They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The internet disagrees! Some cover designs are so terrible, so ridiculously nonsensical, that they’re actually entertaining. It’s any person with taste’s duty to make fun of them.
‘Terrible Book Covers’ is one of the most fun niches on the internet. Its members share some of the worst book covers ever made, and we’ve collected the most hilarious of the bunch to share with you. Keep scrolling for a good laugh. And if you’re a writer or an artist, this is what you want to avoid doing.
#1 The Picture Of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
Nirast25:
Jigsaw without makeup.
Image source: Turn7Boom
#2 Le Hobbit: I’ll See Your Chonky Bilbo And Raise You Whatever The Eff This Is
CaptNihilo:
Well once you find out that Bilbo’s real name is Bilba Labingi in Hobbit tongue it kinda just makes sense given his attire.
WhatIsAChickenAlek:
Mama mia! You forgot the gabagool Gandalf!
Covalent_Blonde_:
I can’t handle the dragon’s stubby little legs! He is like a flying corgi!
As a bonus, that dragon also looks skeeved out by 1970s Italian footballer Bilbo living in a space-aged culvert!
Image source: ActuariesGoneWild
#3 Found This Absolute Gem At My Neighborhood Lfl
MoreReputation8908:
He was pretty damn funny. There is some stuff that hasn’t aged well, i guess, but still. Pretty funny.
Image source: T-Hexx
The current state of the global book market isn’t in a great place for writers and graphic designers right now. Especially online. The spread of generative AI means that the internet is now flooded with AI slop: awful, cheap, bland, generic, soulless, and inaccurate ‘books.’ They are generated by people trying to scam their way into making a quick buck.
This is a problem on many levels. For one, it makes it harder for real writers to stand out online among all that noise.
On top of that, it means that there are tons of people making cheap knockoffs of the books written by real, talented, hardworking, unique writers.
Meanwhile, some people are deluding themselves into thinking that they are real writers when they’re just outsourcing all of their thinking and hard work to a chatbot.
#4 Who Decided This Should Be The Ebook Cover For A Dostoevsky Book Haha
Rough3Years:
“Have you read The Brothers Karamazov?”
“No. I also don’t have any graphic designer experience, but I’ll do it for free to boost my resu..”
“You’re hired.”
mBunnyEx:
The novel is in the public domain, meaning some eBook mill is slapping generic covers on free books, sells them online and essentially makes free money.
Image source: reddit.com
#5 Bred By The Orc, Caroline Lee & Veronika Kane
silveragecollector:
Thankfully its one of those handsome Scottish orcs.
Ok_Dimension_4707:
Those are the daintiest tusks I’ve ever seen!
Image source: silveragecollector
#6 Rexus By Dakota Krout
Grove-Of-Hares:
‘He gained the Bonecruncher specialization (Mythical rarity), which grants Living Weapons—his hands transform into T-Rex heads named “Lefty” and “Terror.” The weapons have their own stats and levels and must be fed during combat to restore mana.’
…alright.
Image source: NIKO-JRM
Rolling Stone magazine reports that more and more authors are realizing that people are ripping off their books with the help of generative AI. It is a pervasive problem in the online bookselling industry in this day and age, especially on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) self-publishing platform. And it’s having a massive negative impact.
For one, authors are obviously missing out on some of the revenue that they would’ve made if they didn’t have to compete with knockoffs of their own work. And, secondly, this flood of AI slop is making both bookselling and the entire internet worse places for everyone.
#7 Race Of The Century
ooojaeger:
Is that a glare or is it no longer in mint condition because that’s one of the rarest books in the world.
Image source: Puppychow123
#8 1984 By George Orwell
GreyDesertCat:
Big Douche is Watching.
Image source: Unfair_Umpire_3635
#9 Terrible Frankenstein Collection
Image source: GodAllMighty888
“The problem with these slop books isn’t just that they are diverting revenue that should be in the pockets of writers who wrote books. The problem is that they’re deceiving buyers. These are garbage books that exist to suck up money from the inattentive and get away with ripping off readers as well as writers,” best-selling author Cory Doctorow told Rolling Stone.
Despite Amazon claiming that the company invests significant time and resources into ensuring that its content guidelines are followed, some writers feel that the vetting process isn’t good enough to prevent the flood of knockoffs. The burden of policing these infractions often falls on the author.
Journalist and author Talia Lavin told Rolling Stone magazine that AI knockoffs are “quietly violent.”
“You’re stealing my work, my face. You’re stealing my life and writing lies about it. On an individual level, it’s not like I’m some avenging Joan of Arc against a great humiliation. But taken in aggregate, this is the biggest book marketplace in the world. And look how easily it’s distorted in this way.”
#10 Miserable Candle Man Is My Favorite Beatles Song
Ravenser_Odd:
his takes me right back to the old days, when we had to generate our own AI slop by hand.
Image source: Farfignewtons42
#11 Bigfoot Looking Fabulous
r3cktor:
You can learn two things from this cover:
1: The Hunt for Bigfoot is a novel
2: Lisa is a Shiel
midgetcastle:
Bigfoot has a very nice manicure.
Image source: Dry-Impression-2403
#12 Empress Theresa’s Cover Is So Bad It Wraps Around To Becoming Funny
Al3xGr4nt:
If you’re interested in a deep dive read check out Krimson Rogue on youtube. Its insane.
Image source: steeltheprotogen
In the meantime, Sky News states that more than half (51%) of writers are scared that they will be replaced by artificial intelligence. What’s more, 85% of writers believe that AI will negatively impact their future income. And 39% of writers revealed that their finances have already been affected.
“I worry that a book industry driven mainly by profit will be tempted to use AI more and more to generate books. If it is cheaper to produce novels using AI (no advance or royalties to pay to authors, quicker production, retainment of copyright), publishers will almost inevitably choose to publish them. And if they are priced cheaper than ‘human made’ books, readers are likely to buy them, the way we buy machine-made jumpers rather than the more expensive hand-knitted ones,” warns best-selling author Tracy Chevalier.
#13 Spanish Edition Of The Picture Of Dorian Gray
LoveAndViscera:
At least it’s not a spoiler.
Image source: Significant-Town-817
#14 Do You Feel Like God Loves You?
Image source: Present-Room-5413
#15 But… You’re A Horse By David Bussell
Image source: FunnyErectionBunny
If you’re a writer or graphic designer, then you probably have a love-hate relationship with criticism. On the one hand, criticism is great because it helps you grow as a professional. Plus, it helps make your end product much better. On the other hand, it’s incredibly difficult to hear someone judge something you’ve poured your heart and soul into.
And yet, without criticism, you can end up making lots of dumb mistakes that you could’ve avoided by putting together a quick focus group full of family, friends, or strangers, and asking them to be honest.
#16 The Fireclown
GobboZeb:
Moorcock wrote literally anything that came into his head. A lot of his books are written like they’re late for work, rushing to the good parts before dropping them like a 6 year old who saw a slightly different toy under the couch.
Image source: a_wizard_skull
#17 Catcher In The Rye (Japanese Edition)
Image source: toasterpedia
#18 Jesus He’s Big
Image source: Glum-Lavishness-4485
Ideally, you’ll be able to set your ego aside, avoid taking the criticism personally, and hone in on the comments that are actually useful, instead of hateful for no real reason.
You need to find a balance between staying true to your artistic vision and connecting with your target audience. If you blindly stick to your vision without caring about what your audience thinks, you might alienate them. On the other hand, if you throw out any personality and uniqueness just to do what you think others want, you’ll probably end up with something bland and generic.
In short, you should adjust your creative work in a way that allows you to respect both your own skills as a professional and the wants and needs of the people you hope to impress.
#19 God Emperor Of Dune (Hebrew Version) By Frank Herbert
Image source: NIKO-JRM
#20 Someone Designing A Book Cover For A German War Story Assuming It’s An American Cowboy Story
Image source: Book_1love
#21 The Plot Against The “King” Don’t Delete Mods, It’s A Real Book
Image source: MrsGrayWolfe
Created way back in late May of 2014, the ‘Terrible Book Covers’ online community remains incredibly popular. At the time of writing, it gets 16k weekly visitors, who make hundreds of contributions every week.
According to the moderators of the subreddit, this is a place for truly bad book, e-book, and audiobook covers that actually exist. Designs that are merely dull or boring aren’t allowed.
#22 I Wouldn’t Bet On This Hobbit To Get The Ring Anywhere
Image source: FunnyBunnyWonderland
#23 The Metamorphosis, By Franz Kafka
Image source: contextproblem
#24 I This This One Actually Might Be The Worst
Image source: LamppostBoy
While fake book covers can be incredibly funny, all the members of ‘Terrible Book Covers’ are encouraged to focus on what’s real. “There are so many real books with terrible covers out there! We want to see them.”
What’s more, you shouldn’t post the cover designs of the books that you’ve written or done art for. “And seriously, have a little self-respect,” the mods quip.
#25 No Man Knows My Pastries
Goatdown:
There is an attempt at humor here which is confusing because I don’t know if it is real or a joke. Either is plausible. Then I saw that it was published by a Mormon owned press, and I am now convinced that this must somehow be adjacent to Napolean Dynamite.
Image source: Dry-Impression-2403
#26 A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine L’engle
Image source: Other-Spell-342
#27 Fighting Fantasy Did Great Things. Terrible, But Great
Image source: CommanderFuzzy
We honestly can’t wait to hear your thoughts on these designs, Pandas. Which of these book covers do you think was the worst of the worst, and why? On the other hand, were there any covers that you genuinely liked, despite them being so quirky?
In your opinion, what is the very best book cover design that you’ve personally laid eyes on? Tell us all about it in the comments!
#28 2,000 Years In The Future And This Book Is The Only Surviving Work Of Literature
Image source: Hillbilly_Historian
#29 This Absolute Gem Of A Thriftstore Find
Image source: avibrant_salmon_jpg
#30 Bilbo Le Hobbit, By J. R. R. Tolkien
Image source: nyradiophile
#31 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Jew Lies
Image source: ureathrafranklin1
#32 Found This In A Bookstore In Alabama. I Regret Not Buying It
Image source: yeti_legs9000
#33 Poirot’s Early Cases By Agatha Christie (1979 Fontana Books Edition)
Image source: Ghosts_of_Bordeaux
#34 You Come Across Some Gems Working In A Used Bookstore
Image source: SweetCherryBee
#35 Orgullo Y Prejuicio By Jane Austen
Image source: Flowesque
#36 Recipes For Romance By I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!
Image source: FightinRndTheWorld
#37 Emma By Jane Austen
Image source: nigelghostdog
#38 Seen On A Pile At The Library
Image source: mistermajik2000
#39 Just Found This Sub, Thought You All Would Appreciate The Sodfather
Image source: MagisterOtiosus
#40 Witchcraft It Is
Image source: BookMansion
#41 Hello, My Name Is William Goldman. You Designed This Cover
Image source: InfiniteAccount4783
#42 Hatchet… Amazing Book, Terrible Original Cover. There’s Just Too Much Going On
Image source: AVeryBoredApple
#43 It’s Bootleg But Wonderful The Only Way I’m Reading Animal Farm Is If This Is The Cover. This Needs To Be Everywhere
Image source: Black-outbunny
#44 I Got Both My Alien Homeboys From Another Galaxy Pregnant By Quan Millz
Image source: Bud_The_Weiser
#45 Hi, I’m New Here, Is Posting Hippocampus Press Books Cheating?
Image source: Subliminal_Kiddo
#46 Fun Fact: The Author Is The Father Of (And Literally Wrote The Book On) Modern Psychological Warfare
Image source: Subliminal_Kiddo
#47 The Creation Of Human Ability By L. Ron Hubbard
Image source: GrodanHej
#48 I Think Orwell Deserves Way Better
Image source: BookMansion
#49 Secrets
Image source: unklethan
#50 Ten Things Doctors Won’t Tell You About Your Cpap Machine
Image source: reddit.com
#51 Does This Count?
Image source: Pure-Insanity-1976
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