The author says:

Local TV news reporter deals with a worldwide plague of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a conspiracy to cover up a new skin disorder in children, and his old high school nemesis forcing himself back into his life.

This is my newest proof-of-concept for this book. I took the advice of others and tried to mimic books from the Medical Thriller genre’. Keeping the background a solid white, however, just looked too sterile, so I added a grainy texture to it. And sorry to all those who preferred the round bacteria over the pill shaped ones, but google-searching images of specific antibiotic resistant germs displayed more of this style then the others. Besides, I believe the round ones look more stationary and docile while the long ones look active and aggressive.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

It… looks like a cross between a pickle, a tampon, and a sperm.

I think you’re moving in the right direction, but it needs a lot more refinement.

• I don’t know why, but it seems that a taller font (usually sans serif, but not always) works for the medical thriller genre.
• With the, um, ease with which the image of the germ could be misinterpreted, a visual cue that we’re looking at something microscopic would help a lot. Googling “view through a microscope” shows me this:

I think showing the blurry circle of the microscope is the main visual cue missing.

Put that together with your revised image, and here’s a five-minute redo:

I’m not happy with how the microscope effect turned out — I’d want to refine it to make it more immediately recognizable as such — and the font is the first tall one I came across, but hey, five minutes.

Other comments?

The author says:

Genre: Cyberpunk, Sci-fi.

Comparable book: Series-Neuromancer,

This book-LitRPGs books Publishable, but looking for feedback on the characters. As everything is pretty much silhouettes I worry the characters blend in too much. I’ve tried a couple variations and this is the best of the lot. I’ve tried a gradient from orange to black, but it feels like they pop too much. Or, is this even the right direction with characters?

Elevator pitch: In the second novella, a night of playing a VRMMORPG turns dark when one of Ragan’s friends doesn’t wake up after being captured by a raid boss. Using her skills as computer security cracker she will have to figure out what is trapping people in the game, and for what reason before time runs out.

Nathan says:

Your intuition is right: The characters blend too much.

I think the fix on that, though, needs to go back further into the design.  You’ve got way to much unused space (which is not the same as functional empty space, i.e., a conscious decision to use a blank spot as a design element).  Look how much everything on the cover is improved by cropping:

(I know, I cropped off the byline. I’m not on my home computer right now, so I can’t modify the image beyond a few basics.)

Once you do that, EVERYTHING becomes clearer.  When you put the byline across the characters’ legs, you can then increase the intensity of the glow around the silhouettes, and it won’t look out of place.

Also: Have you considered rendering the grid on the bottom in green?

Other comments?

The publisher says:

This version has a very different photo and a vertical orientation; font is slightly darker.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

It’s not as generic a layout, but I still see two big problems:

1. The tree is hard to make out at thumbnail size — the point of having an image with a single focus is for it to be instantly recognizable for what it is at first glance.
2. The large salmon-colored area is just plain boring. Even a slight texture (maybe stronger at the edges, fading away under the print) would be an improvement.

Other comments?

The author says:

Safety and Liability Analyst Craig Shannon finds himself investigating the deaths of two people on the water-filled world called Teardrop. But the deaths were no accident, and all evidence points to a conspiracy against the peaceful alien natives known as the kell. Craig must search for the truth behind the plan to terraform Teardrop to not only save his own life, but the life of an entire planet.

This is my newest version of the cover for Terraforming Teardrop that I previously submitted here. After all the good feedback on the last, decided the best approach for me was to keep it simple, but moody.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

This is definitely orders of magnitude better than the original cover; it’s not great, but it’s something that can be improved upon rather than jettisoned.

Suggestion #1: MORE CONTRAST. Especially at thumbnail size, the whole thing becomes a muddle of mud.

Suggestion #2: A more readable font that uses the space better.

Here’s a five-minute redo:

I’m not at all in love with the color scheme, but hey, five minutes. (I moved the edge of the moon/upper planet down so it wouldn’t get lost behind the title.)

Other suggestions?

The author says:

Medieval Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery, new adult/adult novel.

“Ilas is not the gentle goddess the invaders believe her to be, you know. There will come a time when her sword is all that stands between humanity and ruin.” Kanika, the scorned Seer, must reclaim her identity from the invaders’ Crown Prince Atham. Though her people may never forgive her, she must redeem herself through fire and blood if necessary and take back the land the Seers have called home for centuries. However, Prince Atham’s position is not as secure as Kanika would like. Prince Meto and Princess Elsephere both have designs on the throne, which would spell the end of any hope of justice for the subjugated Seers of Argorien. THE TAINTED SHRINE follows the fight for control of the conquered city of Argorien, the revolution that creates more problems than it solves, and the unnatural creatures threatening to consume the Fierce Lands in chaos.

I am both the artist and the author.

Nathan says:

Nicely done artwork, although the biceps could use some refinement.

However, the whole definitely doesn’t say “Medieval Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery” to me.  The only element that even indicates at historical Europe are the girl’s blonde braids, which aren’t visible until one spends time examining the image.  My guess at first glance would have been either non-European mythology, or science fiction incorporating non-European mythology.

However, a lot of that “Medieval Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery” vibe can be added by switching out the typefaces and perhaps adding some ornamentation or scrollwork around the borders. Even just replacing the garden-variety Roman-ish font with a simple uncial would do wonders. (Our resident font expert will be along presently with suggestions, no doubt.)

Also, the glow around the white letters makes the print harder to read. I would suggest a dark glow or simple drop shadow to separate the type from the image.

And finally, the “by” in the byline is unnecessary.  When people see a title and a name on a book cover, they know that the name is that of the author. The only time you need “by” is when you need to describe the book: “A Historical Drama by,” “A New SERIES TITLE Novel by,” etc.

Other comments?