The author says:

Jake Takeda is a high school student living a quiet life on Lhasa space colony. He has a genius level I.Q. but not much in the way of common sense. When he discovers an alien pod in his father’s salvage yard, he does what any sensible person would do. He opens it up and befriends the beautiful alien girl who emerges from it (Adeola). She just so happens to be an Arez, a warrior race with red skin that humans have warred with for centuries. It’s a desperate race for Jake and Adeola to stay ahead of Station Security. All the while, in the shadows, a team dispatched by the Arez conducts a violent search for the red girl.

Nathan says:

There’s a definite “Kelly Freas” vibe from the picture of the red girl, but I don’t think that’s nearly enough to get “sci-fi adventure” across to your potential readers.  Here are the main problems:

• The title is almost unreadable even at full size, and it’s incomprehensible at thumbnail size.
• The illustration style for the girl clashes with the background.  (And her transparency serves no purpose.)
• A portrait and a cityscape don’t say “sci-fi,” and they say “sci-fi adventure” even less.  (I know that, on further examination, the cityscape appears to be on the inside of an orbital ring or Dyson sphere.  But things that are only noticed on further examination don’t have the up-front impact your cover needs to attract the right eyeballs.)

I think you need to re-think the concept behind your cover.  Instead of starting from “What kind of cover can I put together with what I have?”, think “What would attract the interest of the readers who would enjoy this story?”  The main ideas your cover needs to get across (aside from being able to read the title) are:

1. Science fiction.
2. Adventure and intrigue.

I know that custom artwork may be beyond your budget.  My advice is to search sites with already-finished artwork (DeviantArt, ArtStation, etc.) and find something with the right “feel” that doesn’t actively contradict the events or setting of your story (e.g., don’t  choose artwork with dinosaurs if there are no dinosaurs in the story) and ask to license it.

Other comments?

The author says:

This is a 90 minute fantasy short read of a boy who meets the seven deadly sins. In the story he prays for the seven, but now they want more from him. He just wanted peace on earth, but now he’s summoned the seven into his home. The story is for fans of Frank Peretti and Bill Myers.

Nathan says:

I CAN’T READ ANYTHING.

Seriously. Between the uppercase cursive font, the lack of leading, and the placement of the text over the busiest part of the image, you’ve done everything you can to make it unreadable, even at full size.

Put the title in the top half of the image (that’s what it’s for), in an easy-to-read font, with enough contrast with the background that it stands out, and you’ll be halfway there.  (Then you can deal with things like the poor resolution of the statue photograph, or the way that the lamb’s neck is half-absent.)

The author says:

This book is written for those who are uncertain of their eternal destiny. Many give little thought to what happens when they die. This books lays out the truth about heaven and what changes can be made to help one change the trajectory of their life if necessary to be sure they get to heaven.

Nathan says:

It just comes across as perfunctory and plain.  While a handwriting font could certainly work in this context, this specific font seems far too casual to me, given the subject matter,

One of the frequent commenters here likes to use this test: If the text were in a foreign language, could a reader know generally what the book is about?  I think this cover pretty clearly fails that test.

Obviously it’s neither easy nor desirable to try to convey any doctrinal specifics through the cover imagery, but I think the two concepts that the non-text elements of this cover could be expected to convey are “Christianity” and “hope.”  If I were designing this cover from scratch, my first impulse would be to use an image of Jesus’ hand reaching out to the reader — that covers both of those concepts, and very clearly bullseyes the intended readership.

Other ideas?

The author says:

I’ve included the entire cover, including blurb. This isn’t final, and not yet published, but my current design. I am particularly interested in any response in regards to thoughts on copyright, as it intentionally parodies an existing movie poster design. All the elements are entirely originally made by me, but I’d still like to check thoughts. Thank you.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

Much, MUCH stronger concept, riffing on the visual motifs of one of the best known slasher movies of all time.  I don’t know that the italicized title works, and I’d definitely find another font for the byline, but I think you’ve got most of the heavy lifting done.

Re: “Parody”:  I don’t think you’ll run into any legal trouble hearkening back to elements from the Friday the 13th poster, but I also want to point out that, if “parody” is what you’re going for (i.e., emphasizing the “tongue-in-cheek” element that you mentioned with your last submission), I would encourage you to play up the humor just a little bit.  My first thought is to have something else in her hand instead of a blood knife — a bloody fork, or egg beater, or tennis racket, or…

Other thoughts?