Hold up, Is That Richard Armitage?

Alert reader Jennifer sent me the following message: “Searching for a good (kindle) historical mystery for myself, I noticed that someone slapped Richard Armitage on the cover of their book:

It’s flipped & Photoshopped, but it definitely looks like his head shot (via RichardArmitageNet.com).

I’m all for seeing Richard everywhere, but somehow I don’t think this is authorized usage—- couldn’t they afford some stock photography to use? Arrgh. (sending it your way since this site discusses book covers and Richard Armitage is one of the patron saint hotties of romance).”

HUH. That’s a new one – self published book sales via Armitage. There’s already an Amazon review citing Armitage’s picture as a reason for buying the book.

See for yourself. Here’s the book:

Book Cover

And here is Armitage’s photo from his gallery of headshots. (No, no, don’t curse me now for the time you’ll spend looking at all the rest of the pictures. That’s research!)

image
Image from RichardArmitagenet.com, used here only to spare their server the image file traffic.

It certainly looks like a Photoshopped Armitage. And also chutzpah. Somehow I doubt Armitage gave permission for his image to be used on a book cover. But it does make me wonder:  would this type of use of Famous Actor photo on a cover entice you to buy?

Comments are Closed

  1. jkaymac says:

    Well after watching the North and South clip, I went immediately to Netflix and put that in my queue.  Thanks so much!

    I’m really not too influenced by the front book cover, but the blurb on the back has to intrigue me.

  2. Kati R says:

    @Trix- The only reason I know this is because I signed up for audible to get 2 free audio books. I stumbled upon the Georgette Heyer books and BAM! somehow Richard showed up on my Kindle. I’m sure Ms. Heyer’s books are all sorts of fantastic but I could not even begin to tell you what her book is about. All I hear is RA’s voice reading me to sleep.

    @Courtney- I blame Elyssa Papa for introducing me to a certain Mr. Richard Armitage. I spent a week watching Robin Hood. And I have noticed that he does show up on Twitter. A LOT.

  3. --E says:

    It’s a self/vanity pub. Whoever did the cover is lying if they say they didn’t use that photo of Armitage.

    I’ve never seen him in any of the romantic historical British films, but as Guy of Guisborne, he knocked my socks off.

    I would consider it a waste of sexy (and tall) in casting him has Thorin, but I must admit that voice is right. Mmmm, it’s a delicious voice.

  4. @Kati R: “I spent a week watching Robin Hood.”

    Except the name is a misnomer. We all know that it’s The Guy of Gisbourne Show. There’s no chemistry between Robin and Marion. Robin is boring. Robin is ridiculous.

    Richard Armitage is the entire show. Any scene without him is trite. He carries the whole thing on his delicious shoulders.

    Ahem.

  5. Laura says:

    Um, wow, he is really really really really hot…. I mean in a Colin Firth sort of way.  where has he been all my life?

  6. Kati R says:

    @Courtney Milan Please excuse my puddingbrain. It is indeed The Guy of Gisbourne Show.

    Could we have Thornton Tuesdays/Thursdays on Twitter? I know. EVERYDAY is RA Day.

  7. lorelai says:

    Everyday *is* RA Day!

    @Courtney: And I couldn’t agree more – Robin is ridiculous. It’s all about Guy of Gisbourne!

  8. @Kati R and @Lorelai:

    Also, that show is dead to me after the Season 2 Finale. DEAD DEAD DEAD.

  9. Castiron says:

    Yep, if that cover showed up in one of our staff meetings, our Rights and Permissions manager would be saying “um, do we have permission for that?” (And if she isn’t aware of Armitage herself, she’d clue in when three or four of us were too busy drooling to make any useful contribution to the meeting.)

    North and South is wonderful.  Great acting all around; cool machines to make my inner textile geek salivate, and Richard Armitage to make the rest of me salivate.  (The book’s worth reading too.)

  10. Mary Stella says:

    Honestly, I don’t think it’s the same guy or photo.  There are too many differences – the shape of the face, the brow, the mouth.  Even widening and shortening the real RA’s face wouldn’t result in the other changes.  They’re close, but I think they’re different people.

    That said, I might not buy a book because an actor I thought hot was on the cover, but I might at least pick up the book if the cover caught my eye.  Then the usual process would go into effect—read back blurb, read inside blurbs, read first page.

    Years ago on one of the very early Lynn Kurland books, the cover model (Rob Ashton, I think.) looked a LOT like Adrian Paul with green eyes.  I absolutely picked that book off of the shelf, but the writing compelled me to purchase it.  Can’t remember the whole title at the moment—Stardust or Starlight or something?  Hero was a ghost.  That much I remember.

  11. ML Kramer says:

    It’s Armitage. He’s beautiful, sexy, yes but I would never buy a book by an Armitage obsessed fan to push her story.  ——-However,  I might be tempted to buy a book of Richard Armitage photos provided there is some skin thrown in along with shots of those eyes. Those eyes. —

  12. Susan says:

    Wow.  Hot.  But I wouldn’t buy a book because he’s on the cover.

    Sheesh, why don’t they use pictures of Peter Wingfield?  Yes, I know he’s 48, but he’s aging very well, like a fine wine.

  13. So much good discussion here as usual.

    All I have to add is that Richard Armitage will be the sexiest damn Thorin there ever was. My whole perspective has suddenly changed. For the better.

  14. Danielle says:

    Definitely Armitage: I mocked up the same image in five minutes using photoshop. Same shaped eye, nose, mouth and ear; just flip him horizontally, squash him a bit vertically, make the colours a bit warmer, and run the blur tool over him, and Bob’s your uncle.

    @ Mary Stella, I know his features do look different squashed but they actually map pretty closely when you change the aspect ratio. Check out his ear shape and the inside corner of his eye. 🙂

    Captcha is “looking98”: yep, looking 98% the same on the cover.

  15. OdetteLovegood says:

    For me, personally, celebrity photos on book covers would actually probably turn me off to the book. One, I would assume it was a commercial movie tie-in; two, generally speaking, I find book covers that DO promote the movie are less aesthetically pleasing because they expect the movie and famous faces to sell the book instead of the cover art, therefore less work goes into it; and three, it sort of ruins the element of fantasy. With non-identifiable cover models, I can ignore them and make up how the characters look in my head. I don’t need to be reading and picturing the heroine as Megan Fox or the hero as R-Patts (no thank you).

  16. OdetteLovegood says:

    Oh, exception to previous statement: Fabio covers. Because really, it’s Fabio, and you kind of expect it.

  17. Mari says:

    You may need to join the Peter Jackson FB page to see this – it’s the first background scenes from the Hobbit and some glimpses of Armitage – http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150223186041807

  18. Amanda says:

    Probably not.  Although it would make me ponder:  Is that….  And then I wouldn’t get anything done because I would be alternately thinking of the dreaminess and looking up pictures.

    Besides, this is not the question you should be asking.  The question you should be asking is “Will I be watching North and South tonight, now that my hunger for Richard Armitage has been whetted?”  The answer to which is, of course, yes.

  19. hechicera says:

    I’ll add my own link—a drawing a friend made in response to the suggestion that Armitage would have made a good Snape. It’s my current iPhone wallpaper.

    Sigh.

    http://qalachaki.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d26h6f3

  20. Literary Slut Kilian says:

    Thanks for turning me on to Richard Armitage. He is delighetful eye candy indeed. Even if I had known who he was, I would not buy a book based on a cover photo. The only books I buy based on cover images are ones with illustrations by Kinuko Craft – http://www.kycraft.com . I’ve never read a bad book with a Craft cover. Must be because her price tag is so high that the publishers are only willing to pay it for books they believe in. Someday I’m going to be rich enough to buy some of her original art work.

  21. I recently saw this cover featuring a clone of Angelina Jolie, ironically called Dark Jenny. I thought it was hilarious, but I’m not really a fan of hers, so it put me off rather than otherwise.

    Then you should ignore the cover and buy this book right now.  I am a screaming fan girl for the Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe.  Noir detective mixed with sword and sorcery.  Tortured hero.  Sigh.

    But as faar as shopping heads, and perhaps what it would look like if you had Richard Armitage’s baby:

    morphthing.com

    I use this site when asked for visuals on my characters.  I can never settle on anyone person, so I just mix two or three to get to generic beautiful.

  22. AngP says:

    Oh. My. Word.  How much I lust this man is undeniable.  Would not ever buy this book; however, “North and South” has been permanently etched into my Netflix watch-now queue ever since I ran across BBC’s “Robin Hood” a year or two ago.

    @JudyPatooty: Richard Armitage reading Georgette Heyer?!?!  THANK YOU!

    I will now sit here and swoon at the picture.

  23. cayenne says:

    @Courtney Milan @Kati R @Lorelai: RA was the only decent thing about that show, and it was really hard to sit through the parts without him, especially if the Sheriff was in the scene.  Feh.

    Also: Late-night Twitter RA? Have I missed something good?

    – -kim

  24. darlynne says:

    And I am the only person who wondered why everyone was swooning over Richard Armitage, formerly of the US State Department, who admitted to naming Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. I think bald guys can be very attractive, but my frame of reference clearly needs some adjusting. Or else I need to subscribe to cable TV.

  25. darlynne says:

    @Christine Merrill:

    I am a screaming fan girl for the Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe.  Noir detective mixed with sword and sorcery.  Tortured hero.  Sigh.

    A match made in heaven. Thank you! I’m off to get this one.

  26. Merry says:

    @darlynne—but politicians are extremely sexy! At least, they seem convinced that they are. Surely someone would buy a book if the former deputy Secretary of State were on the cover. (Clothed, one hopes and prays.)

    Hate to sound a negative note, but I have to say I did not adore RA’s reading of Heyer’s Sylvester. He has a very lovely voice, but he didn’t do a good job with the women characters. I adore him on screen, but alas not as a reader.

  27. Sunny says:

    @Merry…have you heard Lords of the North?  You MUST.  I think you’ll change your mind about his reading.  It is most excellent!!

    To those who haven’t watched N&S yet or are just now seeing it, you’ve GOT to let us know what you think about it.  I discovered it last June and life just hasn’t been the same since! 😉

    OH, and there are LOTS of RA blogs and sites to keep us gushing/drooling/….errr, informed!  Also an excellent N&S discussion board at IMDb!

  28. ChrisZ says:

    RA has also read a children’s series (sorry I don’t know the name).  My bestie has him read her to sleep every night.  She’s in her, ahem, over 30’s, and completely enamored with all things Richard.

    I’m a stickler for rules and worked for over a decade in a commercial photography studio.  It makes me insane when people use a doctored image and call it original work. 

    Although I greatly appreciate that someone tried to sneak this one past the bitchery so we could have this drool worthy discussion which includes so many great links!

  29. Sunny says:

    Look here:

    http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/gallery.html

    I have no idea if that link is clickable but you must go there.  And the children’s show is Cbeebies.  Too adorable!

    Happy drooling from a *cough* over 30 fan also *snort*!

  30. Kati R says:

    Oh @Darlynne! I almost spewed my coffee while reading your response—it came out as a dribble instead.

    And now ladies, I give a side-by-side comparison of the US Richard Armitage and Britain’s Richard Armitage: Behold the hotness!

  31. CD says:

    As far as links go, here’s a link to a recent mini-series {Chris Ryan’s STRIKE BACK) starring both Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln.  Double the goodness ;-):



  32. Manda says:

    They could put Richard Armitage’s picture on a pack of urinal cakes and I would probably buy them.

  33. Calila says:

    I saw a book with a couple of the actors from The Vampire Diaries on the cover(it was not a TVD book.). The book itself sounded really icky and bad…but even if it sounded like the GREATEST BOOK ever! I wouldn’t have bought it because there is no way that was authorized. However if actors started letting their images be used I wouldn’t let it stop me from buying a book.

  34. beggar1015 says:

    Dare I say it? At first I was like “Who is Richard Armitage? Why am I supposed to know him?” So I bothered to google him. Ohhh, he’s the guy who married Dawn French and was finally successful in explaining a joke to the ditzy girl.

  35. Renda says:

    @beggar1015

    I did the same thing, google, Dawn French.  Oh, Harry.

    I also immediately thought of the American RA.  What can I say.  I watch the news, not the movies/series.

  36. Kinsey says:

    So – Cayenne, or Courtney, or someone – is Robin Hood going to have any further seasons? I tried to watch the first season, got bored, but that was before I took a really good look at The Hotness. Now I think I want to go back and watch it.

  37. Merry says:

    “Urinal cakes”????  eeeeuuuuuuuhhhhh

    @Sunny—thanks! I’ll look for that book. I would love to be able to love RA reading audio books.

  38. Sunny says:

    @Merry…errr, I should’ve mentioned that the only place I was able to find Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell was thru the UK Audiogo site:

    http://www.audiogo.co.uk/audiobook/11242/the-lords-of-the-north

    If you order, be sure that it’s the Armitage edition as there’s another one read by some guy whose name escaped me?? Allow for at least 4 weeks delivery according to my experience and friends who have ordered it.  But it’s well worth the wait!!  Of the Heyer audios, Venetia would be my fav.  Sylvester got on my nerves a bit with the leading ladie’s speech impediment!  I do yard work and drive w/RA reading to me.  I get lost a lot.

    But there’s an off chance your library system might be able to order it in if some distant library has it somewhere?  Good luck!

  39. Aidenn says:

    Not a chance. I’d avoid any book that looks so poorly photoshopped. If they can’t take care in marketing it, I have every reason to believe they’d also pay less than studious attention to other details. You know, the bigger things. Things like editing, punctuation, and a story that is worth my time and emotional investment to read.

    Haha. Towrad89 – I feel closer toward 89 years old, grumbling about books and integrity back in the day.

  40. Jenn LeBlanc says:

    I am a professional photographer as well as an author. From experience, there is a great precedence for lawsuits over unauthorized usage of photography. Remember the Obama Hope poster? Unauthorized usage of an AP photograph and that image was changed completely compared to this. They finally settled out of court.

    I know for a fact if any of my images were unlawfully used, they would receive a cease and desist followed by an invoice. The image you have up is the image used on the book cover. The fact that the author says it isn’t him but she wishes it were tells me that it is unauthorized because if I had permission to use RA on my book I would be screaming about it, everywhere.

    That would be better than a Jed Hill cover. (sorry Jed, I love you too.)

    So many things about this leave me feeling raw. Using someones image without authorization is stealing their work from them. His face is his livelihood, his recognition. Nobody has the right to take that from him, then say it isn’t. Then there’s the photographer. There’s no way of knowing the rights and usage on the image without asking the parties, but someone owns them. Most likely someone who will not be happy about this bastardization of RA. It isn’t fair to every artist involved in the creation of the original image.

    OK. Off my soap box.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top