[original submission and comments here]
Nathan says:
Much clearer, but that title font still detracts as much as it adds — if I didn’t already know what it says, I (as the potential reader) wouldn’t be able to puzzle it out before I looked on for another book.
Differing reactions?
The author says:
Greetings, you all helped me with my Call Numbers novels, now after three successful releases, I’m branching out with my first standalone novel, Redeye. Here’s the summary…
Nate and Cynthia Durant were a happy, loveable, full-figured couple. But then they both decided to live healthier, with him having weight-loss surgery and her losing the weight naturally. Now both turn heads wherever they go, fighting off advances from everywhere. And while everything looks amazing on the outside for them, each of them can’t shake the insecurities of their former selves.
Determined not to go back to how he was, Nate has become a renaissance man, with many jobs. From podcasting, to photography, writing, DJing, and even doing stand-up comedy, he has a lot on his plate. Meanwhile Cynthia lives off her wealthy parents as a former substitute teacher in-between jobs. With their 10th year wedding anniversary coming up, the couple’s appears to be passing each other like ships in the night. When Nate stumbles upon a picture online of someone from his past, a series of events leads the couple on a journey far from home, where their relationship will endure the ultimate test.
Nathan says:
Glad you’re finding our advice helpful.
My first impression of this cover is “not stark enough.” Both in terms of readability, and as a subtext to the theme in the novel of a hard choice, there needs to be more contrast between light and dark.
My second impression is that the title font gives a much more light-hearted, even comedic impression than your description does.
And my third impression is that there’s not enough of a visual focus. There are many disparate parts, but there’s not one place that the eye goes to and branches out from there.
My suggestion would be to have the couple central, with the man more clearly distracted by something to the side (a female silhouette).
Other comments?
The author says:
Young YA (ideal reader: 12 years old) about teleportation. Most important question: is the title readable?
Nathan says:
Most important answer: No.
There have been successful books with cleverly unreadable covers, but (a) they usually have a big TradPub promo push behind them, (b) the author usually has an existing following, and (c) they’re not for a young YA audience.
The author says:
This is a book I wrote for people who are going to have open heart surgery. It’s advice seen through the patient’s perspective. I did this with no understanding of covers and I know it’s poor.
Nathan says:
Just so I could understand the content a bit better, I pulled in the Amazon description:
The author found himself facing open-heart surgery. Researching the Internet, he found lots of scary stuff that led to terrible fear. The books he found didn’t give a good idea of what it was going to be like from the patient’s point of view, and so he resolved to keep a day by day diary of the whole process, from diagnosis to recovery, detailed here in “The Road Map”.
The Road Map doesn’t replace existing books, nor does it attempt to advise you on surgical matters. It relates the details of diagnosis, preparing for surgery, and recovery: the things that can only be experienced by those who have undergone a heart bypass procedure.
I think that, because the book emphasizes the personal and experiential side, you ought to begin with the image of a person. Maybe someone being advised by a doctor, or someone in a hospital bed receiving a shoulder-hug from a visitor. Emphasize that this book isn’t about the organ, it’s about the person.
I just searched “patient” in iStockPhoto, and there are scads of images showing a patient in comforting consultation with a healthcare professional (most of them run between $12 and $33 for a license to use them on a book cover). Happy hunting.
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:
(That sucks, as a thirty-second version should; I hope it get across the idea.)
Other comments?