Different books, exact same cover

Quossum · Apr 27, 2009

Okay, I just thought this was freaky:

They're very different books; the one on the left is a non-fiction book about dog training, and the one on the right is a YA novel. How strange is it that the exact same image came to be used for both of them? Isn't there some sort of rule concerning this?

Slightly tongue-in-cheek there, but I think I would feel a little weird if my book got a recycled cover. Anyone seen such a thing before?

--Q

bettielee · Apr 27, 2009

Hmmm... this is the perfect time for the phrase "somebody just screwed the pooch."
:snoopy:

Am I gonna get in trouble for saying that?

maestrowork · Apr 27, 2009

Not strange at all. They often use stock photos and with so many books out there, they may have used the same picture without knowing another book already used it.

mlhernandez · Apr 27, 2009

Happens all the time in romance and chick lit.

BenPanced · Apr 27, 2009

An image that I saw on a greeting card was used for a book cover.

Or was it a book cover image I'd seen was used for a greeting card?

Wayne K · Apr 28, 2009

I saw them use the same picture on a can of soup and a painting.

Fox The Cave · Apr 28, 2009

I smell the work of Publish America...

Cyia · Apr 28, 2009

The use of the same dog isn't all that strange, as someone said - stock images. However, the use of the same dog on a minimalist cover with identical background is very weird.

How far apart were the books published?

susangpyp · Apr 28, 2009

It's not just the stock photo but the colors and everything. I know that my cover is similar to others and I balked about it when we were in the design phase, but as the publisher said, "How many ways is there to illustrate a broken heart?" But with dogs, I think there must be a zillion ways to avoid the same cover.

Barb D · Apr 28, 2009

Fox The Cave said:
I smell the work of Publish America...

Ruff Love is Clean Run Productions 2002. They publish dog training books.
How to Steal a Dog is Square Fish 2009. It looks like they're a division of Macmillan.

unicornjam · Apr 28, 2009

Ha ha ha. Weird. But couldn't it be possible that the dog's picture was taken in a minimalist, yellow environment, anyway?

The Lonely One · Apr 28, 2009

unicornjam said:
Ha ha ha. Weird. But couldn't it be possible that the dog's picture was taken in a minimalist, yellow environment, anyway?

I think you're right. It doesn't look like a complete cutout because the shadows hold a yellow hue.

melaniehoo · Apr 28, 2009

This happened to my aunt with this book. It was just the iceberg, but was still surprising to her.

Quossum · Apr 28, 2009

unicornjam said:
Ha ha ha. Weird. But couldn't it be possible that the dog's picture was taken in a minimalist, yellow environment, anyway?

Seeing the book in real life, one can tell that the photo was taken that way, in a yellow-background environment (though the dangling bone [which reads "IAMS," BTW] might well be photoshopped in).

I apologize for the image breaking; I thought imageshack pictures would stay there.

Here's Ruff Love:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892694069/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

Here's How to Steal a Dog:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312561121/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

When I first got the Ruff Love book, I was naive enough to think that, as a publication from a small, specific-genre company from a "famous" (in the dog training world) author, that the picture on the front was of *her* dog, taken specifically for the cover of the book.

When I saw the other book, I realized it must be a stock image, but it was still a little jarring!

That iceberg is classic! Thanks!

--Q

Different books, exact same cover

Quossum

bettielee

I'm a sparkly fairy princess!

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

mlhernandez

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

Wayne K

Fox The Cave

I get cancer. I kill Jack.

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

susangpyp

Barb D

unicornjam

The Lonely One

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

melaniehoo

And thus we begin the edits

Quossum