Famous Book Covers Changed to “Appeal to Women”

game-of-thrones-covers

There’s an author named Maureen Johnson who recently ran into a rather odd problem with her books. Guys liked to read them, but they wrote her saying they wished they didn’t have such girly covers, so they wouldn’t be embarrassed to read them in public.

“If you are a female author, you are much more likely to get the package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality. Because it’s ‘girly,’ which is somehow inherently different and easier on the palate. A man and a woman can write books about the same subject matter, at the same level of quality, and that woman is simple more likely to get the soft-sell cover with the warm glow and the feeling of smooth jazz blowing off of it. This idea that there are ‘girl books’ and ‘boy books’… gives credit to absolutely no one, especially not the boys who will happily read stories by women, about women. As a lover of books and someone who supports readers and writers of both sexes, I would love a world in which books are freed from some of these constraints.”

She decided to see what it would be like if famous books got “female-ized” versions of their covers. This isn’t to say these ACTUALLY appeal to women, it’s just what marketers THINK appeals to woman. The result? Some rather ridiculous book covers. I think Lord of the Flies might be my favorite. Check the rest out below.

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5 Comments

  1. You know, I actually had that problem with the “Women of the Otherworld” series. The old covers (and synopses) looked like god-cursed romance novels to the point that my wife actually questioned me about one when I left it on the counter. I found it an odd choice that such a pro-female series with more in common with Buffy than 50 Shades had such sexualized images of women on the cover. Eventually they changed the covers to way cooler character art, but I actually put off reading “Bitten” for years because the front and back were so misleading and I didn’t want to buy a lame romance novel.

  2. @Carmelo

    They aren’t manufactured, you might not acknowledge them but that doesn’t make your assertions correct.
    I could bury my head in the sand about things too, as it makes life easier. Not everyone is willing to do that, though.

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