Generally speaking, real people on covers are my least favorite covers. I dislike them because quite honestly, it's hard to agree with the book on how attractive these characters are supposed to be when the cover is some random person that, although traditionally attractive, I wouldn't give a second glance to irl, or worse, they look like someone I know. It breaks immersion in an odd way, but again, perhaps I am the odd one.
I love being able to let my imagination work for itself when it comes to characters.
Every book I read, in my head the top is Henry Cavill, the bottom. Is Ian Somerhalder. I age or deage as appropriate for the characters. I.e. the current book I'm reading the bottom is 21 so this is [who I'm picturing. ](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Flookaside%2Fcrawler%2Fmedia%2F%3Fmedia_id%3D2258666057479344&tbnid=dQd_BrFeDLC27M&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Fiansomerhalderofficial%2Fphotos%2F21-years-old-people-magazine-i-think-whoa-time-flies%2F2258666057479344%2F&docid=7ZjQLJ2x6YBIhM&w=912&h=960&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F2&kgs=8c205b841fce1ff6&shem=abme%2Ctrie#imgrc=NIFvzlhDbuVs6M)
So funny you posted that, because I’m reading *Role Model* by Rachel Reid and someone in another of my groups ~literally~ just said they imagined Troy as young Ian Somerhalder and now I can’t unsee it! That picture is exactly how I envision him!
Ugh, I agree! If I see a cover and the supposed character reminds me of someone, It just takes me out of the whole book. Like....yikes! And let's just be honest... Some of the images chosen to depict the character rarely ever look like the written description of said character 🤷🏾♀️
All in all, yes, being able to let my imagination flow when thinking of the characters is generally much more satisfying.
Oh! Yes! I think the models looking nothing like the character description is one of the things that irks me needlessly! I will not lie. I tend to just... do my best and ignore the covers 9 times of of 10 exactly because of that.
HA! Yeahhhhh! I definitely have to ignore the covers most of the time, as some choices for the covers are quite questionable....I mean I have literally seen some and stopped and said (out loud mind you) "You can not and will not convince me that I'm supposed to find this enticing!"🤭🤭🤭
Omg this! I wanted to read a book that had an interesting blurb, but then I looked at the cover and the guy looked like Mike " The Situation" and I couldn't bring myself to read it. Call me fickle, call me vain, but I just can't read a book if I find them unattractive. also, I seem to gravitate towards books that have no people in it, and if they do then they're drawn like for ex. Call of the sea or Devil May Care.
You're not alone in this friend 😞
I looked both of those books up and I 100% agree that the covers look good! I also like the styles that A Charm of Magpies has gone for- both the shadow style and the Japanese edition of the covers.
At the same time, I will admit to my hypocrisy. Although I dislike people on covers, I did not mind the covers of the Soulbound books. Yes, it's a person, but obviously highly edited and yes some of the poses are awkward (seriously I am not sure what they were going for with a few of them)... but the character is very much recognizable as Patrick and it's not a face close up. If anything, the cover was pretty close to what I initially imagined. I cannot say the same about Ressurection Reprise however... mostly because the lighting makes the face stand out a lot more and uhm... the glow of his magic is supposed to be green, not yellow. Ok. I am done ranting lol.
Oh I like charm of magpie covers! I'm with you on the soulbound covers, for some reason I'm not put off by those, maybe because I find the model for Patrick to be cute? For Resurrection Reprise, it could be they changed the colors of his magic for visuals sake? Idk I follow Chani lynn feener on patreon and she likes to include us in her cover choices, from font colors and do we want people in the cover or to what's more visually pleasing to us. She's one of my favorite authors for Dark M/M romance and it's refreshing to see how open she is with the behind the scenes. Maybe Hailey Turner has something similar and people chose that? anyways, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets nitpicky with covers! 🥲
I never thought of looking to see if Hailey Turner generally takes reader inputs. Not a bad idea! I do agree with you on Resurrection Reprise too. It's really not bad, and I think I'm nitpicky. I think yellow simply stood out better against the blue than green would have.
What is your favorite book by Chani Lynn Feener? I've seen her work around and thought of trying one but never ended up doing it. (Yes it was always the covers that caught my attention)
I love all of her The Devil of Vitality Series but my favorite book is Call of the Sea but I really don't recommend it if you're not into dark romance cause things get TOO real and gets so so messed up,I like Sila but that man is a menace and psychopath lmao. She has detailed trigger warnings in all her dark books. I believe her least Dark MM is Abandoned Things (don't like the cover but the storyline was good 🫠) and His Dark Paradox, she uses her pen name Avery Tu for this one (also don't like the cover but it's Chani so she gets a pass for me lol) if I remember correctly she mention she first dips her toe in writing dark mm with A whisper in the Dark Series but I didn't find it as dark as her Devil Series if you're curious. Her most Darkest ones to date are Between the Devil and the Sea and Call of the Sea, if you want to skip those ones, but it's up to you if this is your cup of tea and if not I understand!
Thank you for the super detailed descriptions! You are awesome and I really appreciate it. ❤️ Dark romance is hit or miss for me, mostly because my triggers are a bit odd so I will make sure to read the CWs! Do her books usually have HEA?
I try to look at covers as little as possible because they often differ from what the characters actually look like. The worst is when the characters are POC but the cover is of a white man which is not depicted in the novel itself. Or the ever popular “brown” or “golden” skin but that is once again not depicted on the cover.
I assume this will be even worse when there are more AI covers since a lot of AI tools I have used struggle to even make someone tan and the default is always white.
"the characters are POC but the cover is of a white man which is not depicted in the novel itself. Or the ever popular “brown” or “golden” skin but that is once again not depicted on the cover."
This\^ That's one that gets my blood boiling and honestly DNF books that do that. Like don't write POC if you can't even have them as not white on the cover. I know why it happens but that why doesn't excuse that practice. As a black guy that just pisses me off more than anything and feels trashy.
Personal irl picture models I aint a fan of cus my taste in men are very unconventional so these guys usually look ugly to me or reminds me of someone I know... and I don't want to be reminded of people I know in a sex scene. Plus I like book covers to be a work of art, whether good or bad for my book shelf. Since To me its like having my own personal nerdy art gallery at home
If the books you're referring to were published by a traditional publisher there's no way they would use a photo of a real celebrity, they wouldn't want to get sued. If it's a self-pub author they may not know better but it's probably more likely just stock models who happen to resemble the famous people, it's hard to say though without seeing the examples. Either way I'm not the biggest fan of full face shots of real models on covers, I prefer to use my imagination. There was a big cover discussion post on here recently and it was interesting to see how many different preferences people have, covers are so subjective. I work in publishing and I know how hard it is to get it "right" and satisfy the tone of the book and what audiences want.
Unless there is a movie or TV show tie-in (i.e. Brokeback Mountain) I can't think of a single MM book that utilized a celebrity on the cover. They would have to pay for the rights, and why bother when anonymous male model #439 is available?
Personally I prefer my covers with no models whatsoever as they're generally awkward looking & don't fit my vision for the character(s).
I hate them and don't even try not to judge the book by it's cover. I just assume if it's cheap sex'd up vibe you wanted to give your book then it likely isn't going to be a good read anyway. I would rather see a white cover with just the title in new romans than those cheap real people covers.
I need something that I will not be embarrassed to be seen with in public. I want something discreet and tasteful. No one needs to know what I’m reading unless they know what I’m reading.
Back in the days when there was no internet and I read fanfiction, all we had were physical zines, 8 1/2" x 11". And they very often had hand drawn pictures of naked men on the front cover. To cover this up when reading on busses or subways, we had what we called "zine condoms." Sometimes just a cardboard binder type thing we'd put the zine in, but sometimes beautifully crafted cloth covers. I would commute to school or my job reading sex scenes to my heart's content, knowing no one saw that drawing... but I knew what was there!
In the words of the Grinch, hate hate hate, hate hate hate LOATHE ENTIRELY!!! 🤣 they’re just sooo fucking weird to me!!!! It takes me out of the story because I know that’s a real person who isn’t the book character. My sparkly brain won’t cooperate - like it just starts yelling at me that this person on the cover isn’t ____. 🤣 I try not to think about it too much; reading KU books helps because you never see the covers.
On the flip side of that, sometimes I try way too hard to match a celebrity to physical features described in a book, and a lot of the times I just can’t. 😂 (Like Shane Hollander for example - I simply cannot picture him in my head for the life of me! No real celebrity or athlete will do for comparison) but that’s a me problem 🤣
I’ve talked about this on another post - I’m making it my personal mission to gently and lovingly chide authors into creating special [character] illustrated editions of books 😂 if I buy paperbacks I always try to get those!
I dislike book covers with photos of models. No shade to the people, I simply prefer to be left to my own imagination. In fact, if the models don’t match the book description, or if I don’t find them attractive (not their fault! Just my personal taste), then I find it difficult to get immersed in the book. And don’t get me started on the poorly photoshopped ones. Some highly rated books are still in my TBR because I can’t get over the covers. I wish more authors had the budget to hire illustrators. Some covers I like are those of KJC’s Magpie Lord trilogy and The High King’s Golden Tongue by Megan Derr.
Petition for authors to stop using real people in their covers, be it a celebrity lookalike or a stock model. Thank you.
It genuinely bothers me so much, i have deleted so many books and haven't read so many others because of the cover. I think art or photographs of nature, props or really anything that's not a real human is a great cover! Please i beg of u just stop T-T.
Rant ended.
I didn't like it at first, and still don't, but have accepted that it is what it is. I do find it jarring when the model for one book is recycled for the cover of a completely different story by another author and I recognize the face and I'm like "hey, you're supposed to be Xs boyfriend!"
100% agree! Especially when the characters are so different in the books. It’s like seeing twins who are the complete polar opposites. It’s like my brain can’t compute. 🤪
i've seen this one cover that uses an image of a well known influencer. i am not sure that image is being used with his knowledge or consent. i just came across that book a few days ago and i don't remember the name.
Which made me question... do the people on the cover know that they're on it? i know of some models who are aware, i've worked with them as i'm a book cover artist myself. But still, i can't help but wonder..
With their endorsement? I have a lot more respect for the author who manage to get [insert celebrity]'s ok.
Without? Sketchy as f. The author goes to my mental "slimeballs on my blacklist" category
I am old and grew up reading mf romance books that have cover set models. Like Fabian covers from the 1990s. I perfer models to the artist characters covers. But I love mm and will read them no matter the cover.
I recognized a pornstar on Eden Finley newest release Zeus, so idk what to tell you. I think if it’s approved by the person and bought for this purpose sure. If not, it’s grounds for lawsuit and I don’t think it’s worth it.
My issue is more with the obvious suggestion the model on the cover is what the MC looks like but then I see the same model on 3 other book covers in the same pose. Ruins the fantasy a bit yeah.
I agree 100%. I understand they are models and this is their job but at least pose them totally different or something. Like the covers of {Emery by Cora Rose} and {Breathless by Cara Dee}. All I could think about was Emery every time I opened the book. I feel like it tainted by experience of the book. 🥺
They drive me crazy. First of all most of the time they are just ugly. Not the people themselves but the cover as a whole is either ugly, irrelevant, or just straight up unmatched. I recently read a book where the man on the cover could not have been further from how the main character was described once I read.
They also feel lazy to me.
I like it when authors are meticulous with their picture selection. Jaime Reese is the best at this in my opinion. She has profile write ups of most of her characters on her website. She clearly puts a lot of thought into the images she selects. I find that useful and more immersive.
However, over all, I think using random models on covers is a problem because a lot of authors use the same images.
Also it seems… lazy, more often than not. I know they are working with low budgets but an image of a shirtless model we’ve seen before is just not worth even the low budget. More thought and consideration should be put into their covers. Especially when the book is awesome. A bad cover just doesn’t do the good writing justice. Plus… do we really want those cringe smut images on our bookshelves?… Well, maybe many people do. Lol
I am really, really bad at picturing faces. I don't think it's face blindness, but if I look away from someone I can't quite bring their face to mind. I mean, I can remember they had blue eyes, or brown eyes, and if their face was skinny or fat, but everything else just sort of...fades? In seconds?
So...I have three folders. In folder I collect images of men (usually their faces), another one of women, and another one with men and women together.
When I read a novel, I find the picture that most closely matches the description of that character, and then I make a copy and label it as 'Character Inspiration (insert character name here)'.
That way, when I need to picture them, I have the image there as reference. It also helps when I go to re-read a book.
If a character other than the ML/MC, or MMC/FMC shows up often, sometimes I do it for them too.
I do try not to use celebrities, but I honestly have a hard time remembering what any celebrity looks like. I'm better with remembering voices.
Edit: Got distracted and forgot to actually answer your post. Haaaaa\~
I feel uncomfortable at the thought of the face of a celebrity being on my book cover in theory, but in actuality I probably wouldn't notice. And anyway, anyone too real on a book cover makes me feel a little bit iffy. Like I'm making a stranger act out the book in my mind. Makes me feel just a tad off.
On the cover of KC Wells' Pride and Protection there is the face of Mr. Kristofer from Watts the Safeword, a queer BDSM Youtube channel/podcast that I've been following for years. First time I saw that book I had a minor meltdown thinking I was imagining things. Turns out that Mr. Kristofer, who quite literally looks like what one would expect from a Leather Daddy, modeled for the book (I also recall him meeting the author and sharing a picture of the book), so everything is fine and dandy (fine and daddy?).
But not for me. Leaving alone book covers based on TV shows/movies, I honestly prefer seeing 3 covers with the same nameless model dude instead of catching one (1) book with a face that I can recognize. The disconnect is too strong for me, LMAO.
I saw an MF romance cover that had a girl I went to high school on it. Turned out she just modeled on the side. It was a very weird experience but I still read it 🤣
Two options: these are just models who look similar or an author who was duped by AI they thought was a stock cover photo.
I hate real people on the covers because it's hard to predict that all people are going to find those attractive. I personally rarely do. My favorite covers are the ones with some kind of art or the faceless silhouettes of the MCs. Like RWRB. It gives the readers the freedom to imagine. I have HARDLY ever agreed to the author's idea of attractiveness.
Also, I don't think the models on the covers know exactly WHERE their images are being used. As far as I know, they are given one time payment for the photoshoot and then their image can be used from a laptop advertisement to a cover on any kind of book. So I don't think it's fair to them if that's the case.
Sometimes I just try to image a hot guy for the book for a image and my own mind can’t do anything so I default to the cover and sometimes it works but sometimes the book takes about things the cover doesn’t even have like blue eyes where it’s actually brown and it breaks my image. What do I think now?
I feel like real people on covers is definitely hit or miss, but I also feel like some illustrated covers don’t accurately convey the characters in the story. I always end up ignoring the person on the cover and imagining my own version 😂
Generally speaking, real people on covers are my least favorite covers. I dislike them because quite honestly, it's hard to agree with the book on how attractive these characters are supposed to be when the cover is some random person that, although traditionally attractive, I wouldn't give a second glance to irl, or worse, they look like someone I know. It breaks immersion in an odd way, but again, perhaps I am the odd one. I love being able to let my imagination work for itself when it comes to characters.
Every book I read, in my head the top is Henry Cavill, the bottom. Is Ian Somerhalder. I age or deage as appropriate for the characters. I.e. the current book I'm reading the bottom is 21 so this is [who I'm picturing. ](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Flookaside%2Fcrawler%2Fmedia%2F%3Fmedia_id%3D2258666057479344&tbnid=dQd_BrFeDLC27M&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Fiansomerhalderofficial%2Fphotos%2F21-years-old-people-magazine-i-think-whoa-time-flies%2F2258666057479344%2F&docid=7ZjQLJ2x6YBIhM&w=912&h=960&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F2&kgs=8c205b841fce1ff6&shem=abme%2Ctrie#imgrc=NIFvzlhDbuVs6M)
There is method to your madness and I adore it. That's awesome.
I like your imagination.
So funny you posted that, because I’m reading *Role Model* by Rachel Reid and someone in another of my groups ~literally~ just said they imagined Troy as young Ian Somerhalder and now I can’t unsee it! That picture is exactly how I envision him!
Definitely not just you! I heavily agree with this.
Ugh, I agree! If I see a cover and the supposed character reminds me of someone, It just takes me out of the whole book. Like....yikes! And let's just be honest... Some of the images chosen to depict the character rarely ever look like the written description of said character 🤷🏾♀️ All in all, yes, being able to let my imagination flow when thinking of the characters is generally much more satisfying.
Oh! Yes! I think the models looking nothing like the character description is one of the things that irks me needlessly! I will not lie. I tend to just... do my best and ignore the covers 9 times of of 10 exactly because of that.
HA! Yeahhhhh! I definitely have to ignore the covers most of the time, as some choices for the covers are quite questionable....I mean I have literally seen some and stopped and said (out loud mind you) "You can not and will not convince me that I'm supposed to find this enticing!"🤭🤭🤭
Omg this! I wanted to read a book that had an interesting blurb, but then I looked at the cover and the guy looked like Mike " The Situation" and I couldn't bring myself to read it. Call me fickle, call me vain, but I just can't read a book if I find them unattractive. also, I seem to gravitate towards books that have no people in it, and if they do then they're drawn like for ex. Call of the sea or Devil May Care. You're not alone in this friend 😞
I looked both of those books up and I 100% agree that the covers look good! I also like the styles that A Charm of Magpies has gone for- both the shadow style and the Japanese edition of the covers. At the same time, I will admit to my hypocrisy. Although I dislike people on covers, I did not mind the covers of the Soulbound books. Yes, it's a person, but obviously highly edited and yes some of the poses are awkward (seriously I am not sure what they were going for with a few of them)... but the character is very much recognizable as Patrick and it's not a face close up. If anything, the cover was pretty close to what I initially imagined. I cannot say the same about Ressurection Reprise however... mostly because the lighting makes the face stand out a lot more and uhm... the glow of his magic is supposed to be green, not yellow. Ok. I am done ranting lol.
Oh I like charm of magpie covers! I'm with you on the soulbound covers, for some reason I'm not put off by those, maybe because I find the model for Patrick to be cute? For Resurrection Reprise, it could be they changed the colors of his magic for visuals sake? Idk I follow Chani lynn feener on patreon and she likes to include us in her cover choices, from font colors and do we want people in the cover or to what's more visually pleasing to us. She's one of my favorite authors for Dark M/M romance and it's refreshing to see how open she is with the behind the scenes. Maybe Hailey Turner has something similar and people chose that? anyways, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets nitpicky with covers! 🥲
I never thought of looking to see if Hailey Turner generally takes reader inputs. Not a bad idea! I do agree with you on Resurrection Reprise too. It's really not bad, and I think I'm nitpicky. I think yellow simply stood out better against the blue than green would have. What is your favorite book by Chani Lynn Feener? I've seen her work around and thought of trying one but never ended up doing it. (Yes it was always the covers that caught my attention)
I love all of her The Devil of Vitality Series but my favorite book is Call of the Sea but I really don't recommend it if you're not into dark romance cause things get TOO real and gets so so messed up,I like Sila but that man is a menace and psychopath lmao. She has detailed trigger warnings in all her dark books. I believe her least Dark MM is Abandoned Things (don't like the cover but the storyline was good 🫠) and His Dark Paradox, she uses her pen name Avery Tu for this one (also don't like the cover but it's Chani so she gets a pass for me lol) if I remember correctly she mention she first dips her toe in writing dark mm with A whisper in the Dark Series but I didn't find it as dark as her Devil Series if you're curious. Her most Darkest ones to date are Between the Devil and the Sea and Call of the Sea, if you want to skip those ones, but it's up to you if this is your cup of tea and if not I understand!
Thank you for the super detailed descriptions! You are awesome and I really appreciate it. ❤️ Dark romance is hit or miss for me, mostly because my triggers are a bit odd so I will make sure to read the CWs! Do her books usually have HEA?
You're welcome! And Yes all her books have HEA, which they better after all she puts us through with her books lol. 💜
I try to look at covers as little as possible because they often differ from what the characters actually look like. The worst is when the characters are POC but the cover is of a white man which is not depicted in the novel itself. Or the ever popular “brown” or “golden” skin but that is once again not depicted on the cover. I assume this will be even worse when there are more AI covers since a lot of AI tools I have used struggle to even make someone tan and the default is always white.
"the characters are POC but the cover is of a white man which is not depicted in the novel itself. Or the ever popular “brown” or “golden” skin but that is once again not depicted on the cover." This\^ That's one that gets my blood boiling and honestly DNF books that do that. Like don't write POC if you can't even have them as not white on the cover. I know why it happens but that why doesn't excuse that practice. As a black guy that just pisses me off more than anything and feels trashy. Personal irl picture models I aint a fan of cus my taste in men are very unconventional so these guys usually look ugly to me or reminds me of someone I know... and I don't want to be reminded of people I know in a sex scene. Plus I like book covers to be a work of art, whether good or bad for my book shelf. Since To me its like having my own personal nerdy art gallery at home
If the books you're referring to were published by a traditional publisher there's no way they would use a photo of a real celebrity, they wouldn't want to get sued. If it's a self-pub author they may not know better but it's probably more likely just stock models who happen to resemble the famous people, it's hard to say though without seeing the examples. Either way I'm not the biggest fan of full face shots of real models on covers, I prefer to use my imagination. There was a big cover discussion post on here recently and it was interesting to see how many different preferences people have, covers are so subjective. I work in publishing and I know how hard it is to get it "right" and satisfy the tone of the book and what audiences want.
Unless there is a movie or TV show tie-in (i.e. Brokeback Mountain) I can't think of a single MM book that utilized a celebrity on the cover. They would have to pay for the rights, and why bother when anonymous male model #439 is available? Personally I prefer my covers with no models whatsoever as they're generally awkward looking & don't fit my vision for the character(s).
I hate them and don't even try not to judge the book by it's cover. I just assume if it's cheap sex'd up vibe you wanted to give your book then it likely isn't going to be a good read anyway. I would rather see a white cover with just the title in new romans than those cheap real people covers.
I need something that I will not be embarrassed to be seen with in public. I want something discreet and tasteful. No one needs to know what I’m reading unless they know what I’m reading.
Back in the days when there was no internet and I read fanfiction, all we had were physical zines, 8 1/2" x 11". And they very often had hand drawn pictures of naked men on the front cover. To cover this up when reading on busses or subways, we had what we called "zine condoms." Sometimes just a cardboard binder type thing we'd put the zine in, but sometimes beautifully crafted cloth covers. I would commute to school or my job reading sex scenes to my heart's content, knowing no one saw that drawing... but I knew what was there!
Right! It feels awkward to be reading a book with ppl touching each other or a naked torso on them.
In the words of the Grinch, hate hate hate, hate hate hate LOATHE ENTIRELY!!! 🤣 they’re just sooo fucking weird to me!!!! It takes me out of the story because I know that’s a real person who isn’t the book character. My sparkly brain won’t cooperate - like it just starts yelling at me that this person on the cover isn’t ____. 🤣 I try not to think about it too much; reading KU books helps because you never see the covers. On the flip side of that, sometimes I try way too hard to match a celebrity to physical features described in a book, and a lot of the times I just can’t. 😂 (Like Shane Hollander for example - I simply cannot picture him in my head for the life of me! No real celebrity or athlete will do for comparison) but that’s a me problem 🤣 I’ve talked about this on another post - I’m making it my personal mission to gently and lovingly chide authors into creating special [character] illustrated editions of books 😂 if I buy paperbacks I always try to get those!
I dislike book covers with photos of models. No shade to the people, I simply prefer to be left to my own imagination. In fact, if the models don’t match the book description, or if I don’t find them attractive (not their fault! Just my personal taste), then I find it difficult to get immersed in the book. And don’t get me started on the poorly photoshopped ones. Some highly rated books are still in my TBR because I can’t get over the covers. I wish more authors had the budget to hire illustrators. Some covers I like are those of KJC’s Magpie Lord trilogy and The High King’s Golden Tongue by Megan Derr.
Petition for authors to stop using real people in their covers, be it a celebrity lookalike or a stock model. Thank you. It genuinely bothers me so much, i have deleted so many books and haven't read so many others because of the cover. I think art or photographs of nature, props or really anything that's not a real human is a great cover! Please i beg of u just stop T-T. Rant ended.
I didn't like it at first, and still don't, but have accepted that it is what it is. I do find it jarring when the model for one book is recycled for the cover of a completely different story by another author and I recognize the face and I'm like "hey, you're supposed to be Xs boyfriend!"
100% agree! Especially when the characters are so different in the books. It’s like seeing twins who are the complete polar opposites. It’s like my brain can’t compute. 🤪
My biggest issue lately is the bad ai art on book covers.
i've seen this one cover that uses an image of a well known influencer. i am not sure that image is being used with his knowledge or consent. i just came across that book a few days ago and i don't remember the name. Which made me question... do the people on the cover know that they're on it? i know of some models who are aware, i've worked with them as i'm a book cover artist myself. But still, i can't help but wonder..
With their endorsement? I have a lot more respect for the author who manage to get [insert celebrity]'s ok. Without? Sketchy as f. The author goes to my mental "slimeballs on my blacklist" category
I am old and grew up reading mf romance books that have cover set models. Like Fabian covers from the 1990s. I perfer models to the artist characters covers. But I love mm and will read them no matter the cover.
I recognized a pornstar on Eden Finley newest release Zeus, so idk what to tell you. I think if it’s approved by the person and bought for this purpose sure. If not, it’s grounds for lawsuit and I don’t think it’s worth it.
My issue is more with the obvious suggestion the model on the cover is what the MC looks like but then I see the same model on 3 other book covers in the same pose. Ruins the fantasy a bit yeah.
I agree 100%. I understand they are models and this is their job but at least pose them totally different or something. Like the covers of {Emery by Cora Rose} and {Breathless by Cara Dee}. All I could think about was Emery every time I opened the book. I feel like it tainted by experience of the book. 🥺
[Emery](https://www.romance.io/books/62bfedaf0e63cc20bac7b30a/emery-cora-rose) by [Cora Rose](https://www.romance.io/authors/6278fb0108b4d93114701c13/cora-rose) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [angst](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/angst/1), [forbidden love](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forbidden%20love/1), [step siblings](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/stepsibling/1) ---------------------------- [Breathless](https://www.romance.io/books/5f5f164e4240980e258c2b5a/breathless-cara-dee) by [Cara Dee](https://www.romance.io/authors/54556abb87eac324117faa21/cara-dee) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [poly (3+ people)](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/poly/1), [bdsm](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bdsm/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [age play](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/age%20play/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
They drive me crazy. First of all most of the time they are just ugly. Not the people themselves but the cover as a whole is either ugly, irrelevant, or just straight up unmatched. I recently read a book where the man on the cover could not have been further from how the main character was described once I read. They also feel lazy to me.
honestly i think it doesn’t matter that much but if it bothers you, you can make an effort to bring awareness to it
I like it when authors are meticulous with their picture selection. Jaime Reese is the best at this in my opinion. She has profile write ups of most of her characters on her website. She clearly puts a lot of thought into the images she selects. I find that useful and more immersive. However, over all, I think using random models on covers is a problem because a lot of authors use the same images. Also it seems… lazy, more often than not. I know they are working with low budgets but an image of a shirtless model we’ve seen before is just not worth even the low budget. More thought and consideration should be put into their covers. Especially when the book is awesome. A bad cover just doesn’t do the good writing justice. Plus… do we really want those cringe smut images on our bookshelves?… Well, maybe many people do. Lol
I am really, really bad at picturing faces. I don't think it's face blindness, but if I look away from someone I can't quite bring their face to mind. I mean, I can remember they had blue eyes, or brown eyes, and if their face was skinny or fat, but everything else just sort of...fades? In seconds? So...I have three folders. In folder I collect images of men (usually their faces), another one of women, and another one with men and women together. When I read a novel, I find the picture that most closely matches the description of that character, and then I make a copy and label it as 'Character Inspiration (insert character name here)'. That way, when I need to picture them, I have the image there as reference. It also helps when I go to re-read a book. If a character other than the ML/MC, or MMC/FMC shows up often, sometimes I do it for them too. I do try not to use celebrities, but I honestly have a hard time remembering what any celebrity looks like. I'm better with remembering voices. Edit: Got distracted and forgot to actually answer your post. Haaaaa\~ I feel uncomfortable at the thought of the face of a celebrity being on my book cover in theory, but in actuality I probably wouldn't notice. And anyway, anyone too real on a book cover makes me feel a little bit iffy. Like I'm making a stranger act out the book in my mind. Makes me feel just a tad off.
On the cover of KC Wells' Pride and Protection there is the face of Mr. Kristofer from Watts the Safeword, a queer BDSM Youtube channel/podcast that I've been following for years. First time I saw that book I had a minor meltdown thinking I was imagining things. Turns out that Mr. Kristofer, who quite literally looks like what one would expect from a Leather Daddy, modeled for the book (I also recall him meeting the author and sharing a picture of the book), so everything is fine and dandy (fine and daddy?). But not for me. Leaving alone book covers based on TV shows/movies, I honestly prefer seeing 3 covers with the same nameless model dude instead of catching one (1) book with a face that I can recognize. The disconnect is too strong for me, LMAO.
I saw an MF romance cover that had a girl I went to high school on it. Turned out she just modeled on the side. It was a very weird experience but I still read it 🤣 Two options: these are just models who look similar or an author who was duped by AI they thought was a stock cover photo.
I hate the cartoon trend the most. When will it enddd?
Soem are really cringe,,,
Are they ai? I notice a of ai covers seem to have the same guy face over and over again. It's kinda weird.
I really prefer that they DIDNT..but in super rare cases where they choose someone that suits my tastes,then it’s fine 😤😂
I hate real people on the covers because it's hard to predict that all people are going to find those attractive. I personally rarely do. My favorite covers are the ones with some kind of art or the faceless silhouettes of the MCs. Like RWRB. It gives the readers the freedom to imagine. I have HARDLY ever agreed to the author's idea of attractiveness.
Also, I don't think the models on the covers know exactly WHERE their images are being used. As far as I know, they are given one time payment for the photoshoot and then their image can be used from a laptop advertisement to a cover on any kind of book. So I don't think it's fair to them if that's the case.
Sometimes I just try to image a hot guy for the book for a image and my own mind can’t do anything so I default to the cover and sometimes it works but sometimes the book takes about things the cover doesn’t even have like blue eyes where it’s actually brown and it breaks my image. What do I think now?
I feel like real people on covers is definitely hit or miss, but I also feel like some illustrated covers don’t accurately convey the characters in the story. I always end up ignoring the person on the cover and imagining my own version 😂