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:
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 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?
Quichepup and Karicc said
Oooooooh yeaaaahhhh. 🙂
Richard is scrumptdillyicious. YES, that’s definitely him on the cover. And no, it wouldn’t make me buy the book.
Richard in a movie or TV series…YES, it would make me watch. Even if all I did (as with BBC’s Robin Hood) was fast forward to all the RA scenes.
Vicar of Dibly – check! Spooks – Check! BBC Robin Hood – check! check! North & South – Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!Check!
@Kinsey – no, no further seasons of RH past S3. *mini-spoiler* There’s a really good & final reason for that.
Thanks cayenne – last 2 seasons are on Xfinity for free. And I might watch a few MI-5 eps on Itunes.
@Kinsey – free is good; they’re not worth much more than that. MI-5 S7 & S8 are awesome, and I’m impatiently awaiting my S9 DVDs. If you’d like a good eye candy ep, S8.4, unedited. Pause and drool.
Well, Dick up there wouldn’t make me want to buy the book because to me he’s kind of ugly. But it does bug me that someone used his picture – if he gave permission, fine, but otherwise it’s kind of creepy. Like if I found one of the pictures of myself or my dog I uploaded to Flikr used on a book cover.
Cayenne: I just discovered seasons 7-9 on Amazon, streaming free for Prime members.
If the fella looked like Adam Baldwin, I’d be tempted 🙂
J’adore Richard! And while I will not be the first or the last author to admit that I have at least one character inspired by him, I would draw the line at using an unauthorised photo of him on a book cover. It’s just not the done thing.
Now, art influenced by certain characteristics of a face considered beautiful by many… mmm… depends on how close the likeness is, and whether or not it would infringe on the implied trademark of said face.
This isn’t the first book cover I’ve seen with his likeness on it. The previous book I’ve seen, the image was purely ‘artist’s conception’. And yes, it did get me looking twice at the book. (Didn’t buy, tho, as the blurb turned me off.)
Now, if this were an authorised use of an actor’s face, would that turn me off? Maybe. While Richard isn’t yet a household name/face, such an application one might get away with. But to use a very well-known face whose name recognition might superceded the character they portray, that would certainly turn me off.
I use Romance to escape completely from real life. Anything that would intrude on that is a turnoff.
With this book cover, do I see the Hero, or do I only see Richard?