The author says:

An underground detective agency is assigned by the Mexico City’s police chief to find the murderer of her daughter and other five women. A hardboiled novel set in 1993’s Mexico. In line with the works of Dashiell Hammett. Also, the novel is written in spanish.

Nathan says:

I don’t think this cover concept nails what you want. For one thing, the image is confusing in thumbnail (I thought I was looking at a caricature of a bald man with a Fu Manchu mustache).  The full-sized image does convey murder, but it lacks any indication of “hardboiled.”

In my experience, hardboiled detective novels (at least, those not written by authors who are already such a strong brand that all they need is their names on the covers) usually show the detective on the cover, not the victim (or, in this case, one of the victims).

Other comments?

The author says:

Sophia wakes in a dilapidated museum believing she’s been kidnapped and abandoned. She isn’t the only one… As she and four others struggle to understand their new reality, they discover the museum boarded with no obvious exit. Who brought them to the museum and why? How can they escape? Their only link to each other is a mysterious woman named Blair, who they each encountered before blacking out. When Sophia is drawn to one of the other captives, their attraction plunges the group into suspicion. Allegiances shift as pieces connect. But is the real danger inside or outside the museum?

Nathan says:

I can suggest a few tweaks, but I wonder if the cover concept doesn’t seem more “lit fic” than “suspense.” I’ll let others debate that in the comments. But if you were to go with this cover, I would definitely:

• move “The” from left to right so it doesn’t blend in with the image behind it.
• tilt the mannequin so it looks less natural.
• either increase the byline font size or deepen the contrast with the background (or both) so that it stands out more.

What say you, hivemind? Does the concept work?

The author says:

Paranormal Romance Mystery with light humor (readership age: new adult, adult, upper-YA)

Nathan says:

Bullseye. The only thing I would do is remove/darken the glow around her head so that her hair doesn’t blend into the background.

Other comments?

The author says:

The odd events that have plagued Eve have always made her an outsider. A moving table, shattered windows, a shaking classroom. But when they turn dangerous, Eve is forced to consider something more than just coincidence might be happening. Fighting off horrible creatures with strange powers, her father is kidnapped, and Eve is saved by the one person she never expected to meet: her mother. This is not how her sixteenth birthday was supposed to go. Can she control her power, or will it consume her?

Nathan says:

“Witch’s Blood,” surely? (“No, and don’t call me ‘Shirley!'”)

The artwork is great. A litte cropping, and some tweaking of the type, will bring the rest of the cover up to the artwork’s level. Here’s a five-minute redo:

(One of my rules of thumb: “Nobody really needs to see feet.”)  I didn’t take the time to find a matching apostrophe because, hey, five minutes.

I’m not sure about the interaction between the title font and the byline font, but that might just be personal taste.

Other comments?

The author says:

Science Fantasy Adventure intended for gamer guys and geek gals. From the moment he could walk, Bowmark has trained for a fight to the death. The Disc awaits him: a giant bronze platform suspended over a river of lava. He dreads the day of proving—when he must kill or be killed—to claim the throne. His people have hidden from the rest of the world for generations. But when the discovery of a mysterious Atlas reveals forgotten lands and peoples, Bowmark begins to question his culture’s traditions and laws. His unavoidable future seems grim and pointless when contrasted with another world full of unique civilizations populated with other intelligent species and marvelous creatures. Meanwhile new threats arise from the depths, hidden enemies emerge from within, and soon everything and everyone Bowmark knows and loves will be changed forever. Torn between a desire to fulfill his duty, and his empathy for others, Bowmark must use all his intelligence and courage to navigate an uncertain future. Perfect for fans of Salvatore’s Drizzt.

Nathan says:

Unfortunately, this cover misses the “science fantasy adventure” part entirely.  There’s a penumbra of the fantastic in the title font, but that’s it. The bronze head with dreadlocks only says “African-American interest,” which doesn’t overlap at all with the description you gave.

Better go back to the concept stage on this one.