'Laughably bad': Terry Goodkind apologises after insulting cover of his own book

Fantasy author Terry Goodkind has apologised after calling the cover of his latest book “laughably bad” and offering free books to readers in return for their verdicts, which prompted a backlash from illustrators and authors.

In a post on his Facebook page, the bestselling Sword of Truth author called his book Shroud of Eternity “a great book with a very bad cover. Laughably bad”. Offering 10 randomly selected readers a chance to win a hardback copy in return for their thoughts on the cover, Goodkind published a poll that included the voting options “laughably bad” or “excellent”. While almost 12,000 readers took part in the vote, some pledged to never buy another book by Goodkind again.

The cover’s illustrator, Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme wrote on the poll: “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.”

The artist, who has designed book covers for authors including Philip K Dick, Chuck Palahniuk and Frank Herbert, later issued a statement, writing: “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.”

Thanking his supporters, he added: “The rest of the story will unfold privately, between adults, as it should have been the case from the start.”

Authors and illustrators came out in support of Lecouffe-Deharme, including 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.”

On Saturday, Goodkind shared an apology on Facebook, writing: “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.”

Goodkind wrote that he had told his publisher, Tor Books, that he was unhappy with the art before publication. “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.”

However, the author left the poll up, writing that he had promised to give away the books.

A New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and thrillers, Goodkind has sold more than 25m books over his career. He is best known for his 11-volume Sword of Truth series, the first volume of which, Wizard’s First Rule, was adapted into TV series Legend of the Seeker.