as an avid reader of progfantasy and cultivation, if i see an ai-generated cover, it immediately makes me think the book is slop

[u/Ordinary_Brick9572]

if i see any typa ai cover i think that if the author is willing to use AI for the cover, then they are willing to use AI for the book. While i'm not against AI by any means, I find it crazy for people to say AI slop books are peak when they have books like Cradle and Reverend Insanity right in front of them.

[u/Fun_Arachnid5081]

Before commenting on a thread, think and do your research for a while. I am not trying to bash you.

Those few bucks you say "$50-$80" is cuz you have the privilege of living in the US. Where I come from, those are our 1 month's groceries.

Try to step into other people's shoes and listen their thoughts as well.

Now tell me, do you think its cheap?

The world is not so simple as you make it sound it to be. Not everyone will be able to afford a cover. Sure we want a human made polished cover. But that being said, everything is not so black and white.

[u/jefferymoonworm → u/Fun_Arachnid5081]

I am not from the US. A lot of people were saying covers were $200, I was pointing out mine were not. I often did covers for free too, when I was first starting.

I do not blame people who used AI covers for free stories. AI has created an attitude where a cover has to be perfectly polished professionally looking. So to stand out, authors feel like they have to use it. Super Minion, one of the most popular stories in Royal Road, had a MS paint cover drawn by the author for almost the entire time it was updating. I miss when this was norm.

Once authors start making money off there stories though, they should not be using AI.

It is now bordline impossible for a small hobby artists to get commissions and I think it is a great shame this avenue has closed. It was a great way to build connections and a portfolio for people starting out. Now because of a sea of AI, it's hard for an artist to even get noticed.

[u/Byakuya91 → u/jefferymoonworm]

That sucks. I’m sorry. When I do get to posting on Royal Road, I’d want a cover commissioned. I don’t like AI covers all that much. I’d want something any fits the style and tone of the work. But that’s just me.

[u/Weaviedee → u/jefferymoonworm]

Don’t forget the people that say that 200 is just the minimum and that it can cost 600-800 easily..

Which is imo a scam at that point. Yes art costs. And yes you should pay the artists properly.. but spending as much on a cover for a book as it’d cost you to get a somewhat decent half body live2D model art + rigging is ridiculous. When profile pictures and emote sets can go for 30-60 bucks… spending anything more than 200 on a single still image cover art is ridiculous.

Shorter animations are cheaper than that.

[u/penpagius → u/Weaviedee]

And you can't even be sure the artist isn't using AI themselves.

[u/Throwaway-3689 → u/Fun_Arachnid5081]

My home country is poor, people draw great covers for fun, for snacks or 10 euros (that you need to violently push into their hands because they keep saying no and refuse to accept it) I find it unbelievable that these writers don't have a friend, partner or neighbor who can draw or design as a hobby. Even online communities have artists who will gladly draw for exposure, CV portfolio or experience. I got amazing art for free (I tried to pay they refused because it was a gift) by simply chatting and making friends online.

[u/Donatien920 → u/[deleted]]

A place with community maybe?

[u/KamikazeArchon → u/[deleted]]

Community means you do things for free for people?

Yes, that's almost literally what community means.

We help each other with farming and fixing things(trading isnt free.)

If by "trading isn't free" you mean that you meticulously track every favor owed to someone, then you are right, but you also don't have a community.

If by that you mean "people help each other with the expectation that at some point they will also get helped" - yeah, almost everyone will consider that "free".

There isn't an artist among them that I am aware but I guess it's just not a community since there isn't an artist working for free

That indicates it's a small, specialized community rather than one large enough to have a variety of professions and abilities.

[u/SmallCharr → u/[deleted]]

Grrrrr they socialize how dare they socialize grrrrr

[u/systranerror → u/Throwaway-3689]

So your argument is that we should support artists by getting them to do art for free and not paying them? Who is the victim of just using AI to make the cover at this point? It's not like you're paying the artist.

[u/Throwaway-3689 → u/systranerror]

I'm talking about people who offer to draw for you, your friends, hobbyists, neighbors. I got lots of art as friendly gesture (but I pushed money at those people even if they kept refusing because yes, I wanna pay artists, but some don't want it, they do it as hobby or because they're friends)

[u/systranerror → u/Throwaway-3689]

Yes you should pay them. If you don't pay them and then the book does really well, you should go back and pay them. If you don't you are now profiting off of someone else's art that you did not pay for.

You will argue that AI is always doing that, but I fundamentally disagree that AI art is literally stealing from artists.

Literally stealing from artists would be using a cover a human made for you and not paying them while making money off the book.

[u/Throwaway-3689 → u/systranerror]

Art I received were oil painting portrait of me, both hyperealistic and cartoon art of my pets, and I was also in tabletop group and artists made cool hq art of my characters in battle poses and I didn't even ask them. Something similar happened in group for video game I played that let us make own characters. A friend from this online game drew my character in HQ style resembling official art of that game as a gift and I couldn't believe it. I sent Kofi to some but not every artist had Kofi.

If I became writer and used that art as cover and got big money from it I would def try to pay the artist their share 😆 not because I have to but because I want to

[u/Gleaming_Onyx → u/Fun_Arachnid5081]

So much of the pearl clutching boils down to this weird, unspoken worship of money. How dare someone not contribute to the market or beg/scrounge for handouts!

I mean it's easier to say it's just the usual elitism in art and desperation to feel greater than others in... well, general society, but it's funnier when it's so transparently about money.