Different authors w/same cover design

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acitore

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Hi all-

At some point in the near future, I'll be ready to have a cover created for my books. Which, after reading and perusing a lot about cover design using stock photos, got me wondering. What are the chances of 2 writers of the same genre using the same photo for their books? Does it happen often? What could be the consequences? Thanks!
 

Feldkamp

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I actually stumbled across a pretty interesting article about this topic last month: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/07/do-you-know-who-owns-your-book-cover/

If you're using stock photos, odds are that a cover exists out there with the same image. It's an unavoidable consequence of non-exclusive images. Fortunately, there is such a massive amount of books on the market that you may never find that cover twin.

Really, the best protection you can afford yourself when using a stock photo is to have it altered in someway.

Even still, if the image/text/colors all come together in a professional and genre appeasing manner, it's not really going to matter that someone else used the same image.
 

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There are whole blogs set up to discuss duplicate images on book covers. But it's not really an issue, as few people notice, and so long as your book doesn't appear at the same time as another with the same image, or it doesn't have the same image as a book in the same genre, you should be fine.
 

Marlys

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Google Images will search by image, so you can check to see if the picture you want to use is already on someone else's cover. If it's not, perfect. If it is, you can see how they're using it and decide whether you want to do the same, or make changes, or use something entirely different.
 

acitore

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Okay! Thanks for the good feedback on this.
 

Elly_Green

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Google Images will search by image, so you can check to see if the picture you want to use is already on someone else's cover. If it's not, perfect. If it is, you can see how they're using it and decide whether you want to do the same, or make changes, or use something entirely different.

I second this. I do it all the time. So far, I've been creatively lucky and none of my covers, using stock photography, look vastly similar to others. Definitely Google Image search.
 

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If an image is used on one book just as it is, on another set into an oval frame, and on another with very a dominant title and author name, a Google images search might not recognise that the same image is used on all three books. Don't rely on it if this is a worry for you.
 

marinapr9

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Hi all-

At some point in the near future, I'll be ready to have a cover created for my books. Which, after reading and perusing a lot about cover design using stock photos, got me wondering. What are the chances of 2 writers of the same genre using the same photo for their books? Does it happen often? What could be the consequences? Thanks!

This is overcome by a good artist who will ensure the stock photo is manipulated so that it is unique enough to look different from anywhere else.
 

Toothpaste

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It's honestly not such a big deal as long as you aren't sharing an image that has become iconic with a really popular book. Most people aren't reading all the things, and aren't likely to know your image was used before. But yes, I agree with the others that with a good designer you can make an image look very different.

And now it's time to link to the girl with the birdcage post :) (talk about an oft repeated image on covers . . . ) :

http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.ca/2011/11/if-she-could-just-meet-man-by-fence.html
 

Orianna2000

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There is one stock cover that keeps popping up on historical romance novels at Amazon. I've spotted this exact cover on at least four different self-published novels, all by different authors. It shows a dark blonde woman in a gold dress with a dark-haired gentleman in a blue coat leaning over her. (See one of them here.)
 

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You didn't say what genre your book is, but as a suggestion, if you're writing Romance, I'd recommend for your cover taking your own photographs of scantily-clad women.

caw
 

allz28

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I run across it occasionally, but it doesn't matter much. It will only matter to those few people who have already seen the cover before and most people aren't that perceptive.
 

Orianna2000

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I just stumbled across yet another self-published novel with this exact same cover! That makes five examples I've found so far that use the same stock image. Although, I will admit that it's a very pretty photograph, and finding stock photos of couples in period costume must be extremely difficult.
 

Maryn

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FWIW, there are publishers who use the same photograph on different books in a single genre. So far as I can tell, it's not harmed anyone.

But if you want it to be yours alone, you may have to pay for exclusive rights to a photograph, or hire a photographer and a cover artist (or do the work yourself) to create a unique cover.

Maryn, who once scanned hundreds of titles seeking the same image--and found it five or six times
 

Lena Hillbrand

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I've also seen a cover on 5 different books that I stumbled across in one week! I have liked a premade cover design but decided not to buy it when I saw the same image on another book. But it wouldn't stop me from buying a BOOK that had a good synopsis, etc. So I wouldn't worry *too* much about it.
 

Lhowling

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I've seen a stock photo I've used for a cover on another book. Luckily my book was only available via a mailing list, but even if it wasn't then I doubt it would make a big difference.

Also I've been to photo sites with plenty of photos that I've already seen on book covers. I tend to avoid them, as there are so many other alternatives. I wrote for the erotica genre. Now I'm getting better at manipulating my photos so you can't tell the difference.
 

girlyswot

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You didn't say what genre your book is, but as a suggestion, if you're writing Romance, I'd recommend for your cover taking your own photographs of scantily-clad women.

caw

Yeah, I wouldn't do this unless you are a very good photographer, with a studio handy, and a model who won't expect to be paid the going rate. Otherwise it's a really expensive way of ending up with a bad cover.
 

Brutal Mustang

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There is one stock cover that keeps popping up on historical romance novels at Amazon. I've spotted this exact cover on at least four different self-published novels, all by different authors. It shows a dark blonde woman in a gold dress with a dark-haired gentleman in a blue coat leaning over her. (See one of them here.)

Oh dear! :roll:

I am so glad I'm a professional artist, and can paint my own cover art.
 
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