The author says:

The book is a sci-fi technothriller set 10-15 years in the future. It involves AI, robots, a tech theft, and a home invasion. Think Ex Machina meets Rear Window meets trolley problems. I want it to appeal to scifi readers who like Michael Crichton-style technothrillers / Hard sci-fi / Asimov’s robot novels. The cover is not a mockup, but I want to get other opinions before I publish the book. Specifically: 1)Does it convey the genre expectations? 2)Does it stand out? 3)Does it make you want to click on it and find out more about the book?

Nathan says:

It definitely says “techno.” I’m not sure about the “thriller” part.

When I look at the “technothrillers” category, here’s what I see (click to see it large):

Here are some commonalities I see:

• More often than not, a thin sans-serif font.
• A lot of silhouettes.
• High-contrast color schemes dominated by one color (a cold one, most likely).

I know you wanted the cover to “stand out,” but before it does that, it needs to draw the attention of your target audience, which means it needs to contain the instantly recognizable cues that that audience looks for to find books aimed at them.  I think if you tweaked your existing cover with those visual cues in mind, you’d have a winner.

Other comments?

The author says:

The Spirit, The Scribe, The Journey is a collection of excerpts from personal spiritual journeys. The target reader is someone who resonates with wisdom other Christians received from God. The genre is christian spirituality.

Nathan says:

The problem here is that absolutely nothing on this cover conveys “Christian” — the only part with even a sideways connection to Christianity is the word “Spirit” in the title, which is scarcely an exclusively Christian word.

The type also has some problems. The title is in Algerian font, which is “the font resorted to by people who want an elegant or magical font but won’t look further than the fonts already on their computer.” It’s overused for all the wrong reasons. And while the byline font isn’t as bad, (a) it clashes with Algerian, and (b) its position against the bank page calls attention to the fact that it’s sorta supposed to look like it’s written on the paper, but it ain’t. (And neither font looks like it could have been produced by the quill pen on display.)

The blank space at the top of the journal page also looks oddly unused.

I’m assuming that we’re working with a stock image here, and if you’re determined to use it, here’s my ten-minute redo to correct some of the problems.

I added the slight sunrise-y glow because, well, Christianity is about hope, and it seemed right.

I’m not sold on the handwriting font I used (ten minutes, after all), but it at least indicates the direction I think you need to go.

Other comments?

The author says:

Madness sits upon the throne. Rebellion rages in the South. Dark magic threatens all life. The kingdom is desperate for heroes. When the young king’s soul is stolen by a traitorous cultist desperate to resurrect the Buried Goddess, disgraced knight Torsten Unger makes it his sworn duty to get it back. He has one chance to restore his honor. But he can’t do it alone. He’ll need a thief. Whitney Fierstown planned the perfect heist, one that would have made him a legend among thieves, until he got caught. Now, a knight with a questionable reputation is offering a deal: rot and die in a dank cell or join him on a dangerous expedition to put his skills to good use and earn his freedom. Whitney and Torsten must put aside their differences and work together to battle unholy cults, demons, rebels, and worse to become the heroes their war-torn kingdom never expected…if they don’t kill each other first.

Nathan says:

I have no complaints with most of it. The art is obviously of professional quality, and the title treatment is interesting without being distractingly ornate.

My only quibble is with the series title.  The typeface used there neither matches nor contrasts effectively with the title and byline fonts; it just clashes.  It also violates the good-sense guideline of “the smaller the type, the more readable the font.”

If the original artwork has enough unused margin, I’d be tempted to move everything down so that there’s more room above the torch’s flame, and see how the series title works there.

Other comments?

The author says:

Robin’s life had dissolved into dreams and nightmares but the nightmares became real. Wrapped in darkness and sounding like dead leaves she knew it was death. Now she was slipping between realities fighting to unlock her memories. Insanity closing in. A trap to keep her forever locked away under the stars of madness. A fight to unearth who and what she was. The Storm Bringer. The dead depended on her not to fail.

Nathan says:

Pretty much all that this cover says is, “I’m not a professional designer.”

• The artwork is okay, but it’s too murky to “pop,” and it’s definitely not ominous or nightmarish.
• The handwriting font is just casual, not ominous.
• Red type against a muddy background makes it extremely to read (look at the thumbnail above).
• You don’t need to tell me that it’s “a Robin Randle story” — you already told me that it’s a story about Robin Randle in the title.

Between the blurb and the cover, I STILL don’t know what the genre is. Is it urban fantasy? Portal fantasy? Supernatural horror?  You need a cover that tells the genre first and loudest. Why? So that the target audience will know, “This book is aimed at YOU.” Otherwise, they’ll never look at the description.

Other comments?