In my daily perusal of new ebooks, certain things catch my eye. Most things repeat ad infitum, like Billionaire, Highlander, The Chosen One, marriage of convenience, mail-order bride, Born to the Blade (ooh, wait, a knife-wielding heroine? I’m in! Unless she’s a fiery redhead daughter of a Highlander king)–oh, and there’s always the lame questions that don’t tempt me to try a new book: “Will she learn to trust again?” Judging by the naked male torso with six-pack abs on the cover, I’d bet my firstborn the answer is “Hell Yes.”
Speaking of hell, two fiery book covers showed up in today’s Daily Deals email:
Do I judge a book by the cover? Sure. Do I see too much of the same “look” and stock images for sale? Sure. Does that mean I’m calling these covers trite, or cliched? No, I’m not saying that. Just sayin’ last year, the close-up of a face (often wearing a hood) prevailed:
![41QjZoNKgnL[1]](https://carolkean.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/41qjzonkgnl1.jpg?w=107&h=171)
Woman walking dog has also been trending:
This year, I’m not seeing as much of the guy with the hoodie, or anywhere near as many faces staring directly at the reader. These days: #1, The Road; #2, the lone person seen from behind, walking toward the horizon. (This is not a bad thing. Just an observation.)
![61KZ2o1NxGL[1]](https://carolkean.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/61kz2o1nxgl1.jpg?w=239&h=361)
![51nF4A0+B0L[1]](https://carolkean.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/51nf4a0b0l1.jpg?w=233&h=362)
Here we have the trend of a face superimposed over another image:
Or the ubiquitous naked male torso:
My children sneer at anything that looks “photoshopped by some high school kid,” which includes covers that I think look just fine. (What does Mom know?)
The silhouette of a woman in a long, flowing dress was all the rage, but up next, the close-up of the buttons (or the bare back of the woman) is sure to be widely imitated:
I love colorful covers and original artwork:
BookBub covers just about all the trends in one March 28, 2015, newsletter:
What book covers get your attention? Which ones make you flip, fast, to the next book deal of the day?
carolkean 
If it worked for other books, then it has to work again! Or, that seems to be the modus operandi for those that are creating indie book covers these days. Romance books seem particularly guilty of this. It is either a 3/4 mostly nude buff male, or a nude couple embracing.
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Uh, oh. my upcoming book, Amarantox, has a cover with “lone person seen from behind, walking toward the horizon.” 😛 I think a book’s cover is the first “reader promise” an author makes, and it can be difficult to be original while at the same time telling readers what they’ll get when they open the book. I had people thinking that my original Botanicaust cover was an erotica, hence the change (much as I am still in love with the first cover.)
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Oh no! I didn’t mean to suggest the trends were cliches, or were over-done. I love your book covers, Tam!!
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<– Oversensitive me!
You do call them Trendy in the blog title, not cliche 🙂
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Tam, I would never *knowingly* say, in public, something to disparage an author I respect, admire, and eagerly await the next book of — er, “an author I respect and admire and whose next book I eagerly await” – *phew*!
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There are plenty of books that didn’t impress me – no need to tap into books I love when seeking examples of recurring themes (the billionaire, the Highlander, the feisty redhead) or tropes (what’s wrong with tropes?) or cliches. Your writing is not cliched, nor is your cover art. I just have one complaint: someone said your original Botanicaust cover spelled “romance novel” so you changed it? Eep! I love the original cover!
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This would not only be the basis for a fun topic for graphics but also a suitable topic for an SF convention panel.
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I agree!
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