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Sometimes, a book cover doesn’t just tell you what’s inside — it screams it in five fonts while hurling mystics, playwrights, and philosophers at your face like a cosmic dodgeball game. The Law of Attention by RJ Spina appears to have decided that subtlety is for the...
Some covers whisper mystery. Some shout adventure. And then there’s Just Being Loki, which kicks down the door, dumps a bag of Photoshop effects on your floor, and yells, “FIGURE IT OUT.” First, our brooding male lead. He stands there, expression locked somewhere...
If microbes really see the world like this, then we owe them an apology — not for our hygiene habits, but for this cover. Imagine Earth as a giant game board populated exclusively by gender-neutral restroom signs, all frozen mid-fall. Hovering above them? Two massive...
Oh, The Self-Affirmation Guide to Feel & Attract Love — a title brimming with positivity, wisdom, and perhaps a dash of cosmic energy. Too bad the cover looks like it was commissioned by a minimalist dating app with a $12 budget and a Canva trial. Let’s start with...
Some book covers whisper wisdom. Some shout enlightenment. And some… shove giant block letters directly over a meditating woman’s head like they’re announcing the lunch special. Nature’s 12 Laws opts for the latter. Let’s start with the serene stock photo — a majestic...
Sometimes a cover transcends bad design and ascends into a higher realm of pure, unfiltered chaos. Apprentice to the Masters is one such spiritual journey — if your definition of "spiritual" involves a snowy field, an elderly Jedi, and a rainbow that looks like it was...
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a motivational seminar, a clip art library, and a 1990s flyer template walk into a bar… this cover is your answer. The Twelve Keys sounds like a profound, life-changing manifesto, but the cover looks like the result of an...
Ah, Living Among Bigfoot — a title that promises mystery, danger, and maybe even a peek into the shadowy world of a legendary creature. What we get instead is a cover that looks like it was ripped from the back of a middle school art project folder. Let’s start with...
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a romance novel cover took a long, luxurious bath in bleach, A Lady’s Lessons by Liza Friend is your answer. The art style is a faint, pastel watercolor wash that whispers “Paris” but screams “printer ran out of ink.” Our...
Every so often, a book cover comes along that makes you squint—not because you can’t read the title, but because your brain is trying to reconcile all the competing visual elements and failing miserably. Quest for the Tymekeyper by David J. Liebeg is exactly that kind...
“Desman” – The Patriotic Collage Nobody Asked For There’s a certain art to the military romantic suspense cover. You want grit. You want tension. You want a hero who looks like he could dismantle a bomb with one hand while holding a baby and a coffee in the other....
“Devilishly Misguided: A Cover That’s a Sin Against Design” Let’s begin with a question: what happens when you mix a lunar screensaver, flat-pack anime romance, and a love story with the emotional depth of a tax return? You get Devil’s Heir: Book II by Rea Reyes—a...
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.”