Is The "Middle Finger" Allowed On A Front Book Cover, Or Is The Finger Too Obscene?

Question

Have you seen a book with the middle finger on the front cover or is that just too obscene for a cover? I've never seen a book with the middle finger on the cover. I remember when the band Nirvana came out with their album Nevermind and Kurt Cobain gave the middle finger on the back of the album. But "that" was an album. What about books?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

If you were an author who insisted on flipping the bird on the book jacket, you can probably get it published somewhere but you'll probably also have problems with distribution as some of the retailers won't display books with swearing or obscene gestures on the cover. Major book publishers tend to be conservative when it comes to covers and shy away from controversial imagery.

I work for a media company who releases a few books a year and we get the oddest requests for cover revisions from our publishers. They're very sensitive to how books "read" on the shelves.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thank you for the insight. Yes, I can understand where publishers are coming from on this one.