The author says:

Real estate investing, where to find good deals, etc… The silent market is all the deals that are not on the market. fyi-The photo was of myself on Santa Monica Beach, CA.

Nathan says:

I think the biggest problem here is that it simply doesn’t look like a how-to book.  There’s a soft, spiritual vibe here, more appropriate to a personal memoir, or maybe a self-help book.  With that photograph, even the tagline seems like it’s some sort of New Age-y quip — “The best real estate deals are the ones which you find inside yourself, meditate upon this.”

The best thing you can do is to look at real-estate how-to books and learn how the consumers of such books are used to being marketed to.  You don’t have to go for slavish imitation, but you do have to include enough expected elements on the cover that your target audience will understand that this book is for them, instead of being accidentally mis-shelved in the wrong section at Barnes & Noble.

The author says:

Lucifer’s love curse is set in 21st century im America. The story is about Lucifer the fallen Angel, who is also a vampire. He falls in love with a woman and learns he had a curse placed on him that would change him entirely when he finally accepts her love.

Nathan says:

This is a nice amateur try, but it doesn’t reach the level needed to show it to the world.

• The semi-transparency of the various images adds nothing, and just makes it hard to comprehend each one. (The chain is especially irritating.)
• There’s simply not enough clear contrast in the image. Desaturate it and take a look, and you’ll see what I mean. Make the darks dark and the brights bright so that figures stand out from the background.
• The cover image was made without considering how much space the title should take up; that’s why, even with a too-small title font, the type overlaps awkwardly with image elements.
• The byline shouldn’t look like a footnote. You could easily take out the tagline that adds nothing and fill that space with your name (tip: you don’t need “by”).

Other comments?

The author says:

My cover for The Third Gate is ready to resubmit. The cover for the second in the series, The Battle for Taiwan is finished. The third book in the series is being edited and all books will go to amazon within one month. Because they are a series and the guys have not seen the third book cover or description, may I send a compilation of the covers and a description and ask for comments?

Nathan says:

The first book is the linchpin for your branding, so it’s a good thing that it’s the best of the three.

The typeface changes in The Battle For Taiwan are a definite mistake.  You should keep both the typeface and positioning (obviously, with more words, the title won’t fit exactly, but the subtitle and byline can be exactly where they are in the first cover).I would go further in extending the look from the first cover to the second by adding a texture — maybe some culturally Taiwanese pattern? — to the dark areas at the borders and behind the title.

For the third cover, the length of “Dragon’s” is obviously the hurdle in matching the title type to the first cover, but with a little more tweaking of the spacing between letters (called “kerning”) you can get it a little bigger. Don’t let “Dragon’s” be the smallest word in the title — it calls attention to the space constraints.  For the image, bring the dragon down so that his head is visible even if that means cutting off the tail, make the area behind the title darker, and add a matching texture.

Other comments?

The author says:

*** Proof of Concept ***

Title: Borderlands 1

Genre Keywords: Fantasy / Greco-Roman Punk / Creation Mythology / Existentialism / Transcendentalism

Narrative Style: 1st Person Present (but NOT specifically YA either)

Book Format: Story broken down into a series of short episodes. Each episode from a different / unique character perspective.

Intention: Establish a strong but flexible branding. Each book has the same basic cover layout. Main title number, Subtitle, Portrait and frame embellishments change each time.

Comments: I am interested in all your comments and suggestions and, to maximize their value to me, please be clear if you are talking about: this book cover as a stand alone piece; this book cover as the first in a brand; the execution of this example of a piece of artwork.

Book Blurb (early draft): The ambitious Cpt. Banak Doneir of the Aether Guard leads his men on patrols into the barren, inhospitable and forever corrupted Borderlands where they hunt down and destroy the encroaching Spawn of Chaos. Back home in the Rationalle there is no respite. He must battle against red tape and beurocracy, avoid the attentions of his powerful, yet mean spirited, family and win over the woman of his dreams. It only takes one slip for the delicate balance of his life to come crashing down. Can he protect his beloved homelands whilst remaining true to himself or must he become the thing he most despises in order to overcome?

Nathan says:

There’s a lot of good stuff to work with here.

Regarding the series branding elements:

• Lose the italics.
• Your choice of a light border on the series title, against a light background, makes the letters effectively thinner and weaker.
• Similarly, the light marbled background outside the oval frame matching the background inside the frame wastes an opportunity for contrast.  Have you tried a dark background outside the frame?
• The ornamentation on the frame really doesn’t fit.  You’ve already got a guy in armor as your main image element; surrounding him with itty-bitty martial ornamentation is overkill.

Regarding the artwork for this cover: The underlying artwork is good, but I assume that you have it in a higher resolution for the real cover, yes?

Other comments?

The author says:

Instead of going for the next book in the Dark Star series, I’ve decided to publish the prequel first. This book revolves around a child being enslaved due to his father’s debts. However, he plots against those people who has wronged his father and uses implements some carefully laid plans to weaken their enemies. According to his plans, he gets freed soon enough. But in a twist of fate, he ends up enlisting in the most elite army of the world, where his talents at formulating strategies are recognized. Due to being such an outstanding tactician, he is sent to coordinate a war to settle a dispute between two Kingdoms. But throughout the carefully laid battle plans, he keeps his eyes set on the one Kingdom that he seeks to destroy to exact his revenge.

Nathan says:

For a refresher, here is the published cover of the first book in the Dark Star series:

(Looks great, by the way.)

So what is there that can alert a fan of Book One that this prequel is right up his alley?  The title typeface is the same, yes, but it’s a pretty flexible one that isn’t immediately identifiable as a “brand” (not like the Harry Potter typeface, for instance). Beyond that, not only does it not communicate clearly that it’s part of this series/franchise, it doesn’t even look particularly like a fantasy.  Honestly, when I saw “map and stiletto,” my first thought was something set during World War II.  Even a mailed glove resting on the map would be helpful. And there’s nothing wrong with putting “A Prequel to the Legend of the Dark Star Series” above or below the title.

Also, the byline ends up practically invisible.

Other comments?