The author says:

War drama between China and Vietnam. Much suffering on each side. Eventually, America and other nations unite to beat China at sea, forcing their retreat. This united action brings the world together and ushers in a new world order of peace.

Prologue: It was the enmity between China and Vietnam that was the prompt for changing the world. Their shared animosity through war and bitterness created the circumstance for a new philosophy that set the world on a course to the closest thing it has seen to a Utopian state of being. But the course getting there was filled with tragedy that God could never imagine. It is said that changes for the good usually grow from disaster. The disasters were of a scale that humankind had rarely seen. The good that resulted had never been seen before. Over nineteen centuries the pain has continued for Vietnam until these modern days.

Into this arena stepped Matt Anderson, Deng Tao, Zhuang Chen, Trung Kiên and Chuck Wallace. An American teacher, a Chinese naval commander, a Chinese politician, a Vietnamese soldier and the American Secretary of Defence. These men shake the world to its core as it teeters on the brink of disaster. It simply never stops between China and Vietnam but there is always hope that some people will step forward and change history. It had taken a desperately poor country with little ability to threaten anybody to teach the world a lesson. They stood up and said, “We are going to fight for what is right and just. If you do not help us, then here we may die”. They did die, and they created more heroes! They are not just Vietnamese heroes, they are world heroes and thank God for them! For the Americans who participated in the drama and others who watched the events unfold it was almost beyond belief. In Asia, hate based in history seems never to be forgotten. In Europe the animosity related to the two World Wars has subsided and life between friends is much better. But in Asia, history seems never to be forgotten. It is always the worst of that history that still lives in the hearts of people who should be friends. This book lives out those animosities and it also shows to the world that there is always hope for a new beginning and a new world order of friendship. America took a long time to act, as did the rest of the world. But eventually they did act and it became an example for all people who joined the effort for peace and a future for their children. The world had grown up! As Asia limped from one disaster to another and millions died, Matt did not know it but his die had been cast. He had a decision to make that would change the world. As Julius Caesar sat beside the Rubicon River he weighed his risks and formulated a course of action that would change the world. He “crossed the Rubicon” with his legions and went on the rule the Roman Empire. Matt had no idea about where his future was headed. Unlike Julius Caesar he knew nothing about the future that awaited nor the risks he would take. Whist history would never remember Matt, his moment lay ahead. His decision more momentous than Caesar’s.

Nathan says:

I think I’ll just cut to the chase on this — the cold, cruel chase: This may be a barely adequate cover for a dry historical treatise about the military in southeast Asia.  For a “gripping drama,” it falls flat.

I could delineate the ways in which it misses the mark, but they are so many — literally the whole cover — that my advice is simply to find someone who has the skill set to create an appropriate cover and give them some money.  The alternative is to spend multiple years learning design skills and wisdom that you do not have.

The author says:

I am the author of this book. It was published in 2016, but I am considering a cover redesign for the series.

Tokyo Black introduces readers to Thomas Caine, a former CIA assassin. Betrayed and left for dead, he has put his past behind him. Now he lives off the grid, in the seedy underworld of Pattaya, Thailand. But when local gangsters set him up for a crime he didn’t commit, his old CIA masters make him an offer he can’t refuse: rot in a hellish Thai prison, or accept a dangerous mission in Tokyo, Japan.

The book is a spy action thriller. There are three other books in the series, which all follow a similar design treatment. Readers compare the style of the books to Vince Flynn, Ian Fleming, Barry Eisler, etc. It has a cinematic, high action feel, with a mysterious streak, and a heavy emphasis on Tokyo and the Yakuza.

Nathan says:

It’s very well put together, but I can also understand the impulse to redesign, especially if it’s been a few years and your sales are leveling off — it’s time to attract some new eyeballs!

I don’t think this cover is too busy (the elements of the background blend into a good backdrop for the main character silhouette), but when doing a periodic redesign, I always think, “What can I flip to catch the attention of those it didn’t hook the first time around?” So instead of blue, I’m thinking red. Instead of a full background, I’m thinking a few strings of half-toned brush-written kanji, at an angle to the edges of the cover.  Instead of a silhouette from the back, I’m thinking a posterized view of a man with a gun from the front.  Sort of like this:

Note: Do NOT use that stock model photo. It was on the first page of search results of “man with a gun” on Shutterstock, which means that it’ll be overused and overexposed.  But this at least illustrates my idea.

Other comments?

The author says:

Basically, this is a novel about a boy who gets turned into a cat and then eventually takes up a career in killing evil people. For further details, see the description on my earlier submission when this was called Catslash. (I changed the title because for all of the slaying taking place in this story, none of it is actually done with bladed weapons or claws as a literal reading of that title would have suggested.) While it’s a bit more sophisticated than my first cover, this is still just a scratch cover. I’d much prefer to show the protagonist standing over an actual corpse rather than a chalk outline (especially since that’s a television cop show cliche; real police don’t actually do that), but so far haven’t been able to find a suitable stock photo of such.

Genre: Suburban Horror-Fantasy, which is basically the same thing as its Urban counterpart, but with the setting being mainly in various relatively affluent and wholesome-seeming suburban neighborhoods rather than gritty inner-city ghettos.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

The cover’s completely different, but the same criticisms hold true:  Your book doesn’t look like any variety of urban fantasy.  When readers who like urban fantasy are look for their next read, this is what they expect to see:

Protagonists. Dramatic colors, with lots of highlights and shadows. Nimbuses (nimbi?) and glows and arcs of energy.

If you are trying to appeal to that audience, you need to market your book in the manner in which your potential readers will instantly know that this book is for them.

You’ll either need to (a) break down and hire a cover artist, or (b) at the very least, brows Deviantart.com and similar sights for finished artwork which you can license.  Note that the cover does not need to be a literal interpretation of an event or setting from the novel; it needs to say, THIS IS AN URBAN FANTASY AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT.

Other comments?

The author says:

It’s in the Cyberpunk/ LitRPG genre, the setting is in the medieval times. Already published, but something feels missing.

Full Summary: What would you do if you woke up in a strange world which has three moons? What if you had no memory of how you got there? And what would you do, upon realizing that you are in a world manifests itself to you in the form of a videogame? The World of Venia promises action, adventure, mystery, intrigue, and danger at every turn. With the Dread King rising, the knights tired of fighting, the rogues resorting to kidnapping, and the mages rapidly declining, it is up to a modern day young man to navigate through this mad world of magic and beasts and deception – whether he wants to or not.

Nathan says:

I will admit, the LitRPG genre bewilders me — but apparently I’m not alone, as the story you describe sounds in all particulars like straight-up fantasy, with nary a whiff of the cyberpunk you cite.

My comments assume that the fantasy setting you describe really is the main flavor of the book; if the cyberpunk elements are stronger than they appear from your description, I disclaim what comes after.

We’ve seen several “here’s a weapon” fantasy covers at LousyBookCovers.com, but their problem lies not in the weapon itself, but that the presentation is so boring.  You, at least, have a weapon integrated into the background, and not just at a straight-up-and-down angle. The problem is that the image doesn’t “pop” — there’s not much contrast; everything is overwhelmingly gray.

How about put the sword hilt against a background of rich maroon velvet or brocaded cloth? For a bonus, I’d put spatters of blood or grime across the cloth toward the bottom.  The final result with have more color and more dynamic contrast to help it grab the eye of the Amazon shopper.

Other comments?