Fantasy author Terry Goodkind has apologised after he came under fire for mocking the cover art for his own book, Shroud of Eternity. Goodkind posted a picture on Facebook of the book’s cover art, writing “Shroud of Eternity is a great book with a very bad cover. Laughably bad.” He then began a competition, stating that he would give 10 readers a free hardback copy of the book for their verdicts on the art.
As The Guardian reports, the ridicule Goodkind encouraged has prompted number of authors and illustrators to criticise Goodkind for his actions. The artist responsible for the piece, Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme, wrote on Goodkind’s page: “It was nice working with you Terry. What you are doing is totally disrespectful. As if I didn’t create those covers accorded to exactly what I was told to do. In my entire career I have never seen an author behaving like that.”
Lecouffe-Dharme has designed covers for the likes of Philip K Dick, Chuck Palahniuk and Frank Herbert, and released a statement saying: “Now the narrative of the author is that ‘I got offended’ or that I am using this as some kind of self promotion. Two things: First, I did not get offended, I just appreciate respect. Second, I never needed drama to promote my work … I just don’t like to get spit on.” He thanked his supporters, adding: “The rest of the story will unfold privately, between adults, as it should have been the case from the start.”
Lecouffe-Dharme’s defenders includes the science-fiction author Chuck Wendig and artist Leesha Hannigan, who Tweeted: “Artists DIRECTLY follow a brief they are given by YOUR publisher. Publicly dragging the work they do for you is a dick move, not to mention incredibly unprofessional.”
Goodkind has since shared an apology on Facebook where he wrote: “The contest and poll below is poking fun at my own book. The artist is obviously an exceptionally talented creative. The problem is with the publisher. I created the poll as a way to poke fun at the cover art, because it is a poor representation of characters within the book. Characters I am deeply passionate about. It’s impossible not to be emotional about such things, when I’ve spent the last 30 years of my life devoted to their every nuance.
“In no way do I feel the quality of the art is rendered poorly,” he continued. “For any misunderstanding, I apologise to the artist, his friends, and of course my own community here.”
He went on to say that he has expressed his dissatisfaction with the cover to his publisher, Tor Books, but his complaints went unheeded. “We all expressed our dissatisfaction with the character representation of the artwork and we protested the printing. We were overruled and the book went to print as-is. Sometimes that happens. It stings to see a publisher not always seem to care as much as we do.”
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