Line #50 Main/TrendCovers


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mvcye6ew_7859.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Literature/WutheringHeights The classic]] … revamped!]]
5
6	One book or movie becomes a phenomenon. Next thing you know, practically every book or movie of an even remotely similar genre gets a cover or a poster that takes the design motif of the phenomenon's. This isn't just new books or movies either. Sometimes old books or movies get a re-release (in the case of movies this means a new DVD) with a new cover that does this.
7
8	Sometimes, this is a good thing, bringing new attention to a work that deserves it. More often, it's just pointless.
9
10	Distinct from just pure homage, where the cover is deliberately designed to make the viewer think of that specific work -- this is a marketing thing. Also different from tie-in covers, which exist to let movie-goers know that the thing they saw was based on a book. (Even Twilight got those, for some reason.)
11
12	See also: CopycatCover, which is this trope taken to the point to quasi-marketing fraud.
13	-----
14	!!Examples:
15
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:''Twilight''-inspired]]
20	[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Twilightbook.jpg Minimalist cover consisting of one symbolic object against a dark background.]]
21
22	%% * The pictured ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' cover. They've also done some [[http://thetwilightfiles.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/twilight-themed-covers-of-bellas-3-favorite-novels/ others]].
23	%% * The UK covers to the new ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_vd1.jpg Vampire Diaries]]'' [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_vd2.jpg bind-ups]]
24	%% * A new [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_flowers_attic.jpg bind-up]] of V.C. Andrews's incest classics ''Literature/FlowersInTheAttic'' and ''Petals in the Wind''.
25	* Aprilynne Pike's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_winga.jpg Wings.]]'' The color scheme is different, but let's see here: One lone (preferably floral) image in the middle of the cover? Check. Curly font title? Check. ''Blurb from Stephenie Meyer?'' Check.
26	%% * Cyn Balog's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_fairy_tale.jpg Fairy Tale]]''.
27	%% * Janni Lee Simner's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_faerie_bones.jpg Bones of Faerie.]]''
28	%% * Cynthia Leitich Smith's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tantalize_eternal_blessed.jpg Eternal.]]''
29	%% * Lisa [=McMann's=] ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_wake.jpg Wake]]'' trilogy.
30	* Elizabeth Chandler's ''Dark Secrets'' series and ''Kissed By An Angel'' trilogy got [[http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Elizabeth-Chandler/706206/books bind-up re-releases]] with solitary ~symbolic~ items on a black background.
31	%% * Check out this [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_warriror_old_magic.jpg cover]] for Marianne Curley's ''Old Magic''.
32	%% * Arguably ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twilight_cover_warriror_heir.jpg The Warrior Heir]]'' cover. Arguable, because it came out only a year after ''Twilight'', before it really hit big.
33	%% * In a strange inversion, the [[http://hollowtreetales.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/tithe.jpg 2004 paperback]] of Holly Black's ''Tithe'' looks more Twilight-y than the [[http://www.blackholly.com/youngadult.html recent re-design]]. Perhaps that was intentional...
34	%% * Compare the current cover of ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0738703915 Blue Is For Nightmares]]'' with the [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0738703915/ original 2003 edition.]] Though not vastly different, the composition is very clearly Twilight-ish.
35	%% * The ''[[http://harperteen.com/search/index.aspx?kw=hell From Hell]]'' anthologies. Of course, Creator/StephenieMeyer contributed a story to ''Prom Nights From Hell''.
36	%% * Alex Flinn's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/006087418X/ Beastly]]''
37	%% * Maggie Stiefvater's ''[[http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/novels.php#faerie Books of Faerie]]''.
38	%% * The teaser poster to ''[[http://cinemablend.com/gallery/previews/Cirque-du-Freak-The-Vampire-s-Assistant-3663.html?tid=22564 The Vampire's Assistant]]'' (based on the first three [[Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan Darren Shan]] books). Because, hey, vampires!
39	%% * Even modern classic theological texts aren't safe! Creator/CSLewis' ''[[http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/165/529/400000000000000165529_s4.jpg Words to Live By]]''.
40	%% * Carrie Adams's ''[[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SV0BOg8-zyk/SadFWkGTwuI/AAAAAAAABsY/pJQYT_TlUbU/s400/415SQ5+A54L._SS500_.jpg The Stepmother]]''.
41	%% * Dan Shapiro, ''[[http://www.randomhouse.com/images/dyn/cover/?source=9780307425485&height=300&maxwidth=170 Delivering Doctor Amelia]]''
42	%% * A tomato flavored spin with Hans Rueffert's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/1607431718/ Eat Like There's No Tomorrow]]''
43	%% * Susan Fraser King's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0307341755/ Lady Macbeth]]''.
44	%% * Melissa's Marr's book ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0061214671/ Wicked Lovely]]'' and it's sequel ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/006121471X/ Fragile Eternity]]''
45	%% * Abra Ebner's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B002Q0Y2E2/ Parallel: The Life of Patient 32185]]''.
46	%% * Bree Despain's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/1606840576/ The Dark Devine]]''.
47	%% * The [[http://www.amazon.com/Shadowland-Immortals-Alyson-Noel/dp/031259044X/ various]] [[http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Moon-Immortals-Alyson-Noel/dp/0312532768/ covers from]] ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Evermore-Immortals-Alyson-Noel/dp/031253275X/ The Immortals]]'' series by Alyson Noel.
48	%% * Subverted/parodied ''beautifully'' with Jessica Valenti's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Purity-Myth-Americas-Obsession-Virginity/dp/1580052533 The Purity Myth]]'', which uses a Twilight-inspired cover to draw in the audience who needs to hear the book's message the most.
49	%% * Annoyingly, the [[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HtQCp4GML._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg new Corgi covers]] of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels look like this, even though they started this in 2004, the year ''before'' ''Twilight'' was published.
50	* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' tie-in books have been released in new [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buffy-Vampire-Slayer-Coyote-Through/dp/1442412097/ omnibus editions,]] with covers that look suspiciously like the Twilight collector's editions (white cover, solitary object, red and black detail). Even more suspiciously, they were released at a similar time as the Twilight editions, and have been shoved in the 'Twilight rip-off' sections of UK bookstores, along with the new editions of ''Literature/TheVampireDiaries'' and ''Literature/WutheringHeights''.
51	%% * ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', sort of expected, considering that it started out as a ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' fanfic.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:''Harry Potter''-inspired examples]]
55	[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/us_harry_potter_book_cover.jpg Cover of a slightly stylized pastel portrait of the hero with the title in a fantasy-ish font superimposed.]]
56
57	%% * Debra Doyle's ''Literature/TheCircleOfMagic'' series not only got a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_com_wizards_statue.jpg "Sorcerer's Stone"]]-inspired [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_com_high_kings.jpg facelift]], but the ''titles'' changed too.
58	%% * The ''Charlie Bone'' books -- both the [[http://www.jennynimmo.me.uk/USTheCharlieBoneSeries.html US covers]] and the [[http://www.egmont.co.uk/search.asp?action=SearchBooks&pageid=3&intCharacterId=32 UK covers]] reflect the design of their Potter counterparts.
59	%% * Brandon Mull's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_fablehaven.jpg Fablehaven]]'' series.
60	%% * The [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_spiderwick.jpg covers]] for ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles''.
61	%% * Jack Kerouac wrote a book called Doctor Sax that came out in 1959. Look at this cover for the 2003 audio release [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jksaxsnakebk.JPG]] Also note the Potterian "and the Subtitle" that got tacked on.
62	%% ** To be fair, the subtitle was Kerouac's. That is an audio adaptation of a screenplay he wrote with that title.
63	%% * Kaleb Nation's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_bran.jpg Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse]]''
64	%% * The [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_eric_rex1.jpg books covers]] for the ''Erec Rex'' series by Kaza Kingsley [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_eric_rex2.jpg follow this pattern]].
65	%% * ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_the_tapestry.jpg The Tapestry]]'' series by Henry H. Neff.
66	%% ** Now, the first book bears remarkable similarities, but in later books the story shifts away from the Harry Potter franchise.
67	%% * Sarah Prineas's ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_magic_thief.jpg The Magic Thief]]''.
68	%% * Recent editions of Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/{{Chrestomanci}}'' books, like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hp_cover_imitation_chrestomanci.jpg this]].
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:''The Other Boleyn Girl''-inspired]]
72	[[http://rosannelortz.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/other_boleyn_girl.jpg Historical fiction of heroine in period dress, partially obscured.]]
73	%% * Other Creator/PhilippaGregory examples: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_queens_fool_philippa_gregory.jpg The Queen's Fool]] and [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/philippa_gregory_queen_elizabeth.jpg Queen Elizabeth]].
74	%% * This [[http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/ranews/sep2009/johnson.html article]] discusses this trope in regards to historical fiction novels starring heroines. "Elizabeth Chadwick, a prize-winning British novelist who writes biographical fiction about the medieval English nobility, found that her sales more than quadrupled after her publisher commissioned a redesign with what she personally termed the "headless bodice" look."
75	%% * [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_last_wife_of_henry_viii.JPG The Last Wife of Henry VIII]]
76	%% * [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ivA9xljScUk/TCJIWJeLuKI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/9GC8u3-9HC0/S240/LQ+cover.jpg The Last Queen]]
77	%% * [[http://changehere.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/alchemists-daughter.jpg The Alchemist's Daughter]]
78	%% * [[http://literatehousewife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Cover-of-Her-Mothers-Daughter1.JPG Her Mother's Daughter]]
79	%% * Has even extended past the Renaissance era royalty/nobility genre: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_widow_of_the_south.jpg The Widow of the South.]]
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:''The Da Vinci Code''-inspired examples]]
83	[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaVinciCode.jpg A cover that looks as if it has a strip ripped away to reveal a secret document/scene, calligraphic fonted title optional.]]
84
85	%% * Elizabeth Kostova's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0316011770 The Historian]]'' about the "true story" behind Bram Stoker's ''Dracula''.
86	%% ** And then the subsequent [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0316014818/ repackage of Dracula]] was a Trend Cover of The Historian!
87	%% * Gregg Loomis's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0843956917/ The Julian Secret]]'' and ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0843955309 The Pegasus Secret]]'', complete with a blurb comparing it to ''The Da Vinci Code''.
88	%% * Compare the [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0553296299/ 1992 cover]] of J.G. Sandom's ''The Gospel Truths''. And the [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0553589792/ 2007 re-release]]...
89	%% * Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/073870931X/ The Last Secret.]]''
90	%% * Paul Christopher's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0451411862/ Michaelangelo's Notebook.]]''
91	%% * David Gibbins' ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0553591193/ The Lost Tomb.]]''
92	%% * [[http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n38/n192416.jpg Sam Bourne's covers]] bear a noticable resemblance to the [[http://www.heruni.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/da-vinci-code2.jpg UK edition]] of ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:''Millennium''-inspired examples]]
96	[[https://chuangzuo.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/millenium-3.jpg Black cover with a red outline and an oval portrait in the middle]]. Many modern Scandinavian crime novels have gotten this treatment following the success of the ''Literature/MillenniumSeries'' (in France at least).
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:ComicBook-inspired examples]]
100	%% * Penguin has been hiring respected comic book artists to do covers on their [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbuckleydesign/sets/72157621852113991 Classics line.]]
101	%% ** Web Comic ''Unshelved'' [[http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20070305 noticed this too.]]
102	%% --->'''Dewey:''' Arrggh! I got marketed to!!
103	%% * Charles Burns's cover to Zadie Smith's [[http://www.amazon.com/Book-Other-People-Zadie-Smith/dp/0143038184/ The Book of Other People.]]
104	%% * Sean Beaudoin's ''[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0316014176/ Fade to Blue.]]'' Justified in that comics play a role in the story.
105	%% * Creator/LainiTaylor's [[http://www.lainitaylor.com/Navigation%20pages/books.html novels]] have cover art and illustrations by her comics artist husband Jim Di Bartolo.
106	%% * Chris Ware drew the poster for the 2007 film ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/SavagesFilmPoster.jpg The Savages.]]''
107	* The posters to ''Film/AwayWeGo'', ''Year of the Dog'', and ''Surfwise'' all have a cartoonish quality to them. Small wonder, they were all designed by [[http://www.impawards.com/designers/mojo.html the same company,]] who also handled the posters for several comic book movies, including ''Film/ThreeHundred'', ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', ''Film/{{Whiteout}}'', and ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014''. Ironically enough, those posters do not use comics imagery to sell the film.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Other Examples]]
111	%% * Cracked covered the movie/DVD side of this trope in this article, [[http://www.cracked.com/article_15876_p4.html 5 Ways Hollywood Tricks You Into Seeing Bad Movies]].
112	%% * Check out the poster of ''Film/{{Inception}}'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/12/16/swipe-file-christopher-nolans-dark-knight-and-christopher-nolans-inception/ as compared to the poster for]] ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Partially justified in that both films were directed by Creator/ChristopherNolan.
113	* Ever since ''The Tipping Point'' was published, academic-style nonfiction books with a white cover showing off a simple household object are common.
114	* In the Noughties, desaturated advertising images (with heavy shadows and exaggerated blacks) came into vogue, to the point where the effect is being overused everywhere, as of 2011. It became so popular that when Photoshop [=CS5=] came out, it included a new tool specifically for creating this effect (Image>Adjustments>Vibrance).
115	* Variation: Music/DavidBowie notes in the retrospective book ''Moonage Daydream'' that after ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' hit big, his older albums ''Music/SpaceOddity'' and ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' were rereleased with photos of him as Ziggy on the covers. The albums were folk rock and HeavyMetal respectively (as opposed to the GlamRock of Ziggy), but "All this fuss actually put ''Oddity'' in the US Top Twenty, years after its original release."
116	%% * The DreamworksFace was born from this phenomenon.
117	%% * ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' started a column about this phenomenon called "Bookalikes", although they occasionally branch into other media such as album covers.
118	%% * A lot of books ape the ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' covers, even having similar titles.
119	%% * The various Penguin books. Interesting in that ''all'' of their books have the same style of cover which are collectively updated once every few years. So by just looking at the cover, you can guess when a book was printed even if you can't see any other distinguishing feature.
120	%% * The success of the ''Series/CallTheMidwife'' books and TV series sparked an enormous trend of memoirs of working women between the 1930s and 1960s being published in suspiciously similar covers.
121	* Since the success of Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff, check out the baking section in any British bookshop and you will see [=GBBO=]-aping bunting-inspired artwork and the Mostra Nuova Bold typeface everywhere.
122	* Back in TheEighties and TheNineties, every UK publication of a humorous fantasy novel needed to have a cover by Josh Kirby, or failing that a cover by someone who ''looked'' like Josh Kirby (Fangorn's ''Literature/MythAdventures'' covers are [[https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F13%2F17%2Fea%2F1317ea0b3c981e57d03e20d36f8ce1d0.png&f=1&nofb=1 a good example,]] especially since that's not [[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Fangorn his normal style]]), in order to say "Hey! If you love Creator/TerryPratchett, you'll probably ... find these worth flicking through while you wait for the next one". This was particularly unfair on authors who were arguably just as good as Sir Terry, but had a completely different sense of humour.
123	* Since the publication of ''The Dry'' (later [[Film/TheDry filmed]]), many Australian crime novels have developed very similar covers, with photographs of rural areas fading to black and long, narrow, sans-serif titles in white.
124	[[/folder]]

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