In the last couple of months I've noticed more book covers are starting to look alike. I wonder when they are choosing the photo from the art stock pile if they take a moment to research if someone else is using it. Then it makes me wonder how the author feels when they notice that they share the picture with another author's book. So I decided I would post some here, Ill post one book I've read or know and one book I've never heard about.
Die for Me by Amy Plum
None of My Affair by Fiona O'Brien
Glamour by Louise Bagshawe
12.21.12 By Killian McRae
The Flame Blue Violet by Scarlet Clearwater
Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler
After Midnight by Lynn Viehl
What I Wore to Save the World by Maryrose Wood
Taurus Eyes by Bonnie Hearn Hill
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Havoc by Linda Gayle
Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare
Fury by Elizabeth Miles
Juliet by Anne Fortier
Evermore by Alyson Noel
Selina Penaluna by Jan Pace
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong
Everblue by Brenda Pandos
Sleight by Jennifer Sommersby
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Dark Angel by Eden Maguire
So there you have quite a few, obviously I cant put them all but believe me there are quite a few out there in the book world. What do you all think of all these that I posted???
HA! I can't believe all the books that looks alike!
ReplyDeleteThose are serious copyright issues there!
ReplyDeleteThats so weird. Good spots by you. I think the shadowfever picture is on a book called afterlight too.
ReplyDeleteI don't like that they do it but i realise photoshoots must cost a lot, but they are also having to do a lot of photoshop to get them to look different.
these are probably on ones that dont have a photo shoot and they grab the picture from the same stock place that everyone else grabs from.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think there should be a rule where if one photo of model is used for a book already you can't use it for any others.
ReplyDeleteI've seen t he evermore one used a lot and it really bothered me. I think this is crazy.
The model on the cover of Fury? Yeah...that is a picture taken from a spread in a wedding dress magazine. I know because I loved the entire spread and ripped all the images of that particular model out of the magazine to keep. A different photo of that same model, from the same wedding dress spread was used on the cover of Rachel Cohn's VERY LeFREAK, which you can see here: http://www.amazon.com/Very-LeFreak-Rachel-Cohn/dp/0375850961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312995782&sr=8-1
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought I'd mention that if an image or photo is altered enough, then you can't get into any legal trouble for using it and calling it your own. I forget all the legal and artistic terms behind it, but I'm sure it is easy to find online.
ReplyDeleteDoes make for some rather unoriginal (yet cheap) cover art, doesn't it?
That's crazy! At least if they took different pictures of the model I would understand. Actually just get new people and introduce them to the job haha.
ReplyDeleteBut that really is crazy and interesting. Would be cool to see covers like this every week. I'll have to find more online =D
The Fury image is also on the Czech cover of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which I discovered on this blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this seems to be happening more and more (or maybe I've just finally gotten back into the book world enough to notice it).
It really sucks that this continues to happens especially if authors take their time in picking out a picture to make their book unique only to have the same picture only slightly different on another book. I agree w/ Mariya there should be some kind of rule that if a picture is already used or is being used for a book that the same picture is not to be used even if they just change the eye color.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I always thought that the covers represented the novel or story or even the author a little. I really don't like that there are stock piles and they just get picked. The cover should be 100% meaningful to the book, not just some photo that you think will work.
ReplyDeleteThat's just me though!
WOW. That is crazy! I'm especially shocked that even the books that are published by the big NY publishers still have twin covers. What??
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when everyone works from the same pool of stock photos. Even the big NY publishers use artists that use stock photos- it's easier and cheaper.
ReplyDeleteProblem is everything is being used over and over again. And it doesn't matter if you use a different pool of photos, they all have 90% the same stuff because the artists and photographers upload their stuff to all the stock photo sites.
What happened to original art? It's very rare these days because it is so much more expensive and time consuming for an artist to create something from scratch than someone good with photoshop to create a cover from stock photos.
I've noticed some other ones too. Like I recently saw a cover that looked almost identical to the cover of Eve, except it was darker. They need some new artist or something.. Maybe that's how they're cutting costs, just reuse the same photo over and over. I wonder if the covers that are alike, are by the same publishing company. If they are, then they're only buying rights to one photo/model and reusing it, instead of buying new ones. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI think that what you've posted shows that there is really a market for some new and creative book covers. I've seen some amazing graphic design from some bloggers, maybe they should check into creating book covers. Apparently there's not a lot of options right now.
ReplyDeleteOMG that is crazy! I've sometimes wondered if the images/model were the same, just mirrored but never looked at them side by side to examine them. This is crazy! I think if I was an author I'd be disappointed to see a piece (model, whatever) of my cover on another. ~ Jen @ A Book and a Latte
ReplyDeletethat is absolutely crazy. I have seen a few of those before. I hate that they are so similar.
ReplyDeleteNever noticed that before. Weird!
ReplyDelete~Sherry
Sherry Soule Official Website
Author of the Spellbound Series
This bugs me a lot. Although, I have to admit with the first one, I have read Glamour and have been coveting Die For Me and I never noticed that it was the same girl until I saw it here with None of My Affair in between (which I have never heard of). I guess it is because the covers themselves are so different, which is not the case for a lot of these.
ReplyDeleteThat is insane! I just can't get over it. I would feel so cheated if I were an author!
ReplyDeleteOften the photographer owns the image and can sell it to who he wants many times over. Or he may sell the rights to them so they can sell it to whomever they'd like. Regardless, I think authors should research this.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about other readers. But I remember books by their cover and if a cover is too similar I will assume I've read it before. I probably would miss out on many of these.
Like Alexis @ reflections said. I remember book covers like a movie case... if it's too similar I skip it. Though all of the cover art is beautiful, "standing" next to each other they take some of the mystery and beauty from one another... bummer...
ReplyDeleteYeah I just saw a post on recycling covers. I'm not a fan :( Wow, though, you found a ton!
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one who thought that the girl on Evermore looks like the girl on North of Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about a few of these!
ReplyDeleteThe girl from Die For Me cover and how it's used in the other covers are very different so it's not as bad but some of these are really quite bad!
Amazing! I had no idea covers were being repeated like that. It's almost like all the 'remakes' we are seeing now of old movies and TV shows, Are there no more original ideas out there, folks?
ReplyDelete