epic,” and then there’s “epic AI fever dream that looks like it was storyboarded by a toaster.” The Shixa lands firmly in the second camp. At first glance, this cover is trying so hard to be a Hollywood blockbuster poster you can practically hear the...
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.”