How to tell someone the cover of his/her book is AWFUL

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 05:35 PM

What is the best way to tell someone that the cover of his/her self-published eBook is dreadfully awful? Someone recently posted about a self-published eBook at Amazon and the cover was so awful, that I was unable to read the description. I had to close the tab in Firefox so I would not be seeing that cover.

eschwartz · 01-19-2016, 05:39 PM

"I'm sorry, but I think you need a new cover -- the current one is awful. I literally could not bear to leave the browser tab open long enough to read the description."

Why beat around the bush? If you feel you must distribute your advice at all, that is...

...

Seems to me the only issue is how to be polite about it. And I'm sure there are better politeness experts outside MR -- possibly on the political boards.

Cinisajoy · 01-19-2016, 05:40 PM

Did the author ask for an opinion?
Jon, there is no nice way to say your cover smells.
Besides most "authors" wouldn't believe you anyway.

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Did the author ask for an opinion?
Jon, there is no nice way to say your cover smells.
Besides most "authors" wouldn't believe you anyway.

Nope, the author did not ask for an opinion. But did leave a link to the eBook and I think it needs a new cover because the one being used is not good. It's not a cover that says to me to go have a read of the description.

The question is, should I mention the cover or should I leave it be and just ignore it?

Cinisajoy · 01-19-2016, 05:46 PM

Can you share the book title? I want to see this cover. But I won't torture you by asking for a link.

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Can you share the book title? I want to see this cover. But I won't torture you by asking for a link.

I'd rather post a link so if the book is searched for, it won't be found in this thread.

www.amazon.com/dp/B01ATV54PK

Cinisajoy · 01-19-2016, 05:54 PM

That is an awful cover. Oh and that just proved my point. I sampled the book.
You could give an opinion in his thread.

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

That is an awful cover. Oh and that just proved my point. I sampled the book.
You could give an opinion in his thread.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the cover was Home Shopping Network. It's the sort of tacky type of ring they'd sell.

issybird · 01-19-2016, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The question is, should I mention the cover or should I leave it be and just ignore it?

The other question is, are you being cruel to be kind or cruel for your own amusement? It seems as if it's the first, although I suspect mixed motives in at least some cases of unsolicited opinions.

I'd let it go, because it's not worth your time and because it's unlikely to do any good. That said, the rare exception may actually benefit from the input and any author has to develop a reasonably thick skin. The act of putting a work out there opens it to criticism; any published work is fair game.

Cinisajoy · 01-19-2016, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The first thing I thought of when I saw the cover was Home Shopping Network. It's the sort of tacky type of ring they'd sell.

I had to look close to tell it was a ring. It looked like a bad seat at first glance.
Pawn shops don't take HSN rings.

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

The other question is, are you being cruel to be kind or cruel for your own amusement? It seems as if it's the first, although I suspect mixed motives in at least some cases of unsolicited opinions.

I'd let it go, because it's not worth your time and because it's unlikely to do any good. That said, the rare exception may actually benefit from the input and any author has to develop a reasonably thick skin. The act of putting a work out there opens it to criticism; any published work is fair game.

I wanted to mention the cover to be helpful. If you are going to advertise a book, at least make the cover good enough so I can get to the description.

Cinisajoy · 01-19-2016, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I wanted to mention the cover to be helpful. If you are going to advertise a book, at least make the cover good enough so I can get to the description.

Hey Jon,
Thanks for helping.
Now the "authors" I can't stand are the ones that ask for opinions then make excuses or call you names when you give an opinion.

eschwartz · 01-19-2016, 06:36 PM

I'm not sure whether the cover or the description is more of a turnoff.

JSWolf · 01-19-2016, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I'm not sure whether the cover or the description is more of a turnoff.

The title is a bit misleading. When I read the title, I thought it was a fantasy book.

I agree that the description is a turnoff.

issybird · 01-19-2016, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The title is a bit misleading. When I read the title, I thought it was a fantasy book.

Agreed. I think the title is a bigger problem than the cover. Fantasy fans aren't the target audience and romance fans would never know it's a romance.

01-19-2016, 05:35 PM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,756 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	How to tell someone the cover of his/her book is AWFUL What is the best way to tell someone that the cover of his/her self-published eBook is dreadfully awful? Someone recently posted about a self-published eBook at Amazon and the cover was so awful, that I was unable to read the description. I had to close the tab in Firefox so I would not be seeing that cover.

01-19-2016, 05:39 PM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	"I'm sorry, but I think you need a new cover -- the current one is awful. I literally could not bear to leave the browser tab open long enough to read the description." Why beat around the bush? If you feel you must distribute your advice at all, that is... ... Seems to me the only issue is how to be polite about it. And I'm sure there are better politeness experts outside MR -- possibly on the political boards. Last edited by eschwartz; 01-19-2016 at 05:43 PM.

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01-19-2016, 05:40 PM	#3
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Did the author ask for an opinion? Jon, there is no nice way to say your cover smells. Besides most "authors" wouldn't believe you anyway.

01-19-2016, 05:46 PM	#5
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Can you share the book title? I want to see this cover. But I won't torture you by asking for a link.

01-19-2016, 05:54 PM	#7
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	That is an awful cover. Oh and that just proved my point. I sampled the book. You could give an opinion in his thread.

01-19-2016, 06:36 PM	#13
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	I'm not sure whether the cover or the description is more of a turnoff.