Major publishers are trying to sell more books by changing the cover art on audiobooks, e-books, traditional hardcovers, and paperbacks. A Netflix logo is bound on the book and looks like a sticker. It normally says “A Netflix Series” or “Netflix Original” and “Now on Netflix.” Readers are up in arms, citing that it makes the books look tacky. If you aren’t the owner of the old book and buy a new one, you are more than likely to get the Netflix edition.
Many popular book series have the Netflix logo on all newly published books. The Witcher series is a good example of a book with changed cover art. Leigh Bardugo, the bestselling author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse, Fear Street, and Goosebumps by RL Stein, has also received the same treatment. Books are not the only thing publishers love plastering with the logo; the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaimon also have a Netflix logo.
Suppose you buy a book’s digital edition, such as an audiobook or e-book. In that case, the cover art is automatically updated on your e-reader, tablet, and smartphone when publishers change it. However, you can buy the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Tolino, or any other major online bookstore. In that case, the publishers can change the metadata and submit it to the bookstore. Users have no choice in this matter, which is disheartening.
Publishers wanting to sell more books using the Netflix logo is a new phenomenon. However, logos and changing the cover art on a book is nothing new. Publishers have been changing the cover art for a long time, usually when the book is made into a television show or movie. The Martian by Andy Weir used to have a picture of an astronaut on a bleak, red planet, which made the book stand out. When the book was made into a movie, the cover art of all new books traditionally published and e-books became the massive face of actor Matt Damon. The Lord of the Rings cover art was also changed to actors from the movies.
A publishing executive told Good e-Reader the following: “The number of people who don’t like these movie or Netflix covers (especially to the point of refusing to buy books with them) is pretty small compared to the number of new buyers they bring in. In most cases, a major Hollywood adaptation all but automatically puts a book on the New York Times bestseller list for at least a couple of weeks. It’s relatively cheap for publishers to put out a new edition featuring the film actors/poster as a cover to draw in even more people who would otherwise not have read the book, especially since a popular film adaptation means the books will be shown face up on tables or in special displays all over the place. Not just in airports but in every major chain bookstore and grocery and drug stores that also carry whatever is in the New York Times list.”
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
