Almost identical book covers – someone made a boo boo

Two books published almost three years apart have almost identical covers–J. California Cooper’s Life is Short But Wide(DoubleDay), and Jeffrey Ford’s The Girl in the Glass(HarperCollins). I’m assuming the DoubleDay design team didn’t know about Jeffrey Ford’s cover–there are so many books published each year, it would be near-impossible to keep track. I’m assuming, too, that the publishers wouldn’t want this to happen. It seems to me to cheapen the book, some how–like the covers aren’t tailor-mad for the book.

Mixups like these must be confusing for some readers, especially if you like both books–and perhaps disappointing for the authors. I can see potential mixups in bookstores, too, if the person isn’t looking closely enough.

It seems like there should be some way to search for all the cover art of books published, to make sure you weren’t coming up with the same cover.

Was a mistake made? Or don’t the publishers care?

What do you think?

Thanks to GalleyCat for the info.

September 2nd, 2008