The author says:

Eira was conceived for one purpose – as a sacrifice for her narcissist mother’s plans. As the time approaches, can she overcome her conditioning and escape to the freedom she desires? Can she then return and put paid to the mother that has kept a land in misery and thrall? Genre: fantasy/horror

Nathan says:

I can’t tell from your synopsis what the setting or milieu is supposed to be… but that’s okay, I guess, because I can’t tell it from your cover, either.  Is this high or second-world fantasy?  Urban fantasy-horror in a modern setting?  I dunno.  There’s certainly nothing that indicates magic or the paranormal in your cover.

The other main problem is that nothing is readable from thumbnail, not even the title.  Glancing at the thumbnail (which is the way most people will first encounter the novel) just gives a monochromatic impression of snow.  It could be suspense, police procedural, or even a slice-of-life or coming-of-age literary novel.  There’s simply nothing there to grab the attention of the target audience and tell them, “This novel is for you!”

The author says:

This is the cover I made for my book collection. (Release date end October) Three novels about Ralph and Sarah; telling the story of their survival during the zombie apocalypse. They go from being quarantined and escaping their imminent death, to struggling with other survivors to survive and ending in them trying to bring down a corporation up to no good. It’s a young adult zombie series, set in the near future during a zombie apocalypse. The target audience are zombie fans who love horror, carnage, and fast-paced action.

Nathan says:

The problem with “horror” fonts like this is that they now connote a goofy, winking self-awareness.  Unless your novels have a self-deprecating B-movie tone (and it doesn’t sound like it from your description), you’re not giving the right impression with your cover.  Plus, it’s hard to read in two ways: one, the “clypse” doesn’t contrast well with the background behind it, and two, you’ve split “Zombieclypse,” which is a marginally readable neologism at best, leaving “Clypse” to be read as a separate word. Anything you do that makes it harder to instantly comprehend your cover is something that decreases reader interest.

Also: The title, as I gave it above, is my best guess, but it could more easily be read as Vol 1 Zombie Clypse Series,” which is just ungainly.

My advice:

1. Give the title as “Zombieclypse Volume 1,” on two lines:

   ZOMBIECLYPSE
   Volume 1

2. Use a modern, distressed font for “Zombieclypse” instead of something from Nightmare Theater.
3. For your second font, I would either go with the non-distressed version of the “Zombieclypse” font, or something entirely different, like a handwritten font.  (Remember also this rule of thumb: The smaller the text is, the more readable the font needs to be.)
4. My instinct is to left-justify all of the text, to balance out the zombie hands on the right (nice image, by the way).  If “Zombieclypse” won’t fit on one line without overlapping the hands, then I’d consider setting it on a cock-eyed angle.

Other comments?

The author says:

Genre: Horror/Urban Fantasy – Silent Hill meets Supernatural. Comparable book: Dresden Files

Publishable, but feel like something is off or missing in the design. May use too much white.

Elevator pitch: In the second book, Iris and Ben find themselves in a small mining town in the middle of a snow storm. An old friend called them there due to strange murders that could be related to a shape-shifter they are hunting.

Nathan says:

Now, because this is the second in a series, I didn’t want to give any advice which would run counter to branding, so I looked up the first book in the series:

So far, so good.  I like that you both kept the title font and sigil behind it, while varying other details like the angle of the title and the size of the figure.

In fact, my biggest suggestion is both simple and, frankly, one that you will slap yourself over:

Move the title up.

Not only will that help match the layout with the first book, but it will isolate the woman’s head from the title and sigil.  The figure will seem more stark and purposeful if her head is more clearly separated from both title and background.

Looks good! Any other suggestions?

The author says:

This is a resubmission for A Way Out. I’ve taken some feedback and came up with this as a possible final product. I’d just need to purchase the flower image so please ignore the watermarks. This memoir is about overcoming depression and anxiety, and finding happiness on the other side. The cover is meant to show hope, that beyond the tears and storms in my mind, it’s possible for recovery and your life can turn into something beautiful.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

You’ve done a great job of integrating the comments given with the original submission.

The biggest thing that sticks out to me is that the waterdrop is now off-center, but not so much off-center that it appears intentional.  I would bring the drop back to the center; there’s still enough of the face showing on its left to make the flower silhouette recognizable.  In fact, I’d make the drop bigger — with the title enclosed in the drop, the whole title has gotten a little smaller and harder to read since the last version; I’d make the drop large enough to stretch from top to bottom across that empty space, then play with exactly where the head silhouette should be behind it.

The other thing that strikes me is that having “A MEMOIR OF CONQUERING” in larger type to fill the line makes it seem louder or more important than the next line, which it isn’t.  I’d make the type in the first line the same size as the second line, and not worry about it extending side to side.

Good work!

Any other comments?

The author says:

After the death of businessman William Schulz, five people receive a letter saying that they are receiving a portion of William’s fortunes in the inheritance. When the five people meet at the mansion, they soon find themselves in a sadistic game of William’s imagination. Locked inside, they have to find the murderer and kill them before they’re killed.

Nathan says:

You may be doing something clever here with the five red stripes, but that’s negated by the fact that you’re also using a variation of the most generic and most boring ebook cover template.  At least you didn’t choose the even-more-generic variation:

Really, the only advice here is to start over and treat your cover as something that deserves thought and effort, rather than something you don’t care about.