What do you do when you get two ARCs of the same title from the wonderful people at Wunderkind PR? Review one and host a giveaway for the other of course. Details below.
Back in February, I posted both the original and the revised covers for Kelley Armstrong’s 11th Women of the Otherworld book, WAKING THE WITCH. There was no explanation that I could find for the change, just the covers:
They didn’t remake the wheel here. It’s basically a modification of the original: the motorcycle and clothing are the same (except Savannah is now wearing a brown belt). The big difference is that we can now see all of Savannah, which I vastly prefer.
Flash forward to June. I’m reading a review for Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick on the always excellent Dirty Sexy Books and she has the cover for the next book in that series, Midnight Crystal. Notice anything familiar? And it’s suddenly much clearer why they changed covers.
Midnight Crystal is published by Jove, and WAKING THE WITCH is published by Dutton, both of which are part of Penguin Group. Share and share alike I guess. But these are both prominent authors and to have such similar covers (even after the revisions to WAKING THE WITCH) releasing within a month of one another doesn’t seem like the brightest idea to me. Am I wrong? What do you think about cover copycats?
Giveaway
Giveaway courtesy of Wunderkind PR
One ARC copy of WAKING THE WITCH by Kelley Armstrong
*This title will be released on July 27, 2010*
Book Description
The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to throw her magical weight around. But at 21 she knows she needs to grow up and prove to her guardians, Paige and Lucas, that she can be a responsible member of their supernatural detective agency. So she jumps at the chance to fly solo, investigating the mysterious deaths of three young women in a nearby factory town as a favor to one of the agency's associates. At first glance, the murders look garden-variety human, but on closer inspection signs point to otherworldly stakes.
Soon Savannah is in over her head. She's run off the road and nearly killed, haunted by a mystery stalker, and freaked out when the brother of one of the dead women is murdered when he tries to investigate the crime. To complicate things, something weird is happening to her powers. Pitted against shamans, demons, a voodoo-inflected cult and garden-variety goons, Savannah has to fight to ensure her first case isn't her last. And she also has to ask for help, perhaps the hardest lesson she's ever had to learn.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from WAKING THE WITCH
Giveaway Guidelines
- Open to US only
- Leave a comment answering the question above & a way to contact you if you win.
- Entries must be received by Midnight MST on July 19th
I’d love it if you shared this giveaway on your blog or favorite social networks.
Interested in offering a giveaway on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
If I were (either) author, I think I would be pretty upset over the covers being copycats. Even with the change, it's clear to see it's the same chick and bike and background.
ReplyDeletebooksake(at)yahoo(dot)com
I don't think the the copy covers was intentional...they probably have a catalog of royal free images....but with popular authors, I would think that they would have someone model for them and make thier own... I have seen this thing happen before...tae your banner for instance. I don't think there was any intention to copy between your banner maker, and the other authors who have used the images...Truth be told, I like the new cover better.....so perhaps it was a good thing that they caught it...otherwise it would have sucked.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your post...I hope that you will put my in the drawing for the book.
ladyrogue(at)ymail(dot)com
I think they do this because they think most readers will not notice, which is true. Us online book enthusiasts represent just a small percentage of the readers out there. Most folks don't see the final cover until it's on the shelves or in finalized posters in the bookstore.
ReplyDeleteGood catch on the covers! I remember the first cover for Armstrong's book but didn't put it together with Castle book.
donna[.]locklin [at] gmail[.]com
I really like the newer cover version. It is so much more "personal" to Savannah. As far as the cover copycats, well that would really have been bad if both final versions looked the same. I think it is okay that they used it for the other book because it is a good cover, it just didn't fit Savannah. She isn't one to be hidden. :)
ReplyDeletekclapsadl at gmail . com
I prefer the new version of the cover. I'm just glad they caught the duplicate covers before they both went out to the mass public.
ReplyDeletebeckerjo@verizon.net
Ah, the perils of using stock photography. I assume that's what happened at least.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that the 'chick on a motorcycle' cover is completely a-typical for Jayne Castle's stuff. I've never seen that before, so if it came to a throw-down of who *should* have changed their cover, I would've told Castle's people to switch theirs.
In the end, I think it helps Armstrong though. I like her new cover much better anyway.
I really don't like when I see a book cover and then see the same cover on another book. Even if the picture is slightly altered, it ruins it for me. Maybe I'm weird like that but I want a book to have its own unique cover that is related to the content of the book. It even bugs me if the characters are completely far off from what the cover has them looking like. I've seen authors say they have no clue who the person on the cover is supposed to be in the book. Why can't they find people or objects that are related to the book? I dunno. It's just a pet peeve of mine.
ReplyDeletetotalbookaholic[at]hotmail[dot]com
I first saw Waking the Witch's cover at BEA (the revised one) on one of the "walls" at Penguin's area. I fell in love with it.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the original one, I can definitely say that the revised is way better. It's more visually appealing, and I always love seeing how other people envision the hero or heroine of a book. Plus, the clouds form a sort of halo around the heroine. It's a cool effect all around.
In regards to the copycat covers, I don't think it's a particularly smart idea. That just screams laziness... plus, should we then assume that the heroines, or maybe even the stories, are similar because the covers are?
I don't mind similar covers but these are almost identical! I'm surprised Ms. Armstrong had to change her cover if hers was done first...although I do like the new cover I wish they would have left her shirt tucked in.
ReplyDeletebookaddictpatti at cox dot net
I like the new Waking the Witch cover much better (except for the pants being so low and being able to see Savannah's hip). I am surprised that they would just switch the cover art from one book to another like that and I don't think I'd be too happy about that if I were either author.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read Waking the Witch so I'd love to win a copy!
angela.donner (at) gmail.com
They are probably just stock photos they had and different editors and authors. Sh*t Happens.
ReplyDeleteblackbirdpondwitch@gmail.com
I would be pretty upset if it was my book.
ReplyDeletetwoofakind12@yahoo.com
I think someone wasn't doing their job - and really, I don't think the motorcycle cover fits with the Jayne Castle book. It's supposed to be on another world and I'm not even sure they have motorcycles on Harmony. I'm glad they changed the cover for Waking the Witch, I like it much better. I've seen "cover copycats" before, where you can see that they used the same model and/or stock photo and just changed a few things around, but I wouldn't expect that to happen with more prominent authors.
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951(at)aol(dot)com
Usually when covers us the same artwork there is a significant change in design. This is the first time I have seem two cover which were basically identical. Someone was either lazy or simply messed up big time. I prefer the full body image myself.
ReplyDeleterobin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com
I really don't mind similar covers (using the same images with alterations)but identical covers is a little much. To me the cover should reflect the story so it bothers me when two dissimilar books have virtually the same cover.
ReplyDeleteOther than looking them up to post with the review or seeing them in other people's post, I don't really look at book covers that often any more. Now that I read mostly eBook, I don't see the cover every time I pick up the book. I guess I haven't considered how many books look so similar. I wonder if there is even a way for them to have known if they were releasing so close to each other.
ReplyDeleteTara SG - contact@taraSG.com
Sadly, I am a huge cover shopper and I can see problems with the similarities. If I had already purchased one of these books and saw the other on a shelf - I would probably not pick it up, thinking that I already had it. Of course that is discounting the many times I have purchased the same book because I thought it looked great - only to find that it was already in my TBR. On the other hand - I would be unhappy about the similarities if I were the authors - only because when you work so hard on something, the least the publisher can do is find original artwork for the cover you don't usually get to choose. I am sure it was an accident, but I wonder how many times it has happened. Thanks for hosting the contest. Please enter me. bevsharp@desch.org
ReplyDeleteI think it's horrible. Employ more artists!! Besides if someone knew the cover of one and picked up the other by mistake, wouldn't you be upset? I don't think there is any excuse to not be more creative in their use of artists work.
ReplyDeletebooks (dot) things (at) yahoo (dot) com
Even though I LOVE covers and cover art, it doesn't really bother me when they use or re-use the same art, especially when it's a good one.
ReplyDeleteI know I'd feel differently if I wrote the book however. In that case, I think it's unfair to both authors.
I imagine they take many pictures and many poses before they make a cover complete and dont think there is any reason why they cant use the photos for something else to save money or time. I do agree with them switching the cover so it wasnt the same as another though. I dont think any cover should be the same as someone elses.
ReplyDeleteChllybrd(at)gmail(dot)com
The whole situation is really a shame. The new WTW cover is an excellent representation of Savannah and the book (my review will be up soon), and I'm hearing from most of you that the Jayne Castle books don't typically look this way. If I had to guess at what happened, I'd say that the original WTW cover was commissioned & then revised for whatever reason, and rather then totally scrapping the original cover it got assigned to another book.
ReplyDeleteAnd really, this kind of thing happens a lot. The cover for THE DARK DIVINE, for example, has been on three different books that I know of (in different colors, but still). Including a foreign Kelley Armstrong title.
Someone in the publishing office isn't using their communication skills. Or maybe the choice was made to do a different cover for Kelley's book that was a better fit for Kelley's book. They still had a good cover and used it for Jayne's book.
ReplyDeleteVWinship at aol dot com
love this cover and savannah needs a cover with a badass heroine. Cause that is what savannah will be imo. And yeah the Jayne Castle books don't normally have covers like this. but and I had to check Kelly Armstrong's books are not really like that either. Oh well I am looking forward to reading both of these books not matter what is on the cover.
ReplyDeleteforgot my email addy
ReplyDeletescrtsbpal at yahoo dot com
I think covers should be made specifically for the story/character. What they did I think is, for lack of a better word, cheap. Or maybe cheesy. But it worked out for Armstrong because the new cover is much better looking.
ReplyDeleteb(dot)cardone(at)hotmail
Wow. I've seen a ton of similar covers but never practically the exact same one. I'm glad they gave Kelley Armstrong a new cover because she must have been upset to see another book with the SAME one! I like both covers but this new one is nicer. Something about covers that cut off the heads, kind of annoys me.
ReplyDeleteI tweeted about this giveaway at this link: http://bit.ly/b7jCS2
sweetangel6907202 at yahoo dot com
Considering how little stock photographers are paid, Editors/Publishers get what they pay for by not commissioning new artwork for a cover.
ReplyDeleteI think this is terrible! If they are going to use stock photography, at least make sure it hasn't already been used. If it was my book I would be highly ticked off!!
ReplyDeletemlawson17 at hotmail dot com
I dont like copycat covers I know most people dont notice but us avid readers sure will.
ReplyDeletewanda f
flanagan@mebtel.net
Don't enter me in the contest, I'm outside the US, but I like the revised cover, not only because it was so similar to the Jayne Castle cover, but I think the new cover is just a whole lot more sexier and portrays Savannah a lot better than the first cover! Oh, and have you seen the Canadian cover? This is what mine will look like: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Waking-The-Witch-Kelley-Armstrong/9780307357595-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%27waking+the+witch%27
ReplyDeleteAs a bookseller, I find it hard when publishers do things like this simply because the customers come in and give me a description and I can't find the right one because there are multiple books with the same or nearly the same cover.
ReplyDeleteWe went through 7 books (several years ago) for a customer because they all had hand prints on them. In a super small bookstore, we came up a bunch.
Considering the popularity of the paranormal genre now, someone comes in looking for a chick with a short shirt and a tattoo I'd be at a complete loss to help them out. Everyone misses out in that situation.
Variety is a wonderful thing.
I'm not really a fan of either cover (but then I am partial to the British versions of all the WotO covers).
ReplyDeleteAs for copyrights.....well they do belong to the publisher. They can use and reuse them to their heart's content, no matter how little relevance the stock design has to the content of the book.
Woops! Forgot my email...
ReplyDeletecass at feministdracona dot net
Man thats like going to a party and finding out that somebody is whering the same dress as you are.I like the new cover better.
ReplyDeletesasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com
I prefer the new cover for Kelley Armstrong's book. As for the copy cat covers, just glad they caught it before they came out.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of glad for the cover change. I think the newer one fits more with the way the covers are looking now. Before we wouldn't really see the "woman", her back, shoulder, something, but never her face. Even Frostbitten does this too, but Personal Demon and Living with the Dead let us see the woman's face.
ReplyDeletePlus I didn't know that there was a similar cover out there compared to the old one. I think it would make things difficult for the authors if the books were left as is.
AWESOME contest! I tried to get an ARC months ago at RT but failed. Here's my second chance!! Crossing my fingers tightly!
I think that similar covers are pretty common since a lot of publisher's use stock artwork but those covers were way too close.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the cover similarity for these titles is unfortunate. These are major works, each with long publication forecasts. It almost looks like someone's been making major cuts in the art department. Not good. But your contest? Fantastic! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI know that if I were the author I'd be pretty upset...
ReplyDeletepeanut4president @ yahoo com
I think there are a lot of covers that are very similar, given the tough girl persona in most of the urban fantasy books out now. Personally, I don't usually notice since I buy most of my books for my book reader.
ReplyDeleterosie0512 @ hotmail . com
I am really glad they changed it as I like the new cover a bit better. But if I was the authors I would be a little upset that this happened. I mean if it was completely different publishers that would be one thing. But for them both coming from the same parent company, this should never happen. They should have a record or a check on images used.
ReplyDeleteAwesome I love kelley armstrong
ReplyDeleteelizabethcerna2011@gmail.com
I think it is one thing to have slightly similar covers, but having the same exact cover with barely any alterations is ridiculous. I have seen some books with the same photo, but it was tweaked so much you couldn't immediately tell it was the same...I think that is okay but still kind of iffy.
ReplyDeletethrouthehaze at gmail dot com
Oh my, that's quite the fiasco. But at least the new cover is looking great!
ReplyDeletelanakapana010@gmail.com
It's a little annoying. But if I passed a shelf with the new Waking the Witch cover and the Midnight Crystal Cover I probably wouldn't notice.
ReplyDeleteI like the changes to Waking the Witch it looks exciting and mysterious. The model's position in the first cover is rather passive and chopping off the head doesn't draw me in as much.
It's one thing for two covers to be similar, but these two are almost exactly the same! I think I would be quite annoyed (to put it mildly) and would rant quite a bit to whomever would listen until it was changed. At least neither book will actually have the same cover anymore, but what a nightmare if they had both been released with that cover!
ReplyDeleteI think its hard cause there is only so many ideas to come up with for book covers. Other previous books will inspire new covers. I absolutely love the new cover. The otherworld series is definitely my favorite books ever.
ReplyDeleteI like both covers. I used to much prefer the covers which showed the full character, but recently changed my mind after seeing that most of the latest romance covers don't show the guy's face. You can use your own creativity to decide how he should look based on what the author mentions in the book. This is much better than the sometimes wildly inaccurate covers they come up with (Did the designer even read a character description much less the book? Maybe not since the same cover was potentially used for two books.)
ReplyDeleteacm05atjuno.com
I find copycat covers confusing when I'm trying to remember my response to a book I read two or three years ago or longer.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I just found your website today and am so glad! Great reviews.
Lynn
I think it's a shame they almost used the same cover art twice and I'm glad they changed it. It seems like potential readers might skip whichever of the two novels comes out second, thinking s/he had already purchased it! I also like having a head on my cover model, although some might say it gets in the way of visualizing the protagonist. At least this one does look like Savannah.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book! Thanks for the great giveaway!
I associate a book a lot of times with its cover, so seeing two not only similar but completely identical covers would confuse me. If I were an author this would seriously infuriate me. (one of the most important sign of uniqueness the "face" of my book would be a copy, not even mentioning the fact that it could result in serious income losses since people would think they already read the book!)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Kelley Armstrong went witha different cover, I like the final one much better than the first one!
Thank you for this giveaway!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
It's obviously the same stock photo. Maybe the second published book didn't know about the first using that photo, but I would think the publisher would have to know these things. It's a bit messed up, it's too similar.
ReplyDeletejuliecookies(at)gmail.com
i like the new cover better - with her hair blowing in the background, it looks more magical, y'know?
ReplyDeleteas for the identical covers, wow! i've seen repeats pop up on books before, but usually a good amount of time apart (like years!). i think someone dropped the ball on that one....
k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com
The company must have cover images already made that could be used on any book they choose to put it on. If I was the author I would like to have an original cover made specifically for my book when it was released, but I guess that doesn't always happen and the author probably doesn't have a whole lot of say in what it looks like when it comes out. I agree that the new one looks better.
ReplyDeletepeacelily_2006(at)yahoo(dot)com
Having two books with the same covers is totally confusing. I would be very upset if I grabbed the wrong book when I have read all the reviews online, saw it on the shelf, then got home and discovered it was an entirely different book. I do think the new cover is much better looking, and makes the two books look different, that's good enough for me.
ReplyDeletelinda (at) gordonvalley (dot) com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like the new cover for Wake the Witch. I am really glad that they caught the fact that they were copys with only a very few changes.
ReplyDeleteThe new cover is much improved. I agree that seeing her completely makes the cover better.
ReplyDeleteFor a big publishing company, I would think that they could be a bit more creative than that. Seriously, I can't imagine that the same cover works perfectly for 2 different books.
heatwave96(at)hotmail.com
I often get annoyed at copycat covers. It can get confusing when trying to remember if you've read a book before!
ReplyDeleteWe had to delete our comments from yesterday and copy and paste them here because we had forgot to leave an email. Sorry for any confusion.
ReplyDeleteHusbands opinion: No I don't like cover copy cats. If there imagination is so limited that they have to use the same art for different books in different genres then at least talk to the author to get their input because at least we know they have an imagination.
The new cover is much better, so it ends up as a win for Kelly Armstrong. I can't say how the artwork affects the other author since I have never heard of her.
Wife's opinion: I agree with my husband on the revised WTW cover, it is visually more eye catching.
As far as the cover snafu, it is embarassing for Penguin group (more so if they had actually been published) and shows that their pubishing houses must not communicate well with each other (very common in large multi-divisional companies). Abigail is probably on the right track in that they already had the cover done and they needed to use it somewhere. I am sure the economy and the suffering publishing business had probably a bit too much to do with this decision.
Dawn & Ron
noseeroda(at)aol(dot)com
Nope. Not a good idea. I think the publisher should have waited to reuse this image. Even with the overall finish of the color does little to mask that the cover is the same.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I like this cover better for waking the witch!
lllinthe808[at]gmail[dot]com
Thanks for this giveaway. I am a HUGE WoTO fan!!
I am more inclined to pick up the newer covoer. It stinks that others are copy cats. I judge a book by its cover and if its a cover I have seen already, I don't buy it.
ReplyDeletekjovus@gmail.com
I think every book should have a unique cover. If I were the author, I would be extremely upset if my cover was used for another book.
ReplyDeleteLeilani
vampiregirl813@gmail.com
I've noticed this before with a different series. It was the same picture, but they flipped it. I was slightly disappointed, but I guess it happens more than we know. Also, I like the new cover better. It has a more dramatic effect!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
ferretvamp14[at]live[dot]com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a shame they almost used the same cover art twice and I'm glad they changed it. It seems like potential readers might skip whichever of the two novels comes out second, thinking s/he had already purchased it!
ReplyDeleteacouponaddict@charter.net
I think each book should have a cover made just for them, it's not fair to authors or readers to have books with the same covers.
ReplyDeletemiztik_rose@yahoo.com
I think the cover copy cats thing is confusing! I sometimes have enough trouble trying to remember what I've bought or read without having to figure out that two books have the same cover!
ReplyDeletemeredithfl at gmail dot com
It's one of the pleasures of being a reader to see the diverse covers that are out there. Maybe I'm taking it to far, but I look at book covers like people look at fine art galleries. I can obsess about them, start up debates on what scenes from the books inspired it, or even if the character is depicted well. Seeing copy cat covers is like a slap in the face, like the book—and the reader—has been robbed.
ReplyDeleteIf I was an author I'd hate to find out that my cover was already on someone else's book.
goldeneyeddragon(at)gmail(dot)com
Cover copycats is annoying! The style of a book cover is how I remember which book is in what series so it's frustrating when I get recycled images.
ReplyDeleteLadytink_534(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would be very upset seeing this....
ReplyDeletevidishamun@gmail.com
I think it's horrible! Where has all of our creativity gone? I mean, can't they come up with something new for books and not copy each other? It's just sad!
ReplyDeletetwilightforever.edward(at)gmail(dot)com