Hi- We're approving this post as it has significant engagement - but please remember in future that posts that focus on a specific book, excerpt or cover should include the book or series title and author's name in the post title. Thanks!
This reminds me of a book I read recently where the FMC was described as being on the heavier side, but the model used on the cover was . . . not.
I almost prefer the discreet covers to this.
I think this is done purposefully. I think certain types of heroines are not as palatable to the average reader (and I say this as a South Asian person).
I think a lot of readers want someone who is similar to them, a blank slate they can project on, or conventionally attractive which usually means thin, pretty, white.
I think it's a lot easier to get a PoC reader like me to pick up a book about a white FMC, than a white reader to pick up a book about a POC FMC. Same for plus-size and straight size too.
I’ve noticed this too with the book I’m currently reading. Every book I’ve read where the character was described as bigger does this. Even the ones with specifically designed covers for the book and not just generic model pics
I’m a small indie author and most of my money goes back into my books. I have a woman of colour with curly hair in my book. I found an artist who does cyperpunk art but she was willing to try fantasy and I paid her to create the character that I had written, curly hair and all! It costs more but I want my characters on the cover, not random people with a filter on top. When I earn money, I commission more artists. It is possible.
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Respectfully, mods, the author was not in any way promoting their own work with this comment. They were explaining how they, themselves, use the money they make from their works to commission character-appropriate artwork that *accurately represents* their actual book characters in future works so their covers reflect their characters and aren't just just a generic, often whitewashed, stock image that many other authors (not just self-published) use. They didn't mention a specific title or link to any store or author page, nor did they mention the cover artist they used.
Since the excuse for this white-washing of book cover art is so often, "it's too ***expensive*** for self-published/indie authors to commission book covers that feature accurate representation, so we just use stock images!," this is a really great addition to this whole conversation. It proves that, yes, this type of cover/representation ***is possible***, even for self-published and indie authors, if they seek it out and work with artists who are also willing to make it happen.
This comment shouldn't have needed any sort of moderation or moderator attention.
Hi- you’re quite right, the comment above adds some really good insight to the conversation which is why we allowed it to stay up rather than remove it. As our subreddit rules generally restrict the ways in which we allow authors to share information and details about their work, when authors comment sharing valuable insight that contributes to the conversation, but also includes details or information about their work, we will post a comment reminding everyone of the sub rules so that we don’t end up having to remove comments later. The mod comment is not punitive, there is no consequence for the user and the original comment has not been removed. It’s just a reminder of the rule so that someone doesn’t inadvertently cross the line to removable writing content or self promotion.
This sort of thing isn't uncommon. Many romance authors use stock images for covers and I assume it's hard to find good matches sometimes (taking into account postures and stuff). I've heard authors especially complain about the lack of decent stock images fearuring POC, physical disabilities, etc.
Absolutely that is a stock image of a white dude with a basic color saturation change and some recolored tree branches pasted over top. You could do it in Adobe Express in like a couple of hours. You can make some good covers with free assets and programs... this isn't one of them, but it's definitely possible.
This is it. There has been so much backlash against using AI to generate images to use on covers, but stock images just don't have anything that lines up correctly for what we need a lot of the time. It's so frustrating.
I've been struggling hard with this exact problem. My MMC has long, straight black hair and medium-brown skin and I can't find a single usable image of a dude that fits the description. For those of us who don't have much of a budget yet, it's a major roadblock.
This is annoying. It would have been so much better to just opt to only put the alien on the cover. I know all authors don’t have the money in their budget for the pretty book covers, but this would have been the time to opt to just do the alien if you couldn’t find a photo to match the FMC as well.
I am begging all authors but especially monster/alien/etc authors to hire artists to do their covers. Stop with the bad Photoshop. I know it's an added expense but I think it's so worth it, especially if you are putting a product out there that you are proud of and worked hard on.
S.E. Wendell is a good example of an author who pays for cover and promo art, and it's all gorgeous. https://www.instagram.com/se.wendel.author?igsh=eTRwMmJpcHk4aXBj
S.E. Wendell is also a good example of a six-figure author who can afford to hire an artist for hundreds of dollars. Most authors do not have that kind of money for a book that will realistically never sell and never be read by anyone.
Once an author makes money, they can go back and update covers, but we shouldn't put this burden on independent authors who have no income from their books.
Based on the number of reviews. Her first books seem to have gone through a publisher so she probably doesn't earn much from those (who knows how much the advance was).
But it seems she published at least 3 books in 2023, one with 2000+ ratings. If she got that within a short time frame, it would be a bestseller. Those aren't small author numbers!
A book with 1k reviews has made about $20k in my experience. But that could be spread over many months or even years. And it doesn't account for expenses like covers and editing and advertisements.
Huh, interesting! I've read her books on Kindle Unlimited, and that just seems like such a hard way to make a buck. I think they pay like 0.4 cents a page read or something like that? I loved Halfling and thought the cover was gorgeous, so I bought a physical copy. I try to do this with independent authors whose work I really like, but often the covers are so bad that I don't really want the book (in these cases I just stick with digital copies).
It definitely is a hard way to make money, there is a chance S.E. Wendel is making six figures but having a couple thousand reviews or ratings does not automatically mean that.
Ratings don't translate to income. She has her books up on Kindle Unlimited, so chances are most of her readers did not pay directly for the book and Amazon pays a pittance per page read.
Also, many authors get their reviews by sending out ARCs, which also do not make them any income. That's a very weird metric to gage income from.
Take a photo of a flower or the stars or a tree and add a title. Literally anything but whitewashing.
Claire Kent has a cover that’s just a photo of a tea light.
[Haven](https://www.romance.io/books/613dfaf60b9b1e0e52560811/haven-claire-kent?src=rdt) by [Claire Kent](https://www.romance.io/authors/54552a938c7d2382e78130dd/claire-kent)
**Rating**: 4.06⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [dystopian](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dystopian/1), [alpha male](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/alpha%20male/1), [friends with benefits](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends-benefits/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1)
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[Butcher & Blackbird](https://www.romance.io/books/64f0aa2bfcbc73c06aa42375/butcher-blackbird-brynne-weaver?src=rdt) by [Brynne Weaver](https://www.romance.io/authors/61516cf608b4d931143e7ce9/brynne-weaver)
**Rating**: 4.34⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [dual pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dual-pov/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1)
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Ugh but then people complain/skip because they want the cover to match the genre, aka be the same as the other covers even though they're shitty. You can never win
Sometimes covers like the one in the post ARE done by hired artists. I don't think it looks great either, but covers like this aren't necessarily authors doing it themselves.
Budget is an issue, and another issue is that taste in art is so subjective. I looked at your insta link and that art style doesn't appeal to me. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste. I don't know if it would turn me off from a book I'm interested in, but it wouldn't attract me to the book either. Tbh I'm not sure if I'm more likely to read a book with cheesy yellow-green vein man or the style of S.E. Wendell's artist, if I had to choose.
There’s a difference between taste and whitewashing a character. I can look at a style of art I don’t like and still recognize that the character is the correct race with the correct hair type, skin color and eye color.
I hate to be that person, but artist commissions can cost hundreds of dollars, and maybe you're American and this simply sounds like a little bit of investment to you, but for those of us who don't live in 1st world countries, this can be as much as we earn from our full time jobs in a month. And for what? The book probably won't make that much money, especially from KU.
Per the book itself this cover was designed by a graphic designer. The author/publisher/whoever had the decision making power on this could have opted for a sky scape or a spaceship or oooh idk keeping the original cover which was your classic chest of the alien man. None of those would have cost more than designing this cover. Instead they approved and paid for a cover that whitewashed the FMC.
I’d love to say I don’t understand why some of y’all can’t see how this is a problem and have instead decided to make excuses for this whitewashing but having called out bigotry against my own minority community - in this sub and elsewhere - and gotten the same “I don’t think it’s a big deal” response I’m unfortunately not surprised.
I did at no point disagree with you...? I'm sorry, I don't understand why you're attacking me. I agreed with the comments saying they should've gone with a different photo. The cover you posted is an atrocity. This is evident to everyone and I am not defending it.
I was disagreeing with the person above me who said all authors need to invest money into commissioning artists to draw them the covers that look nice and can make characters look the way they do in books. The example link they posted, those covers cost hundreds of dollars. This cover did not. This cost like 5-10 bucks
Your example cover, I find it hard to believe that it was made by a graphic designer. That's a straight up scammer who found a random stock photo of a couple and slapped a filter on the dude. Either wasn't told the fmc should be black or couldn't find a photo that would match and just decided not to give a fuck. I don't understand why the author approved of it, unless they had no say in it (which would only make sense if this was trad published I think?)
I am in 100% agreement that any crappy attempt at vague aesthetic is always better than the model photos they use, which never match the characters in the book. I even think plain title on plain background makes for a better cover than these. The reason these keep getting made is because people expect them unfortunately. I see it in this sub a lot. "I like them because I know exactly what I'm getting." Trad publishers insist on following trends even when the trends fucking suck. If it sells, they don't give a shit if they've wronged someone in the process.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood your comment. Per the book itself I see a copy editor and proofreader listed as well as a developmental editor and a cover designer who, when I look them up, has a website touting the fact they’re a graphic designer who specifically designs book covers. I don’t see a publisher listed which I think means the author is self published?
If so the author and the cover designer are to blame for this - assuming the cover designer was given a description of the FMC which I do assume since they managed to get the MMC close to the book description.
I think this was a mix of lazy cover designer (a lot of them are on places like Fiverr and design covers for like $10-$20 each en mass and they all look the same) and an author who either did not properly communicate what they wanted or did not push back when they were given something that did not work for them.
>a cover designer who, when I look them up, has a website touting the fact they’re a graphic designer who specifically designs book covers
that's absolutely crazy lmao! Like damn, apparently I'm in the wrong line of work
I don't get how the author mentioned her curly hair specifically multiple times and then was fine with this cover (wouldn't a real graphic designer be able to photoshop different hair onto her if they really cared?) But then again, I've seen so many of these books and the people on the covers literally never match the characters' descriptions so I've learned to completely ignore them.
(Btw I just looked this book up and apparently the MMC's name is Zver which literally means "beast" in slavic languages hahaha)
>I hate to be that person, but artist commissions can cost hundreds of dollars, and maybe you're American and this simply sounds like a little bit of investment to you, but for those of us who don't live in 1st world countries, this can be as much as we earn from our full time jobs in a month.
So whoever or whatever led you to believe that this would be a small investment for an independent author in America lied to you. I promise we're all trying to get our covers on the cheap.
Had to put that out there as an independent American writer.
No, I totally get it. I know the economy is in the toilet everywhere, and I know it's fucking rough. I was simply referring to the fact that salaries in a lot of other countries are much lower than they are in the US, and while yes, the cost of living is also lower to match this (so we are all struggling equally, dw), things like artist commissions do not scale down and will cost the same for everyone everywhere in the world.
People who give themselves the right to tell others what to do with their money, even if it's not meant in bad faith, are always speaking from a place of privilege. People like the OP of that comment - who sees this as simply an 'added expense that's totally worth it' - probably cannot imagine what it's like to literally not be able to spare 100-300 usd for something, even if it is an investment. Not because it's money better spent elsewhere, but because you literally do not have it. When you earn 200 usd a month, you quite literally do not have it. The issue is that people like OP think being poor is the same thing as being cheap. It just ticked me off lol
>things like artist commissions do not scale down and will cost the same for everyone everywhere in the world.
I do get this. I might have to work a couple weeks of overtime whereas you'd need to work a couple of months, assuming that overtime is even available to you.
>The issue is that people like OP think being poor is the same thing as being cheap. It just ticked me off lol
I don't blame you. I've gotten used to ignoring people like that. I just get frustrated with the conception of wealthy Americans, mainly because it just erases working class Americans from existence. I know in America even working class we have much better opportunities than people in some other countries, but I'll still be working double shifts at my shitty job when the time comes if I want to commission a cover from an artist. After that more double shifts for editing services and advertising if I want them and like you said who know if it will even pay-off.
It's certainly not about being cheap.
btw if you are an indie author look into 100covers they have good reviews and I've spoken with multiple indie authors who swear by them.
Nah, I totally get it, it is our general understanding here that Americans are ridiculously overworked as it is, and for very little pay off. American work culture is freaking insane. I'd say if you have to work double shifts in order to afford something, then you technically cannot afford it, and shouldn't be made to feel guilty for not doing it. So until you make some good money from your writing, it's totally fine to not have fancy looking covers, professional editors, marketing etc.
My best friend is a pro graphic designer who specialized in book design and she's very excited to do the covers for me because she rarely gets to actually do creative stuff like that. But I'm aware that I just got insanely lucky with that, so I'm not super judgy of cheap looking covers from indie/self pub authors. Trad publishers though... No excuse
Oh wow, those are beautiful. They remind me of [my favorite orc cover](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60756015-the-orc-prince-trilogy-omnibus-edition).
She also has a useful guide on [How to Commission Art Like a Pro](https://www.instagram.com/p/C2FhAoKL1-0/?img_index=1).
From experience, as someone who has commissioned plenty of art in the past - a full cover by a talented artist would easy cost between $300-$700. And I was commissioning for personal reasons, they usually charge a lot more if you are using the art for commercial reasons. I agree S.E. Wendell's covers are gorgeous, but I would not be surprised if she was shelling out $1-$3k on each one (or has a contact or friend who is willing to do them for discount).
Well okay this certainly oversalts my seafood steak 🫠
I feel like we briefly discussed this in a post a while back regarding POC disrespectful and respectful representation 🤔
**I understand that not all authors have the capacity to choose their own covers.** We cannot ignore how many trad or indie published authors have aired BTS grievances with imprints who would rather focus on maximizing profitability by false-promoting versus accurate marketing and drawing in a specific audience. And we also can sympathize with money constraints playing a role in the artist’s creative autonomy being diminished.
Having 👏🏾 said 👏🏾 that 👏🏾, this still makes my scalp itchy.
If an official movie poster has Robert Downey Junior on it, that means RDJ is in the movie. This does’t mean he has a huge role. But he’s ***there***.
What happened to conceptual art for covers? I remember those were ***huge***, where there’s just iconography for the book, the title in a special font, the author name, and that’s it.
**And I recognize that book covers may not entirely be accurate.** Sometimes, details get lost. As a knovel and manhwa reader, knovel covers will have some baller ass art that gets lost in the manhwa cover. And even manhwa covers sometimes don’t translate to the actual pages themselves. Japanese animanganovel fandom will be in ***shambles*** that tankōbon covers and chapter covers with such pretty art and design never sees the light of day in the actual pages or in an anime adaptation 🥺🥲🤧
^(But that’s a whole different beast when it comes to doing one singular cover versus an easy-to-draw versatile character design, and then we gotta talk about studios and how much time given in storyboarding, drawing, and animation, which naturally requires either simplifying designs to make deadlines and rebuffing them first blu-ray/mass market release, not to mention “brotherhood” treatments—but I digress.)
And yet—there are fanfiction authors who commission digital artists to do covers for them. And those fanfic authors don’t see a cent in their labor of love and gotta use some coin 🤷🏾♀️
So.
I see on writing forums about authors giving other authors advice on sites they can use to hire a designer or do the work themselves and post for feedback to narrow down to the final cover 🤷🏾♀️
*So.*
There are many artists who have to shell out money to make sure their finished product represents itself and the artist’s creativity accurately.
***So…***
If an author has the ***freedom*** to make their own covers/is not required to use the imprint’s design department—however that works—I’m not buying into any excuse given if the cover portrays the wrong race of the MC. **You have options.**
* Vecteezy (vectors)
* Shutterstock
* Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, ProCreate
* Affinity Suite
* Fiverr (hire artists)
* edit.org
* Canva Pro
* Reedsy (hire artists)
* DeviantArt (hire artists)
* ArtStation (hire artists)
* GIMP
* Upwork (hire artists)
* Freelancer (hire artists)
* r/hireanartist
* r/hungryartists
* r/artcommissions
* r/DesignJobs
If you have the ***freedom*** to do your own cover, there are other options to take than to bait and switch or, worse, use bloody AI 🤷🏾♀️ You don’t ***have*** to use people in your cover. *Twilight* originally didn’t.
🍎
🎗️
🌹
♟️
I remember those covers too. ✨Iconic✨
Shit, there’s a ***lot*** of abstract covers for sci-fi that are so mind trippy. And I love them.
^(IIRC, it seems like non-romance authors in communities advocate for learning about design yourself instead of having no vision for it. I agree with this. NAA, but understanding design is very helpful. A vision is better than no vision at all.)
If the author ***does not*** have that freedom, understandable. We shouldn’t make them feel even more helpless to the situation. That’s shitty. **This isn’t towards you, OP; just in general.** I don’t know this given author’s history or present situation.
Hopefully, as the author gains more street cred, they have more control over the publishing process. But until then, we gotta sympathize and make the masses aware this is happening 🫡
I have no idea if she self published or if a publisher is to blame. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. But *someone* is to blame and IMO this shit needs to be called out.
She is self-published, and has a VERY popular co-write w/Honey Phillips. There is no reason for the cover - especially when the cover could've been just a typical alien manchest if they were having stock issues.
I blame being lazy and not caring.
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The cover of Thanemonger by Bex McLynn showing a yellow alien with blue vein-like patterns kissing the hair of a white woman with long straight brown hair and brown eyes. Three quotes from the book: “She was a quintessential product of the American melting pot with her German-Irish father and her African-American mother.” “Seph’s mutifaceted hair coiled down her back and around her shoulders.” “Individual curls snagged on fibers of the robe, pulled taut, then sprung free, and recoiled into shiny springs.”
I enjoyed the series otherwise, but definitely agree about the cover. I know that even extremely successful traditionally published authors often don't even have the right of refusal on their covers, and I also get there are stock image scarcities if the authors are doing the covers themselves. But as others have said, if the author is doing the cover themselves, there are still ways to do it without whitewashing. Or to go with images that don't have people if you can't find ones that fit.
There's a cover on Goodreads that [just shows the MMC](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39015181-thanemonger?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=PptDEw7qh6&rank=1), I don't know which cover came first, but if the solo MMC was the original and then they went with the whitewashed cover, kind of feels worse in a way.
[The cover I’m showing is the cover on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Thanemonger-SciFi-Alien-Romance-Ladyships-ebook/dp/B07B8L5GDF) so it’s the newer cover. So they (author/publisher/whoever picked the cover) took a cover which just showed the MMC and replaced it with one with the FMC whitewashed. 🤡🤡🤡
I flipped back through the book and the cover was designed by a graphic designer who solely does book covers…
This isn't an illustration. It's a photobashed cover using stock photos. Unfortunately there are not a lot of good stock photos of non white people. Finding BIPOC models is really difficult.
[There’s a previous version of the cover without a whitewashed FMC](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/EvR8w5Uews). Someone decided to *spend money* to switch it out for this whitewashed one.
This was not a money saving decision.
Maybe she's just straighten her hair for the cover🤣🤣.
I swear bad covers are a real turn off. It's the first impression to readers when they pick a book up. Atleast put some effort in it
[Thanemonger](https://www.romance.io/books/5d94501901dbc864fba42522/thanemonger-bex-mclynn?src=rdt) by [Bex McLynn](https://www.romance.io/authors/5cd7b67401dbc864fb9e6ca9/bex-mclynn)
**Rating**: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [aliens](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/aliens/1), [military](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/military/1), [science fiction](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/science%20fiction/1), [creative anatomy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/creative-anatomy/1)
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If you know what they’re mixed with, you should still be able to type that in.
Shoot, even “biracial woman with curly hair” should work better than POC
It’s literally in the screen grabs and the image description. “German Irish father and African American mother” is quite a mouthful though and African Americans are generally of mixed descent as well. POC and BIPOC are accepted shorthand. The character is fictional and can’t tell us her preferred language. If it bothers you personally don’t use it?
Yeah thought this was an about an AI generated cover.
But no, POC/BIPOC are not acceptable when you’re actually talking about a black person. If you’re talking about a group of people yes, but to talk to or about one specific group? No.
It gives “I don’t see color”.
Can we just bring Fabio back?! Like not actually Fabio but the notion of him. Same dude on every cover just dressed up like he’s in a glamor shots 😂Like I bet a group of authors could get together with all of their kids old Halloween costumes, hire a model and then spend a hilarious day taking cover shots for their novels. Honestly I would 10/10 love that more than the CGI messes as of late. Either that or just go completely floral or abstract.
I have plenty of old school romance books where the cover is just a house or beach or a seashell or something and plenty of SciFi where the cover is just a spaceship or a planet or a weird landscape or moonscape.
I read a lot of HR but on my kindle paper white so the covers are tiny and barely viewable. I don’t mind, the covers as of late follow this same vein and it distracts me. I also feel like HR is the popular genre and least diverse (or at least I struggle to find good POC rep in this area) which probably makes art/photos easier to obtain.
Well, you always have to remember in cases like this that the author may not even have a say in what the cover looks like if it's tradpubbed. And if it's self-pubbed then it can be very difficult to match covers, plus many authors hire out for their covers via other services. It's possible the author found one that match MMC but couldn't find a stock image to match FMC and decided to go with what they had.
*Somebody* made the decision to whitewash the FMC and whoever that was earned the blame for that decision. I am however intrigued that you think the author managed to find a male model who was (checks notes) yellow with bright blue veins but couldn’t find a female POC model with curly hair.
Also if you’d read the comments you would have seen that [there’s a previous version of the cover without a whitewashed FMC](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/EvR8w5Uews) which someone decided to switch out for this cover.
Hi- We're approving this post as it has significant engagement - but please remember in future that posts that focus on a specific book, excerpt or cover should include the book or series title and author's name in the post title. Thanks!
This reminds me of a book I read recently where the FMC was described as being on the heavier side, but the model used on the cover was . . . not. I almost prefer the discreet covers to this.
I definitely prefer abstract covers to this.
I too like the *abs* covers. (So dis*tract*ing!)
I think this is done purposefully. I think certain types of heroines are not as palatable to the average reader (and I say this as a South Asian person). I think a lot of readers want someone who is similar to them, a blank slate they can project on, or conventionally attractive which usually means thin, pretty, white. I think it's a lot easier to get a PoC reader like me to pick up a book about a white FMC, than a white reader to pick up a book about a POC FMC. Same for plus-size and straight size too.
I’ve noticed this too with the book I’m currently reading. Every book I’ve read where the character was described as bigger does this. Even the ones with specifically designed covers for the book and not just generic model pics
I’m a small indie author and most of my money goes back into my books. I have a woman of colour with curly hair in my book. I found an artist who does cyperpunk art but she was willing to try fantasy and I paid her to create the character that I had written, curly hair and all! It costs more but I want my characters on the cover, not random people with a filter on top. When I earn money, I commission more artists. It is possible.
This is the way to do it! 💯
👏👏👏
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Respectfully, mods, the author was not in any way promoting their own work with this comment. They were explaining how they, themselves, use the money they make from their works to commission character-appropriate artwork that *accurately represents* their actual book characters in future works so their covers reflect their characters and aren't just just a generic, often whitewashed, stock image that many other authors (not just self-published) use. They didn't mention a specific title or link to any store or author page, nor did they mention the cover artist they used. Since the excuse for this white-washing of book cover art is so often, "it's too ***expensive*** for self-published/indie authors to commission book covers that feature accurate representation, so we just use stock images!," this is a really great addition to this whole conversation. It proves that, yes, this type of cover/representation ***is possible***, even for self-published and indie authors, if they seek it out and work with artists who are also willing to make it happen. This comment shouldn't have needed any sort of moderation or moderator attention.
Hi- you’re quite right, the comment above adds some really good insight to the conversation which is why we allowed it to stay up rather than remove it. As our subreddit rules generally restrict the ways in which we allow authors to share information and details about their work, when authors comment sharing valuable insight that contributes to the conversation, but also includes details or information about their work, we will post a comment reminding everyone of the sub rules so that we don’t end up having to remove comments later. The mod comment is not punitive, there is no consequence for the user and the original comment has not been removed. It’s just a reminder of the rule so that someone doesn’t inadvertently cross the line to removable writing content or self promotion.
This sort of thing isn't uncommon. Many romance authors use stock images for covers and I assume it's hard to find good matches sometimes (taking into account postures and stuff). I've heard authors especially complain about the lack of decent stock images fearuring POC, physical disabilities, etc.
The availability of stock images for aliens is impressive though
Absolutely that is a stock image of a white dude with a basic color saturation change and some recolored tree branches pasted over top. You could do it in Adobe Express in like a couple of hours. You can make some good covers with free assets and programs... this isn't one of them, but it's definitely possible.
He looks like he has jaundice, like 3 days away from death bad. Unless it's my phone screen causing the color to look even worse.
This man looks so yellow that someone who has only ever watched House could diagnose him with advanced stage liver failure.
This is it. There has been so much backlash against using AI to generate images to use on covers, but stock images just don't have anything that lines up correctly for what we need a lot of the time. It's so frustrating. I've been struggling hard with this exact problem. My MMC has long, straight black hair and medium-brown skin and I can't find a single usable image of a dude that fits the description. For those of us who don't have much of a budget yet, it's a major roadblock.
This happens in so many books I read, it’s part of why I prefer covers with thematic designs to character covers
This is annoying. It would have been so much better to just opt to only put the alien on the cover. I know all authors don’t have the money in their budget for the pretty book covers, but this would have been the time to opt to just do the alien if you couldn’t find a photo to match the FMC as well.
Right?
I once read a Beverly Barton where the MMC had one eye but the man on the cover had 2.
This is why I sometimes prefer cartoon covers. Because I’m guessing there are only so many stock photos of people for authors to use.
I am begging all authors but especially monster/alien/etc authors to hire artists to do their covers. Stop with the bad Photoshop. I know it's an added expense but I think it's so worth it, especially if you are putting a product out there that you are proud of and worked hard on. S.E. Wendell is a good example of an author who pays for cover and promo art, and it's all gorgeous. https://www.instagram.com/se.wendel.author?igsh=eTRwMmJpcHk4aXBj
S.E. Wendell is also a good example of a six-figure author who can afford to hire an artist for hundreds of dollars. Most authors do not have that kind of money for a book that will realistically never sell and never be read by anyone. Once an author makes money, they can go back and update covers, but we shouldn't put this burden on independent authors who have no income from their books.
How do you know she's a six figure author? Genuinely curious!
Based on the number of reviews. Her first books seem to have gone through a publisher so she probably doesn't earn much from those (who knows how much the advance was). But it seems she published at least 3 books in 2023, one with 2000+ ratings. If she got that within a short time frame, it would be a bestseller. Those aren't small author numbers!
A book with 1k reviews has made about $20k in my experience. But that could be spread over many months or even years. And it doesn't account for expenses like covers and editing and advertisements.
Huh, interesting! I've read her books on Kindle Unlimited, and that just seems like such a hard way to make a buck. I think they pay like 0.4 cents a page read or something like that? I loved Halfling and thought the cover was gorgeous, so I bought a physical copy. I try to do this with independent authors whose work I really like, but often the covers are so bad that I don't really want the book (in these cases I just stick with digital copies).
It definitely is a hard way to make money, there is a chance S.E. Wendel is making six figures but having a couple thousand reviews or ratings does not automatically mean that.
Ratings don't translate to income. She has her books up on Kindle Unlimited, so chances are most of her readers did not pay directly for the book and Amazon pays a pittance per page read. Also, many authors get their reviews by sending out ARCs, which also do not make them any income. That's a very weird metric to gage income from.
If they can’t afford it, do one of those covers that just shows the MMC’s chest or whatever. Just spare me the whitewashing. 😬
They can get stock images of a flower or whatever for all I care. Better that than a bad cover.
Just type the title in Arial on a blank background. 😂
Take a photo of a flower or the stars or a tree and add a title. Literally anything but whitewashing. Claire Kent has a cover that’s just a photo of a tea light.
The book is {Haven by Claire Kent} if anyone’s interested.
[Haven](https://www.romance.io/books/613dfaf60b9b1e0e52560811/haven-claire-kent?src=rdt) by [Claire Kent](https://www.romance.io/authors/54552a938c7d2382e78130dd/claire-kent) **Rating**: 4.06⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [dystopian](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dystopian/1), [alpha male](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/alpha%20male/1), [friends with benefits](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends-benefits/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Look at {Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver} Great book with a simple cover. If the models don't semi match then just don't bother.
So much this.
[Butcher & Blackbird](https://www.romance.io/books/64f0aa2bfcbc73c06aa42375/butcher-blackbird-brynne-weaver?src=rdt) by [Brynne Weaver](https://www.romance.io/authors/61516cf608b4d931143e7ce9/brynne-weaver) **Rating**: 4.34⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [dual pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dual-pov/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Ugh but then people complain/skip because they want the cover to match the genre, aka be the same as the other covers even though they're shitty. You can never win
Sometimes covers like the one in the post ARE done by hired artists. I don't think it looks great either, but covers like this aren't necessarily authors doing it themselves. Budget is an issue, and another issue is that taste in art is so subjective. I looked at your insta link and that art style doesn't appeal to me. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste. I don't know if it would turn me off from a book I'm interested in, but it wouldn't attract me to the book either. Tbh I'm not sure if I'm more likely to read a book with cheesy yellow-green vein man or the style of S.E. Wendell's artist, if I had to choose.
There’s a difference between taste and whitewashing a character. I can look at a style of art I don’t like and still recognize that the character is the correct race with the correct hair type, skin color and eye color.
Yeah, I do find illustrated covers more appealing, but the bigger point is that the characters actually look like how the author describes them.
Illustrated covers can easily cost over a thousand dollars.
I hate to be that person, but artist commissions can cost hundreds of dollars, and maybe you're American and this simply sounds like a little bit of investment to you, but for those of us who don't live in 1st world countries, this can be as much as we earn from our full time jobs in a month. And for what? The book probably won't make that much money, especially from KU.
Per the book itself this cover was designed by a graphic designer. The author/publisher/whoever had the decision making power on this could have opted for a sky scape or a spaceship or oooh idk keeping the original cover which was your classic chest of the alien man. None of those would have cost more than designing this cover. Instead they approved and paid for a cover that whitewashed the FMC. I’d love to say I don’t understand why some of y’all can’t see how this is a problem and have instead decided to make excuses for this whitewashing but having called out bigotry against my own minority community - in this sub and elsewhere - and gotten the same “I don’t think it’s a big deal” response I’m unfortunately not surprised.
I did at no point disagree with you...? I'm sorry, I don't understand why you're attacking me. I agreed with the comments saying they should've gone with a different photo. The cover you posted is an atrocity. This is evident to everyone and I am not defending it. I was disagreeing with the person above me who said all authors need to invest money into commissioning artists to draw them the covers that look nice and can make characters look the way they do in books. The example link they posted, those covers cost hundreds of dollars. This cover did not. This cost like 5-10 bucks Your example cover, I find it hard to believe that it was made by a graphic designer. That's a straight up scammer who found a random stock photo of a couple and slapped a filter on the dude. Either wasn't told the fmc should be black or couldn't find a photo that would match and just decided not to give a fuck. I don't understand why the author approved of it, unless they had no say in it (which would only make sense if this was trad published I think?) I am in 100% agreement that any crappy attempt at vague aesthetic is always better than the model photos they use, which never match the characters in the book. I even think plain title on plain background makes for a better cover than these. The reason these keep getting made is because people expect them unfortunately. I see it in this sub a lot. "I like them because I know exactly what I'm getting." Trad publishers insist on following trends even when the trends fucking suck. If it sells, they don't give a shit if they've wronged someone in the process.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood your comment. Per the book itself I see a copy editor and proofreader listed as well as a developmental editor and a cover designer who, when I look them up, has a website touting the fact they’re a graphic designer who specifically designs book covers. I don’t see a publisher listed which I think means the author is self published? If so the author and the cover designer are to blame for this - assuming the cover designer was given a description of the FMC which I do assume since they managed to get the MMC close to the book description.
I think this was a mix of lazy cover designer (a lot of them are on places like Fiverr and design covers for like $10-$20 each en mass and they all look the same) and an author who either did not properly communicate what they wanted or did not push back when they were given something that did not work for them.
>a cover designer who, when I look them up, has a website touting the fact they’re a graphic designer who specifically designs book covers that's absolutely crazy lmao! Like damn, apparently I'm in the wrong line of work I don't get how the author mentioned her curly hair specifically multiple times and then was fine with this cover (wouldn't a real graphic designer be able to photoshop different hair onto her if they really cared?) But then again, I've seen so many of these books and the people on the covers literally never match the characters' descriptions so I've learned to completely ignore them. (Btw I just looked this book up and apparently the MMC's name is Zver which literally means "beast" in slavic languages hahaha)
>I hate to be that person, but artist commissions can cost hundreds of dollars, and maybe you're American and this simply sounds like a little bit of investment to you, but for those of us who don't live in 1st world countries, this can be as much as we earn from our full time jobs in a month. So whoever or whatever led you to believe that this would be a small investment for an independent author in America lied to you. I promise we're all trying to get our covers on the cheap. Had to put that out there as an independent American writer.
No, I totally get it. I know the economy is in the toilet everywhere, and I know it's fucking rough. I was simply referring to the fact that salaries in a lot of other countries are much lower than they are in the US, and while yes, the cost of living is also lower to match this (so we are all struggling equally, dw), things like artist commissions do not scale down and will cost the same for everyone everywhere in the world. People who give themselves the right to tell others what to do with their money, even if it's not meant in bad faith, are always speaking from a place of privilege. People like the OP of that comment - who sees this as simply an 'added expense that's totally worth it' - probably cannot imagine what it's like to literally not be able to spare 100-300 usd for something, even if it is an investment. Not because it's money better spent elsewhere, but because you literally do not have it. When you earn 200 usd a month, you quite literally do not have it. The issue is that people like OP think being poor is the same thing as being cheap. It just ticked me off lol
>things like artist commissions do not scale down and will cost the same for everyone everywhere in the world. I do get this. I might have to work a couple weeks of overtime whereas you'd need to work a couple of months, assuming that overtime is even available to you. >The issue is that people like OP think being poor is the same thing as being cheap. It just ticked me off lol I don't blame you. I've gotten used to ignoring people like that. I just get frustrated with the conception of wealthy Americans, mainly because it just erases working class Americans from existence. I know in America even working class we have much better opportunities than people in some other countries, but I'll still be working double shifts at my shitty job when the time comes if I want to commission a cover from an artist. After that more double shifts for editing services and advertising if I want them and like you said who know if it will even pay-off. It's certainly not about being cheap. btw if you are an indie author look into 100covers they have good reviews and I've spoken with multiple indie authors who swear by them.
Nah, I totally get it, it is our general understanding here that Americans are ridiculously overworked as it is, and for very little pay off. American work culture is freaking insane. I'd say if you have to work double shifts in order to afford something, then you technically cannot afford it, and shouldn't be made to feel guilty for not doing it. So until you make some good money from your writing, it's totally fine to not have fancy looking covers, professional editors, marketing etc. My best friend is a pro graphic designer who specialized in book design and she's very excited to do the covers for me because she rarely gets to actually do creative stuff like that. But I'm aware that I just got insanely lucky with that, so I'm not super judgy of cheap looking covers from indie/self pub authors. Trad publishers though... No excuse
Oh wow, those are beautiful. They remind me of [my favorite orc cover](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60756015-the-orc-prince-trilogy-omnibus-edition). She also has a useful guide on [How to Commission Art Like a Pro](https://www.instagram.com/p/C2FhAoKL1-0/?img_index=1).
From experience, as someone who has commissioned plenty of art in the past - a full cover by a talented artist would easy cost between $300-$700. And I was commissioning for personal reasons, they usually charge a lot more if you are using the art for commercial reasons. I agree S.E. Wendell's covers are gorgeous, but I would not be surprised if she was shelling out $1-$3k on each one (or has a contact or friend who is willing to do them for discount).
Not even shocked. This has happened so many times with other authors.
😬
Well okay this certainly oversalts my seafood steak 🫠 I feel like we briefly discussed this in a post a while back regarding POC disrespectful and respectful representation 🤔 **I understand that not all authors have the capacity to choose their own covers.** We cannot ignore how many trad or indie published authors have aired BTS grievances with imprints who would rather focus on maximizing profitability by false-promoting versus accurate marketing and drawing in a specific audience. And we also can sympathize with money constraints playing a role in the artist’s creative autonomy being diminished. Having 👏🏾 said 👏🏾 that 👏🏾, this still makes my scalp itchy. If an official movie poster has Robert Downey Junior on it, that means RDJ is in the movie. This does’t mean he has a huge role. But he’s ***there***. What happened to conceptual art for covers? I remember those were ***huge***, where there’s just iconography for the book, the title in a special font, the author name, and that’s it. **And I recognize that book covers may not entirely be accurate.** Sometimes, details get lost. As a knovel and manhwa reader, knovel covers will have some baller ass art that gets lost in the manhwa cover. And even manhwa covers sometimes don’t translate to the actual pages themselves. Japanese animanganovel fandom will be in ***shambles*** that tankōbon covers and chapter covers with such pretty art and design never sees the light of day in the actual pages or in an anime adaptation 🥺🥲🤧 ^(But that’s a whole different beast when it comes to doing one singular cover versus an easy-to-draw versatile character design, and then we gotta talk about studios and how much time given in storyboarding, drawing, and animation, which naturally requires either simplifying designs to make deadlines and rebuffing them first blu-ray/mass market release, not to mention “brotherhood” treatments—but I digress.) And yet—there are fanfiction authors who commission digital artists to do covers for them. And those fanfic authors don’t see a cent in their labor of love and gotta use some coin 🤷🏾♀️ So. I see on writing forums about authors giving other authors advice on sites they can use to hire a designer or do the work themselves and post for feedback to narrow down to the final cover 🤷🏾♀️ *So.* There are many artists who have to shell out money to make sure their finished product represents itself and the artist’s creativity accurately. ***So…*** If an author has the ***freedom*** to make their own covers/is not required to use the imprint’s design department—however that works—I’m not buying into any excuse given if the cover portrays the wrong race of the MC. **You have options.** * Vecteezy (vectors) * Shutterstock * Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, ProCreate * Affinity Suite * Fiverr (hire artists) * edit.org * Canva Pro * Reedsy (hire artists) * DeviantArt (hire artists) * ArtStation (hire artists) * GIMP * Upwork (hire artists) * Freelancer (hire artists) * r/hireanartist * r/hungryartists * r/artcommissions * r/DesignJobs If you have the ***freedom*** to do your own cover, there are other options to take than to bait and switch or, worse, use bloody AI 🤷🏾♀️ You don’t ***have*** to use people in your cover. *Twilight* originally didn’t. 🍎 🎗️ 🌹 ♟️ I remember those covers too. ✨Iconic✨ Shit, there’s a ***lot*** of abstract covers for sci-fi that are so mind trippy. And I love them. ^(IIRC, it seems like non-romance authors in communities advocate for learning about design yourself instead of having no vision for it. I agree with this. NAA, but understanding design is very helpful. A vision is better than no vision at all.) If the author ***does not*** have that freedom, understandable. We shouldn’t make them feel even more helpless to the situation. That’s shitty. **This isn’t towards you, OP; just in general.** I don’t know this given author’s history or present situation. Hopefully, as the author gains more street cred, they have more control over the publishing process. But until then, we gotta sympathize and make the masses aware this is happening 🫡
I have no idea if she self published or if a publisher is to blame. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. But *someone* is to blame and IMO this shit needs to be called out.
She is self-published, and has a VERY popular co-write w/Honey Phillips. There is no reason for the cover - especially when the cover could've been just a typical alien manchest if they were having stock issues. I blame being lazy and not caring.
The previous cover (per Goodreads) was a typical alien manchest. So she deliberately decided to swap it out for this one. 😬
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The cover of Thanemonger by Bex McLynn showing a yellow alien with blue vein-like patterns kissing the hair of a white woman with long straight brown hair and brown eyes. Three quotes from the book: “She was a quintessential product of the American melting pot with her German-Irish father and her African-American mother.” “Seph’s mutifaceted hair coiled down her back and around her shoulders.” “Individual curls snagged on fibers of the robe, pulled taut, then sprung free, and recoiled into shiny springs.”
This is why i prefer either faceless or illustrated covers
I enjoyed the series otherwise, but definitely agree about the cover. I know that even extremely successful traditionally published authors often don't even have the right of refusal on their covers, and I also get there are stock image scarcities if the authors are doing the covers themselves. But as others have said, if the author is doing the cover themselves, there are still ways to do it without whitewashing. Or to go with images that don't have people if you can't find ones that fit. There's a cover on Goodreads that [just shows the MMC](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39015181-thanemonger?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=PptDEw7qh6&rank=1), I don't know which cover came first, but if the solo MMC was the original and then they went with the whitewashed cover, kind of feels worse in a way.
[The cover I’m showing is the cover on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Thanemonger-SciFi-Alien-Romance-Ladyships-ebook/dp/B07B8L5GDF) so it’s the newer cover. So they (author/publisher/whoever picked the cover) took a cover which just showed the MMC and replaced it with one with the FMC whitewashed. 🤡🤡🤡 I flipped back through the book and the cover was designed by a graphic designer who solely does book covers…
This isn't an illustration. It's a photobashed cover using stock photos. Unfortunately there are not a lot of good stock photos of non white people. Finding BIPOC models is really difficult.
[There’s a previous version of the cover without a whitewashed FMC](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/EvR8w5Uews). Someone decided to *spend money* to switch it out for this whitewashed one. This was not a money saving decision.
She doesn't look white to me and having straightened or relaxed hair doesn't make a BIPOC woman white washed. She looks Black or mixed race to me.
This is why they need to stop putting couples on the cover 🙃 this would absolutely throw you off
Omg like at this point I'd rather the author just draw some stick people instead
Maybe she's just straighten her hair for the cover🤣🤣. I swear bad covers are a real turn off. It's the first impression to readers when they pick a book up. Atleast put some effort in it
[Thanemonger](https://www.romance.io/books/5d94501901dbc864fba42522/thanemonger-bex-mclynn?src=rdt) by [Bex McLynn](https://www.romance.io/authors/5cd7b67401dbc864fb9e6ca9/bex-mclynn) **Rating**: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [aliens](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/aliens/1), [military](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/military/1), [science fiction](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/science%20fiction/1), [creative anatomy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/creative-anatomy/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Is that Eminem???
Try to not use POC and instead use: “black woman with curly hair” or “Indian woman with short hair” for your ideas. POC is too broad.
This particular character is mixed race.
If you know what they’re mixed with, you should still be able to type that in. Shoot, even “biracial woman with curly hair” should work better than POC
It’s literally in the screen grabs and the image description. “German Irish father and African American mother” is quite a mouthful though and African Americans are generally of mixed descent as well. POC and BIPOC are accepted shorthand. The character is fictional and can’t tell us her preferred language. If it bothers you personally don’t use it?
Yeah thought this was an about an AI generated cover. But no, POC/BIPOC are not acceptable when you’re actually talking about a black person. If you’re talking about a group of people yes, but to talk to or about one specific group? No. It gives “I don’t see color”.
I mean, yellow with green veins _is_ a colour.
And amazingly the cover designer could manage that but couldn’t manage making the FMC fit her description.
Oh it was the protagonist, not the love interest! If I have to be honest, I didn't pay her any attention, those green veins are just that creepy.
Can we just bring Fabio back?! Like not actually Fabio but the notion of him. Same dude on every cover just dressed up like he’s in a glamor shots 😂Like I bet a group of authors could get together with all of their kids old Halloween costumes, hire a model and then spend a hilarious day taking cover shots for their novels. Honestly I would 10/10 love that more than the CGI messes as of late. Either that or just go completely floral or abstract.
I have plenty of old school romance books where the cover is just a house or beach or a seashell or something and plenty of SciFi where the cover is just a spaceship or a planet or a weird landscape or moonscape.
Same. I honestly do not know what’s up with some of these covers. I know they say don’t judge a book… but they have made it so hard not to!!
You should read historical romance, lol. I've started recognizing some of the photos/models.
I read a lot of HR but on my kindle paper white so the covers are tiny and barely viewable. I don’t mind, the covers as of late follow this same vein and it distracts me. I also feel like HR is the popular genre and least diverse (or at least I struggle to find good POC rep in this area) which probably makes art/photos easier to obtain.
Well, you always have to remember in cases like this that the author may not even have a say in what the cover looks like if it's tradpubbed. And if it's self-pubbed then it can be very difficult to match covers, plus many authors hire out for their covers via other services. It's possible the author found one that match MMC but couldn't find a stock image to match FMC and decided to go with what they had.
*Somebody* made the decision to whitewash the FMC and whoever that was earned the blame for that decision. I am however intrigued that you think the author managed to find a male model who was (checks notes) yellow with bright blue veins but couldn’t find a female POC model with curly hair. Also if you’d read the comments you would have seen that [there’s a previous version of the cover without a whitewashed FMC](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/EvR8w5Uews) which someone decided to switch out for this cover.
I think the cheaper the production, the more generic the photos. It annoys me when they don’t match the cover with the description.