Thoughts on Book Covers

I am beginning to think people in the writing community (right now, authors as well as cover designers) would not be thrilled to find out I'm interested in publication, just because...okay, here's the thing.  I'm critical.  If I read a book, for example, I will absolutely find something that I hated or found out of place/unnecessary, whether I liked the book or not.  That's why, while I have so many book review blogs I follow, none of them have completely sung to me.  The reviewers seem to like everything they buy/receive, unless it was horribly written, where it becomes a Did Not Finish (DNF).  This doesn't mean they give everything five stars or an A+ letter grade, but they always say something super positive about the book (whereas, if I were reviewing the book, I would say "It just sucked" and of course give my review based on why).

Today, my issue is about book covers. 

I read a guest post on a blog I like and check every day that dealt with a) the author's new book and b) readers that hate the covers of her books/books in general.  Here it is: http://wickedlilpixie.com/2011/01/19/making-the-best-with-emma-petersen/.  Basically, this woman has received emails from readers saying "Your cover is horrendous!" and judging the book by the cover, and she is trying to tell us don't do that.  She evens it out by saying it's also not a good idea as the author to write a blog post defending your super duper beautiful world-shatteringly amazing cover (totally not her words, by the way,but  I've seen other authors think of theirs covers in such a way), so props to her. 

However, one thing she says in her list of ways to not react to complaints of a bad cover, and I will direct quote it, is this: 2. Insult your cover artist and/or publisher and blame them for your cover.

Okay, here's the thing that's been bothering me for a while, even before she made her post.  There are two ways you could have a horrible cover.  The first way is, the cover looks awesome and beautiful, but the images on the front have zero to do with your writing.  In that case, I'd follow this lady's advice because the cover art isn't going to hurt book sales any.  The second way is, a professionally created cover looks like something an author could do on a basic photoshop program.  Here's the thing: If I, who has never used a photoshop program in my life, could do as good or better than my cover artist, maybe they're doing something wrong.  And maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least tell them "Hey, look, I appreciate it, but this cover isn't going to appeal to people."  I don't know much about the business of being a cover artist, but I'd think they'd get a cut from every book you sold.  If part of the problem is the cover, well, they're not making the money they thought they'd make and that might be a good angle to come from.  Sometimes it is okay to say something isn't working.