Ugly Covers Competition – Week 1
September 1, 2011 38 Comments
It’s time to start the Ugly Covers Competition! Have you been looking forward to it? I know I have! And if this is the first you hear about it, you are very welcome to join in the fun!
Presenting: 6 ugly covers!
Here is how it works:
- A number of my blog readers have sent in pictures of ugly covers (thanks!).
- 6 of these are presented here today.
- Choose the cover you find most ugly (cover 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6).
- Fill out the form.
Below the form is information about the books and the people that submitted them, as well as some further information about the competition.
Covers 1, 2, and 3:
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Covers 4, 5, and 6:
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Remember the cover number and fill out this FORM to cast your vote. (You can hover over the book covers to see their cover number).
Further information about the books
Cover 1 – Hers by A. Alvarez. Submitted by Cindy of The Only Cin. She never finished the book.
Cover 2 – What Ever Happened to Jerry Picco? by Joe Florez. Submitted by Dorte of DJ’s Krimi Blog. “After the first few chapters I made up my mind it wasn´t really my taste. There were some funny characters (a dwarf stripper or something?), but the story as such did not appeal to me more than the cover. “
Cover 3 – This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun. Submitted by Her Royal Orangeness of Only Orangery. She didn’t read it.
Cover 4 –Â Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. Submitted by Leeswammes. I read it and loved it!
Cover 5 – Poison by Kathryn Harrison. Submitted by Pam of Bookalicious. She really dislikes that small window with the face in.
Cover 6 – Latecomers by Anita Brookner. Submitted by Jackie of Farmlane Books. She hasn’t read the book yet.
Further information about the competition
Each week for 6 weeks, I will show you 6 covers and you have to choose the ugliest one. Every week there will be one winning cover (in case of a draw, I will have the final say). The seventh week, we’ll have the 6 winning covers back, and the most ugly, absolutely impossibly awful cover will win the competition. This book will have the questionable honor of being the ugliest book we know of.
Your task is to vote for the ugliest cover each week. Of all participants who chose the final, winning, cover in one of the first 6 rounds, one will win a book of their choice. Hopefully one of the books displayed will suit you (an awful cover doesn’t mean an awful book), and otherwise, you can choose any other book from the Book Depository (or other solution if the BD doesn’t deliver in your country) up to a maximum value.
I can still use ugly covers, so please look at your shelves and send in the most awful one(s): jh303015 at gmail dot com.
Do fill out the form! Anyone can enter!
Psst! Is there a cover here that you secretly like?
About Leeswammes
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These are all pretty ugly. No. 4 looks like one of those cheap greeting cards painted by some amateur as far as I can see. Maybe you could link all the covers to a slightly bigger image so we can see the ugliness in its full slpendour. I voted.
Thanks for your vote, Rikki. Some of the images DO have a link to a bigger image, but that wasn’t possible for all of them. I’ll see if I can do better next week (but it depends where the picture comes from – in what format).
Tough choice! I actually like a couple of them though. I like the ‘This Blinding Absense of Light’ cover and I think it is a good reflection of the book’s contents. The book is very good. One of those really important ones that people should read, if only to see how much the human body can endure. I also quite like the Jerry Picco cover. For some reason I like the bold, cheesy-ness of it!
Jackie, I noticed that *This Blinding Absense of Light* was nominated for a prize or actually won. Thanks for the recommendation, I’d never heard of it.
The Jerry Pico over is so 1960/70s! I can’t make up my mind what I think of it.
Oh my hat … how to choose?
With your eye brows, Cindy! Which cover makes them come together in a frown the most? 🙂
I rather like 3 and 6, and have no particular problem with 4. 1 breaks my rule of no naked people thank you, and 2 and 5 are vying for the ultimate frown, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure 2 was very fashionable in the 1970s, as you say above.
Isn’t it funny how we all have different tastes, readingwithtea? It’s a good thing too or not many people would have bought those books!
Whoa! Those covers are really ugly. I suppose it’s easy to find these type of covers from the 70s. What would be really challenging would be to find ugly covers of favorite books!
Ok, it’s a tough choice but I’ll go with number 3! Number 1 and 4 are awful but there are tons like those. 5 & 6 are pretty bad but they’re just boring. So number 3 it is! It’s weird and ugly, ha, ha! I will try to find more covers for you!
Mrs. B. Actually, the book that is doing the job of Ugly Covers button (all the way at the top) was a book that I loved, but the cover is só ugly! 🙂
Yes, please help me to some more covers, that would be great.
I don’t mind number 3, the rest are pretty awful, especially number 2! Number 3 remind me of old womens books, and I just wouldn’t be seen dead with covers like these 😉
Louise, do you mean number 4 is an old women’s book? Because that’s what I thought, too.
oops…yes, that’s what I meant 😉
I think they are all pretty bad (except 3). I did vote.
I promise to look through my books for an ugly cover this weekend. I know I have some.
Thanks, Diane. Curious what you come up with. People have such differing ideas about what is ugly. 🙂
Cover 1 is horrible!!! I actually like cover 6
I’m OK with cover 6 myself, Novroz, although liking is too big a word. Funny how we all have different tastes!
Thanks for joining in!
I like the competition 🙂 Hopefully the authors or drawers of the cover won’t get angry…
Anyway, it was a difficult decision, but I have to say that cover one isn’t that ugly, but more pornographic. Cover 4 is a book I would probably have a look at, but not at the rest.
The choice was betweeen the 2 last ones. Finally I chose cover 4!
I also hope the authors don’t mind, Katrien. On the other hand, the books get some advertisement this way, even if it’s because of their cover.
Some aren’t as bad as others. But I don’t secretly like any of them. This is a cool competition though. It is really hard to think of really ugly covers, like real ugly. Some are eh….but I have to think real hard about ugly covers. Hmmmmm.
Lena, if covers were really, really ugly, they’d not be likely to sell. But I’ve already found out from today that for every ugly cover there is someone who likes it.
Except when the cover your sent is uncovered next week – that IS ugly. Brrrr. 🙂
I have ugly covers… I just need to get them to you! I will fire up the scanner and make copies of the worst of the bunch this weekend. My excuses: crazy week, turmoil at work (company was acquired a few weeks ago and I’m one of the survivors) and nice weather is keeping me outside.
Oh yes, Leslie, please sent in some really abominable covers! Don’t worry, there are things more important than covers, I understand.
Glad you survived at work but it must be sad to have had some colleague being laid off. Don’t you hate the expression “let go” when it comes to firing employees? As if they’ve been pulling on a lead, trying to escape. 🙂
It was a tough choice between covers 1 and 4, but I went for number 4. I don’t think I would ever buy a book with a cover like that. I do like number 6, though. Like you say, everyone has a different taste.
Nadine, cover 4 was mine, and I DID buy that book. I think I read it from the library first so I already knew I liked it.
Haha. No doubt in my mind; ´my horse´ is the ugliest of them all.
And when you consider the fact that it is a brand-new crime story with a dwarf-stripper, what is the POINT of that cover?
We’ll see, Dorte…. It seems that people have quite a varied view on what’s ugly. All the books have had at least one vote although there are of course some books that stand out. Come back next week for the results and more books. 🙂
I went with #2, but none of them seemed too ugly to me.
I am really going to try and look through my stacks this weekend for some ugly covers for you.
That would be great, Suzanen. See if you can find some uglier covers than what you see here.
I like #6 quite a bit! I don’t mind #2 except for the dreadful font. #4 isn’t horrid…it’s just very 1980s. It’s difficult to choose from this batch. I’m definitely curious to see who the winner is!
(As someone else said, larger photos would be very helpful. I looked up the books elsewhere so I could see the covers more easily).
Orangeness, isn’t it funny how people’s taste differ? I’ll try and get bigger pictures next time, I agree that would be helpful.
Do you have a photobucket account? You could upload the pics, resize as necessary, and post direct links to the pics. I think that would be an easy solution.
Orangeness, no I haven’t got a photobucket account but I’ll look into it. Thanks.
I ended up voting by the one I’d least want on my shelves. LOL.
I actually don’t mind Cover #3. Cover #4 screams women’s fiction but there are loads of books with covers like that. I think #2 is kind of fun and retro now. 😉
I think that’s the best strategy, Nat. I like it how everyone has different taste!
Number 1 really bugs me. No idea why! Number 6 isn’t ugly to me, but it does look dated.
Thanks for joining in, Dixie. I think number 1 is a strong contender for the ugliest book of this week!
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