Authors Don’t Have Much Control Over Covers; Here’s Why | Book Riot

However, whenever a cover is revealed that readers don't like, the author bears the brunt of the criticism. Which is frustrating because, usually, they have little to no input on the cover. Most of the time in traditional publishing the author gets an email that says, "Here's your cover! We hope you like it." Sometimes an author will get to give input that may or may not be used in the design. The case is rare where an author has any sort of authoritative control.