I came across a New York Times article written back in 2005 about book covers. The article does not talk about lookalikes but rather covers with the EXACT same photo, which apparently has been quite the problem. According to the article, this phenomenon is "the publishing equivalent of arriving at a party wearing the same dress as the hostess." I've never really thought about it like that. It does bring up some interesting issues.....
What do you think?
Pictured here are two examples of duplicate cover photos that are mentioned in the article.
7 comments:
If I were an author, I think I would like for my book to have a unique cover.
I agree, especially since we so often judge a book by its cover (at least at first), even though we probably shouldn't! I'm guessing though that much of the time authors don't have much say in their book covers or at least not first-time novelists who are just starting out. I also read somewhere that a debut author had no say in the title of her book, which did surprise me.
Hmmmm...you do raise an interesting point. Sometimes I'll go through the shelves at my library and pick books up for potential reading based on what the cover is like. I know it's not right, but if a book cover doesn't grab my attention there is less chance that I'll pick it up to read it. If I were an author, I can admit that I would be a little peeved if I had to share my cover art with someone else. I would want something all my own.
Its so funny that you mention this because there have been times in the past where I have seen a book and gone "I could have sworn that I have seen that book before but the title was different". I always assumed that I must have been the one who was wrong but I am happy to know that I am not off my rocker. Must be a tough situation for the authors, especially the new ones who are still trying to find a place in the publishing world.
Ooooh... I love finding these!
Sorry, I know I'm digging back through the archives, but this reminds me that at my local bookstore, I saw a CS Lewis book with almost the exact same cover image as one of the Twilight books... ("Twilight", I guess). You can see it here.
Wow, you're right!! It's so interesting how the same picture can be used for such different genres!
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