Letters to the Editor
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book marketing 101
Similar covers are used to identify the books in a particular genre. That's hardly a "conspiracy".
Clearly the marketers at several publishing companies have done some focus groups and found that the market segment who is reading that genre (chick lit) responds well to certain cover images. The "more of the same" comment is a bit bizarre -- of course its more of the same! Its the same genre.
I'm a great reader of sci-fi and fantasy. The former often features a certain set of futuristic fonts and pictures of robots or broken city scapes, in modernist tones. The latter can be identified by a preponderance of giant dragons on the covers.
So, do publishers think readers of sci-fi/fantasy are stupid because the books in that section of the book store happen to bear similar jackets? I mean, come on! Stop taking everything so seriously. Its just book marketing 101.