The author says:

“Remember Us” is the third book in the Odemark series. This cover must have a look and feel that matches the other two covers: the orange hue, ground fog, embers, and a point of lighting are important. The cover art shows the main character Simon arriving at Pikes Peak, Colorado, after traveling over the plains for months. Simon sees the crashed space station from a distance and is seen from an angle facing away from the reader. The sense of distance is important since the space station will become more visible as he and the caravan he travels with gets closer. The scene is meant to be tranquil and lonely since Simon is viewing the home he fled from.

I’m looking at making small adjustments to the overall series. For example, updating the back-cover font to Robot Slab, using a mixed case for the hook sentence, and perhaps using a color author picture. FYI, the Abandon Us cover was updated based on the critique from this site, so I look forward to your input on this cover before the book is published. This is the hardcover version, so titles and text are placed to allow for wrap.

Nathan says:

For reference, here are the previous two covers in the series:

I have two comments:

1. The spot of color on the Abandon Us cover provides a welcome spot of contrast. I would suggest something of the same on the Remember Us cover — perhaps a distinct pinkness right around the setting (rising?) sun, or a fragment of color on the figure itself.
2. It might be worth exploring a subtle but distinct tint progression through the three covers, which will give potential readers a clue that they’re a series in a set order.  For instance:

(That sucks, as a thirty-second version should; I hope it get across the idea.)

Other comments?

The author says:

1942/1959 historical time portal adventure.

Jim’s parents are on the verge of splitting up, and he’s obsessed with finding a girlfriend. Then dead Uncle Buddy emerges from a stain in the wallpaper and takes Jim back to the Battle of Alamein, to fight in WW2. Buddy helps Jim deal with life’s problems. Back in 1959, Jim runs away and is saved from drowning by Old Beardy, the beach hermit, who acts as Jim’s second mentor to get him on the right track.

Intended audience: baby boomers.

Nathan says:

That last sentence of your description stopped me cold, because this is definitely NOT the cover for a book aimed at baby boomers. It’s got all the visual markers of a YA novel.

I was going to comment on things like the needlessly hard-to-read title or the muted colors of the head in front of the bright portal, but I think that would be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. If boomers are your target audience, you need to make this book look like the kind of book that boomers look at and say, “Oh, that’s for me!”

Try some more market research and start again.

The author says:

A Civil War sharpshooter is tasked with helping hunt down an enormous mountain lion picking off immigrant workers building the transcontinental railroad in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in 1868. He finds himself caught in the middle of a battle between the immovable presence of nature and the unstoppable force of modernization. Hunter becomes the hunted as he toils with the idea of picking a side in this eternal conflict. Historical fiction novella addressing the themes of the cost of modernization and how those least responsible are often left to face the consequences of progress.

I’ve been toying with three cover ideas inspired by vintage travel posters and 19th century news headlines/posters.

Nathan says:

Of the three, I like the bones of the third one best; lighten the background, then use a halftone of the reddish hue for the mountain lion in the first two to make the lion pop in this one.

I question the wisdom of using “Gaia” in the title of a historical novel, though. While I know that it’s the name of an ancient Greek goddess, to a current readership it immediately brings up post-1970s environmentalism, and thus seems like an anachronism.

Thoughts?

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

Definitely a much stronger execution of the concept than the original. Mostly what we’re into here is fine-tuning.

• The knife still doesn’t pull its own weight; as you can see in the thumbnail, it ends up being semi-invisible in the thumbnail. Part of the problem is that the knife you’re using this time has a shorter blade compared to the handle, and the blade is the only part that’s visible as the “i” in “Lies.”
• The drop shadow on the knife is a little weird, too; viewers can accept shadows on letters against unconnected backgrounds, but this instance means that a knife is casting a shadow on the sky.
• Something about the color scheme makes me worry that people will see “slasher horror novel” rather than “police vs. serial killer novel.” I can’t support it rationally, but something makes me think that tweaking the city lights to be slightly more yellow; and making the lights at street level clearer — especially a couple of dots of blue-and-red police lights — would make a big difference.

Other comments?