This week two years ago, I decided on a whim to launch into a project that would shake up my reading habits and to add some variation to the books on my shelves. Crap Looking Books was born, and had me scrabbling around markets and second book stalls looking for the most ridiculously awesome and awesomely ridiculous looking books I could find.Crap Looking Books intentionally judges books by their covers, and finds out if those judgements hold true. It's about those point-of-sale decisions we make when buying books and the methods that publishers, writers and artists use to influence those decisions.
It's about shaking expectations and using a writer's eye to judge whether the cover and book are in the same genre, and what mistakes and strokes of genius the writer makes to that effect.
It's about taking a look at what quietly passed for popular literature in the past decade, or twenty or thirty years ago, and holding it to account where necessary.
It isn't about taking a swing at the big names or the obvious abominations. Maybe JK Rowlling needs to be taken down a peg or two, maybe the Twilight Series is massively overrated, and maybe (MAYBE?!) 50 Shades of Grey is deplorable trash.. but all three of those series have featured effective cover art, some defining waves of generic titles to follow.
With the mess of topics and opinions at This Is Where The Voices Go, and a rising audience for Crap Looking Books that I'm inclined to believe aren't also interested in my other material, be it the scruffiness of Miquita Oliver or shoplifting TV chefs, I've decided to celebrate Crap Looking Book's second birthday by gifting it its own dotcom, and all the promotional material that goes along with it.
I've set up a Facebook Page for readers to keep in touch, but more importantly to suggest other titles that they may want me to cast a Crap Looking Books eye upon!
Well I'm excited for the coming months and content, and think keeping Crap Looking Books and This Is Where The Voices Go separate can only be a good thing for both of them, though I'll be post any relevant books content to both!
Enjoy!
Nick
xx
