The author says:

Synopsis: When one door closes another opens. An adage painfully true for Alexandria Shaw, who is invited to an exclusive club for a night of fun, but after meeting Landon Miller, she is left with a heart-pounding night that leads to a world of danger and a web of deceit. The novel is a mystery/suspense setting in current day.

Nathan says:

If an author sent this to me as a concept, here’s what I’d do:

• Make the title bolder. “CONTROL” demands a more commanding font treatment.
• Make the byline bigger across the bottom. (I’d probably also switch out that Trajanesque font.)
• Add a grungy color shadow to the black.

Other suggestions?

The author says:

ROCK THE BOAT is an erotic romance set in current day America. A simple love affair becomes complicated when a soldier shares his new wife with his best friend. Parental disapproval escalates to lies and manipulation. A man with an obsession, a kidnapped spouse, and a murder, change a happy home into a nightmare. One that might be fixed by choosing the right man.

Nathan says:

I will readily admit that I’m not the target audience, but in my perusal of book covers in all genres, I’d noticed this distinction:

• Soft romances usually have soft color schemes, airy or pastel.
• Erotic romances usually have deeper color schemes — darker shadows, more saturated colors.

Your description says “erotic romance,” but the color scheme doesn’t support that.  That’s the first change I’d make.

But then: I don’t think the transparent overlay of the soldiers works, I don’t think the placement of the title works, and I DEFINITELY don’t think the “Word Art” warping of the title works.

I’ll give you the advice I give often: Look up the books on Amazon that you would expect to see in the same armload of books as yours.  Look at their covers.  Taylor yours so that all the signifiers are there to tell your potential readers that, if they liked those other books, they’d like yours.

Good luck.

The author says:

The first of a series of high-fantasy books with more of an emphasis on historical fiction. There are multiple characters and multiple plots in the story all tied together under a single plot involving an economically stagnant country on the losing side of a war set in a world greatly influenced by Medieval Europe and East Asia.

Synopsis: War rages on as various kingdoms struggle to gain power and maintain their freedom. From the shores of the Grey Sea to the mountains of Cosca, chaos reigns. It is a tale of murder, rape and war. Here a peasant girl masquerades as a princess; a deposed king schemes to regain his throne; and fierce pagans strive to regain their freedom. As opposing forces scheme and plot to gain power, a strange sickness blows in from the mysterious east and ravages the land. Not even Spenta can save them as everyone, from fools to sages, realize that even the most hallowed of souls can do nothing.

Nathan says:

It’s well-executed art, and I don’t know how much of a draw it will be for readers.  In thumbnail, all I can see is “blue” (and maybe “tree”).  At the larger size, while I can see the human figures, I have to hunt for them, and I can’t make out enough detail to tell setting or genre from their clothes.  Couple that with a font that is the epitome of “generic,” and you’ve got a cover that tells the reader as little as it can.

Is the original artwork that intensely blue?  If not, I would scale that waaaay back, and let other colors at least give a penumbra of a palette.  Also, you could trim the artwork so that the characters are larger and more central (the only thing you’d lose would be some trees and sky).  Then find a font and font treatment that helps convey the fantasy genre (not Algerian!), as the artwork still probably wouldn’t be able to do all the heaving lifting in that regard.

Other ideas?