The author says:
VALENTINE is about a young woman who becomes so desperate to escape from her drug-fueled lifestyle that she marries a handsome stranger with ‘traditional’ values and returns with him to an isolated community that’s been living off the grid for the last hundred and twenty years.
Nathan says:
This is a striking cover. Only two comments:
1. Looking at it gives me no idea of the genre. Spy thriller? Detective-vs.-serial-killer? Paranormal romance? (The title might give it a tincture of romance that the image doesn’t suggest.) It’s a terrific image, but can you gamble that it’ll be enough to get readers to click through or flip it over to read the summary? I’d put a tagline directly above or below the title that clarifies it.
2. I think the two-tone title works well. But the two-tone byline had me looking for a hidden meaning in what was highlighted and what wasn’t.
Other thoughts?
I agree about not being able to identify genre and that the two-tone byline makes me wonder what an “Aguz” is.
Also, there’s some kind of symbol layered into the upper right, and I find myself staring at it trying to figure out what it is. At first I thought it was smoke curls.
Handsome cover indeed, but it’s impossible to tell just what the book is about. This doesn’t have to be anything explicit…it could be something as subtle as a better use of the background pattern you superimposed.
I have to agree about the two-toned name: I, too, tried to find some meaning in “aguz”.
I like this cover, too. I got the impression that it was a thriller or detective story. The book blurb posted above was not the impression I got from the cover. Sorry. 🙁
Thanks everyone! This is great feedback, and I have to agree with the two main criticisms.
I’ve been racking my brains for a tagline that fits the story and the genre — which I guess would be picaresque horror/romance(!) — and I’ve finally found something that seems to work.
Here’s the new cover.
What do you guys think? Is this moving in the right direction?
Better!
Thanks, Tom!