This Ain’t No Cover Controversy

That’s the cover we debuted last week for Ryan Ridge’s new collection of stories, Hunters & Gamblers. All of us who worked on the book were excited, and the art and the editing and the words, they all seemed to come together naturally. Which is why it was disappointing to learn, after roughly 10 minutes of the book’s page going live, that the indie music band Born Ruffians had used the same image for their debut album Red, Yellow & Blue, nearly three years ago.

Matt Bell was first on the scene. In an email he expressed concern and curiosity, citing the applause Born Ruffians received for their album, and also wondering about our thinking when it comes to reusing art for different purposes. Of course this is a discussion that’s aired in the press lately. It’s kind of interesting, I suppose. But for the most part I don’t much care for it. We weren’t trying to use art for a different purpose. We were trying to use original art for a unique purpose. Ryan Ridge’s book is our only purpose and I wasn’t aware of the Born Ruffians’ album cover. This is the Born Ruffians’ cover:

Thomas Allen is the man behind the art. Thomas is a successful artist. His work has been featured in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and on numerous book and literary magazine covers. I contacted him not because of his reputation but because his work gelled well with the aesthetic of Ryan’s book. He was gracious and agreed straightaway to let us use one of his images.

After learning that the art had been used elsewhere, I emailed Thomas and asked him if he knew about the Born Ruffians’ album. He did. But he said that because much of his work is reused, he didn’t think to mention anything about it. I suppose that’s a fair excuse. After all, art is used in multiple formats, over and over and over again, all the time.

Obviously, though, for Dark Sky Books and for Ryan Ridge our intention was (and is) to create a cover and a book that is completely unique. Initially we thought we would print a short run, which featured the original (or not-original) cover. Then we said, Bah! No. Let’s scrap it and see what we can cook up that captures our intended aesthetic while using art that is, dognabbit, unique. Again, Thomas Allen was quick to agree and soon enough we had a new image that’s never been used anywhere else.

Hallelujah.

Here’s a full spread of the new cover:

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Much from the original cover remains on the new cover. Only the image is different. I like it. Ryan Ridge and Brian Carr like it. I hope you readers like it. I hope Matt Bell doesn’t email in 10 minutes telling me that this image has also been used elsewhere. If he does, I’ll probably buy a moped and crash it into a fruit truck. If he doesn’t, hallelujah, we’ve got a cover that is unique and does justice to Ryan’s words.

See, this ain’t no cover controversy. It’s all about a book and how a book came to be, which, in the end, only adds more luster to its story. If you agree, go on and buy Hunters & Gamblers. Covers aside, it’s a damn fine read.