Would You Trust an Author Whose Book Cover Can't Get Its Character's Legs Right?
Two Legs, One Trouser Leg, and a Book on Amazon.
I keep seeing posts in my Facebook feed from people publishing books on Amazon, and the front covers are almost always AI-generated. And it's obvious.
One had too many fingers. Another had a head on the wrong way round. Then I saw an image of a cartoon girl lying on her front, feet tucked underneath her, except both legs were coming out of one jeans leg.
I mean, seriously. How do you not notice that?
The thing is, these are book covers. They're supposed to sell a story, establish a mood and give you some idea of what you're about to read. Yet some people are publishing covers with glaring mistakes that suggest they haven't even looked properly at the image they've generated.
AI can produce an image in seconds, but that doesn't mean the result is good. If you're using it to sell something, surely you have a responsibility to check what you've produced.
A hand with six fingers might slip past someone in a complicated image. But two legs emerging from one trouser leg? Surely you notice that before putting it on a book cover and publishing it on Amazon.
And this is where it becomes more than just a ridiculous picture.
So another question is "why would I trust an author who can't be bothered to check their own book cover"?
A book cover doesn't have to be a masterpiece. It doesn't even have to be particularly elaborate. But if you're asking people to spend money on your book, surely the cover should look as though somebody has taken the time to check it.
If I see a character with six fingers or two legs coming out of one jeans leg, I start wondering about the person who published it.
Did they not notice? Did they notice and not care? And if they haven't checked something so immediately visible, how much care have they taken over the rest of the product?
Perhaps that's unfair. A dodgy cover doesn't necessarily mean a dodgy book. But first impressions matter, and a book cover is part of the product you're asking people to buy.
If you're going to publish a book, at least make sure the person on the cover has their legs in the right trouser legs.