Month: May 2016

3 Days of Grace

The author says:

Shortly after moving to Prague, Grace is attacked by a werewolf and has now 3 days to decide if she wants to go through with the transformation or not. The intended audience is more or less young adult with a sense of humor. I would especially appreciate feedback about the typography.

Big-Cover

Big-Cover

Nathan says:

[looks at description]

[looks at cover]

[looks at description]

Are you sure this is the cover to that book?

I mean, I know I’m not the target audience for a YA werewolf novel, but I’m pretty sure that a werewolf novel should give some indication of it being a werewolf novel… or at least not look like it’s something completely other than a werewolf novel.

All we’ve got is an Old World cityscape. That’s not indicative of genre, readership, or anything else that would allow a potential reader to identify him/herself as the target audience.

And the typography, as especially requested, is awfully gentle. Even if this isn’t a slam-bang werewolf action novel, it still seems gentler than is warranted.  Between the flowing script and the words “3 Days” and “Grace” in the title, I would assume that it’s a Christian drama at first glance.

(And “RSPOB Series?” That’s an entirely uninformative series name — once again, it’s not telling the reader anything about the novel. And given that this is the first entry in the series, it’s not like you can count on name recognition to bring in the returning readers.)

I think this is definitely a case of a bad initial concept… or maybe even no initial concept.  You need to sit down and think, “What would catch the eye and the mind of my target reader?  How would I use that half-second of attention before they move on to the book sitting next to mine to tell them that, yes, this IS a book that will interest them?”

Good luck.

Any other comments?

Tyr

The author says:

TYR is a space fantasy (part one in a series) that follows Kai Brecken. It’s set in an undefined ‘future’ and takes place partly on a planet (Egeria) and partly on a spaceship. The target audience is lovers of sci-fi/fantasy/Vin Diesel. Thank you in advance!

COVERPLAY2

COVERPLAY2

Nathan says:

No glaring problems that I can see.  Let’s go to fine-tuning!

  1. While the star-scape is visible at full size, in the thumbnail it just blends into a gray texture.  I’d suggest adding some extra stars the look like stars even from a thumbnail.
  2. I don’t think your byline needs to be so small.  I also don’t think that a typewriter font is the the right font for this cover.
  3. Back cover: The planet that takes up half the cover really doesn’t need all the focus; it would be better as background. Don’t you have a bio note, or a blurb, or a publisher logo that you could use to fill in that shadow-side?

Other comments?

Rock the Boat [resubmit]

The author says:

ROCK THE BOAT is an erotic romance or maybe a (romantic thriller I’m really not sure) set in current day America. A simple love affair becomes complicated when a soldier shares his new wife with his best friend. Parental disapproval escalates to lies and manipulation. A man with an obsession, a kidnapped spouse, and a murder, change a happy home into a nightmare. One that might be fixed by choosing the right man. this is my third attempt at a cover. I’m going for a hint of sex in a thriller vibe. The covers for erotica books are not at all the ‘feel’ for my story. Mine has very little actual erotica in it.Sorry I’m not clearer, I’m confused myself on my genre.

rtb4.JPG

rtb4.JPG

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

If this isn’t erotic, then you are going to have a lot of readers angry at you for the bait-and-switch, because that definitely ain’t a “hint of sex in a thriller” vibe.  That’s a bikini babe.

The most important role of a cover is to attract the kind of readers who would enjoy the book.  That means you need to know who your target audience is.  Then you need to figure out which other books those same readers would like, and use the covers of those books to learn how those readers are accustomed to being marketed to.

Until then, you’re just throwing random things into PhotoShop.

Black Book

The author says:

A lightning fast action packed sci-fi thriller for fans of Stephen King’s Dark Tower and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. Sheriff Jack is an elite soldier from the future, trapped in the Wild West. He must find and protect the sacred Black Book before someone or something else does. The clock is already ticking for humankind, but for Jack the countdown has only just begun.

x

x

Nathan says:

Hmm.

Obviously, the most important component of the covers of the books that you cite are the huge letters proclaiming “Stephen King” or “Lee Child.”  You can’t really go that way.

And I’m going to assume that this is a quick sketch version of the design concept, so I shouldn’t worry about things like how the title doesn’t line up with the byline, or how the cowboy silhouette is artifacted against the moon.

A common observation around here is that red text against a black background is surprisingly unreadable. Your byline is in orange so it’s not as bad, but in the thumbnail it still becomes a smear.

For the rest… I’m of two minds, so I’m going to have to defer to the hivemind instead.  Does the minimalist approach work? Could it work, even if this one might not?

Input Wanted: After-the-Fact Procedures

Hi y’all,

Wanted your input on this.  A particular author, who has had both an original cover and a resubmit featured on here, now wants me to redact the title from the post so that it won’t interfere with her search engine optimization. (Her original response was that I remove the posts entirely, but I pointed out that part of the purpose of CoverCritics.com is to allow other indie publishers to learn from the examples and discussion here.)

What do you think?  Should I be open to that kind of after-the-fact revision?