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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 20:05:30 GMT
Some one put a couple of my early covers on there. Some of the comments were not particularly constructive, but more along the lines of comments just for the sake of comments, a bit trollish in fact, as one often gets when people are asked for comments. Although some of the covers on there are not brilliant, I did get the impression that it's the lead in portal to a design service. Some of the covers are not that bad, I have seen far worse from major publishing houses, but some one will find fault with them, no matter how tiny. But, and I know Ron will argue about this, some covers for books that have often sold 10,000s over the years are not all that wonderful, and no, I will not bother with examples, because it is all a matter of opinion, and some opinions will say that if it sold well then it must be because of that cover ... I'm sorry you had to suffer like that, Kevin. I would experience long term trauma if that had happened to me. I might have even changed professions.
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Post by ronmiller on Jul 14, 2020 21:35:48 GMT
Well, admittedly, the comments on Lousy Book Covers are not really meant to be either helpful or constructive--at least not directly (though every cover posted does come with a list of the major things wrong with it). That's really what CoverCritics.com (LBC's sister site) is for. And while most of the contributors to that are working professionals, their advice and help is free and there is never any obligation or pressure to commission anyone. In fact, more often than not the contributors will steer the author to the point where they can re-do their cover successfully on their own.
But I, too, have seen a few covers show up on LBC that I didn't think were either so bad or completely unsalvageable. The most teeth-gritting ones are those that come THIS close and then blow it by doing something silly.
(And, yes, I know that some books with so-so covers have sold zillions of copies but they are really by far the exception so it really does no good to keep bringing them up. There have been godawful books that have become best-seller---such as anything by Dan Brown---but that is not an argument that the quality of a book makes no difference.)
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Jul 16, 2020 0:34:27 GMT
Some one put a couple of my early covers on there. Some of the comments were not particularly constructive, but more along the lines of comments just for the sake of comments, a bit trollish in fact, as one often gets when people are asked for comments. Although some of the covers on there are not brilliant, I did get the impression that it's the lead in portal to a design service. Some of the covers are not that bad, I have seen far worse from major publishing houses, but some one will find fault with them, no matter how tiny. But, and I know Ron will argue about this, some covers for books that have often sold 10,000s over the years are not all that wonderful, and no, I will not bother with examples, because it is all a matter of opinion, and some opinions will say that if it sold well then it must be because of that cover ... I'm sorry you had to suffer like that, Kevin. I would experience long term trauma if that had happened to me. I might have even changed professions. It was not pleasant I have to admit, but that's often the way it goes, one has to laugh at it. But it would have been better if people who knew what they were talking about commented. Most of the comments were about the subject matter, not the design. I did wonder who put them on there, though, because I doubt the site owner scans the planet for every new book out there. There must be millions a week published. Anyway. They were actually out of print books! (Although that does not stop them still being listed all over the place as out of print.)
Ron will be pleased to hear this. I changed the covers on the series of books I have done, to see if it makes a difference to sales. Answer? No! One day I may bother to promote them. Here's one www.amazon.com/Lilium-Saffron-Dewbell-Part-1-ebook/dp/B009O28HHI/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&qid=1594859619&refinements=p_27%3AKevin+Lomas&s=books&sr=1-16&text=Kevin+Lomas
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Jul 16, 2020 0:56:51 GMT
Well, admittedly, the comments on Lousy Book Covers are not really meant to be either helpful or constructive--at least not directly (though every cover posted does come with a list of the major things wrong with it). My ancient covers are still there, and there's no list of anything major or otherwise mentioned. One comment did bother to list what he could actually see (as I said above, many of the comments were about the subject, not the design) which had him questioning what type of story it is. Romance? SF? Fantasy? What age? (The semi-naked fem would be a clue to that!) well, most of my stories are all of those things, which if the back covers were also shown, he could have read exactly what the story is about. One comment mentioned misuse of capitalisation. Err, it's a book cover not an English lesson. One of the comments did not understand perspective. That's really what CoverCritics.com (LBC's sister site) is for. And while most of the contributors to that are working professionals, their advice and help is free and there is never any obligation or pressure to commission anyone. In fact, more often than not the contributors will steer the author to the point where they can re-do their cover successfully on their own. That's fine, if they need it. Some of the covers on there are not that bad. It's a bit like driving your trouble-free car in for an oil change, and the mechanic insisting it needs a new engine.But I, too, have seen a few covers show up on LBC that I didn't think were either so bad or completely unsalvageable. The most teeth-gritting ones are those that come THIS close and then blow it by doing something silly. Indeed. It can be purely a matter of opinion, and linked to a site that makes a living from designing covers, it seems a bit too iffy.(And, yes, I know that some books with so-so covers have sold zillions of copies but they are really by far the exception so it really does no good to keep bringing them up.) I realise you don't see it. But as I keep saying. It's not always the cover that sells a book. Having one banned helps! Or getting free publicity on Oprah. Or in the UK on a book site run by two famous ex-TV presenters. It can also help when the publishers also publish newspapers they can use to promote their latest book. And of course it's a matter of opinion what's an eye catching cover and what is not. It's my opinion that many top selling books' covers are not ...
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Post by ronmiller on Jul 16, 2020 1:36:15 GMT
Love to get a link to the LBC "review" of your cover to see what it was and what was said.
By the way, there is no link to a cover design service on the LBC site. Instead, there is a tab that takes you to a page giving you step by step advice on how to create a DIY book cover.
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Post by ronmiller on Jul 16, 2020 1:49:31 GMT
I'm sorry you had to suffer like that, Kevin. I would experience long term trauma if that had happened to me. I might have even changed professions. It was not pleasant I have to admit, but that's often the way it goes, one has to laugh at it. But it would have been better if people who knew what they were talking about commented. Most of the comments were about the subject matter, not the design. I did wonder who put them on there, though, because I doubt the site owner scans the planet for every new book out there. There must be millions a week published. Anyway. They were actually out of print books! (Although that does not stop them still being listed all over the place as out of print.)
Ron will be pleased to hear this. I changed the covers on the series of books I have done, to see if it makes a difference to sales. Answer? No! One day I may bother to promote them. Here's one www.amazon.com/Lilium-Saffron-Dewbell-Part-1-ebook/dp/B009O28HHI/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&qid=1594859619&refinements=p_27%3AKevin+Lomas&s=books&sr=1-16&text=Kevin+Lomas As I have said endlessly and will probably have to keep on repeating: a good book cover can only get someone to stop and look at a book, just like the label on any product should do. Once it has done that, it's done its job. But it won't get someone to buy the book (just as someone isn't going to buy a can of peas because they think the label is pretty). It is up to what the potential reader discovers about the book once they have stopped and looked at it---what they gather from its blurb, sample pages, etc.---to do that. So all I can think of to say is that if the sales of your book are disappointing perhaps it's not the fault of the cover.
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Post by ronmiller on Jul 16, 2020 13:20:29 GMT
Some one put a couple of my early covers on there. Some of the comments were not particularly constructive, but more along the lines of comments just for the sake of comments, a bit trollish in fact, as one often gets when people are asked for comments. Although some of the covers on there are not brilliant, I did get the impression that it's the lead in portal to a design service. Some of the covers are not that bad, I have seen far worse from major publishing houses, but some one will find fault with them, no matter how tiny. But, and I know Ron will argue about this, some covers for books that have often sold 10,000s over the years are not all that wonderful, and no, I will not bother with examples, because it is all a matter of opinion, and some opinions will say that if it sold well then it must be because of that cover ... I'm sorry you had to suffer like that, Kevin. I would experience long term trauma if that had happened to me. I might have even changed professions. I wouldn't take it quite so hard...no more than I'd take a bad book review...which has happened more often than I care to admit! The thing to do is look at the review and think: Is anything they say correct? If so, what can I do to make my work better in the future? (Or, in the case of a POD book, how can I fix it now so that the next reader will get something better?) Is what the reviewer said completely wrong? Well, then, just ignore them. This is especially true with customer reviews, such as those on Amazon. There are people who seem to believe that they have a duty to find something wrong, no matter what, no matter how trivial. I recall one Amazon reader giving one of my books 1 star because he didn't like the binding. ---- By the way, something Kevin may have missed is that the admin of LBC always includes a list of tags to indicate why a cover made it to the site. Each of these tags, if clicked on, is accompanied by examples. "Bulletin board layout" is what I often call "kitchen sink" design: where the author feels the need to put everything on the cover. "Pixelation" is applied to covers where the art is too low-rez. "Layout woes" means that the visual elements on a cover are misplaced. "False flagging" refers to misleading imagery. "Font boredom" is self-explanatory. There is a long list of tags and these help the author/designer get some idea of why their cover made the site. Something else Kevin may have missed is that there are no links to commercial design services. The author of the site, Nathan Shumate, has a lot of experience creating covers but mostly for his own books or books he has collaborated on. He makes no offer to create covers for anyone else nor provides sources for cover creators. The closest he comes is to urge authors to get professional help whenever possible. LBC's sister site, CoverCritics, does have link where about two dozen designers are listed. It preceded by some good advice: "Design is a discipline requiring as much skill as writing, and just as you shouldn’t expect to bang out a good novel the first time you open Word, you also shouldn’t expect to whip together a good book cover the first time you open PhotoShop."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2020 18:34:47 GMT
I'm sorry you had to suffer like that, Kevin. I would experience long term trauma if that had happened to me. I might have even changed professions. It was not pleasant I have to admit, but that's often the way it goes, one has to laugh at it. But it would have been better if people who knew what they were talking about commented. Most of the comments were about the subject matter, not the design. I did wonder who put them on there, though, because I doubt the site owner scans the planet for every new book out there. There must be millions a week published. Anyway. They were actually out of print books! (Although that does not stop them still being listed all over the place as out of print.)
Ron will be pleased to hear this. I changed the covers on the series of books I have done, to see if it makes a difference to sales. Answer? No! One day I may bother to promote them. Here's one www.amazon.com/Lilium-Saffron-Dewbell-Part-1-ebook/dp/B009O28HHI/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&qid=1594859619&refinements=p_27%3AKevin+Lomas&s=books&sr=1-16&text=Kevin+Lomas I had to scroll to page three to find your response.
You are stronger than I am. A decade I tell you. That's how long it takes me to recover.
It might have been your old friend K who placed your covers there. He signed in with two separate accounts at Amazon and destroyed my newly published children's book. He's gone but his words are still there.
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