The author says:
1 Common Thread is the history of a African American family struggle for freedom. Still, others will uncover that they’re able to connect to their ancestors with this text.
Nathan says:
I honestly don’t know if this is really a cover that’s being sent for critique, or a mail accidentally sent to the wrong address.
Treating it in good faith as a cover seeking critique: It tells me NOTHING about the book. It doesn’t even tell me that it IS a book — it looks like a photo accompanying an article in the newspaper. As a book cover, I’d assume it’s either by or possibly about the man on the cover, and maybe a municipal angle; there’s nothing to tell me that it’s about family or ancestors. Heck, I don’t even know the TITLE of the book — I pulled the title of this post from the file name, assuming it was something close.
Seriously. You must have friends; explain the book to them and ask them for ideas for the cover. Whatever they come up with has got to be better than this.
I don’t get it.
I’m as confused as Nathan.
It certainly is not a book cover!
It looks to me like we got half a book cover along with half of a description: the banner behind the guy at the lectern presumably extends around the spine to the back cover, but we haven’t been given the spine and back cover. The description, for its part, sounds like the latter half of a paragraph telling us what this book is; a genealogy, perhaps? Some kind of family biography or historical record based on a family’s personal effects?
In any event, running the cover image and title across the front and back of the book isn’t going to work, especially if we (like your readers) aren’t going to get to see any part of it while browsing but the front cover. For everyone’s benefit, stick to slapping a legible byline and title over an image with a portrait aspect ratio for your front cover while putting everything else on your back cover.
If it is meant to be the picture for a cover, it is not a good picture. Too much of an amateur snap – there is too much empty space and the flag is not centered. You also could not put a title OVER the flag on the wall, since it already has text. If this is the author, fine, crop it and put it where it belongs, at the back in small size or inside the book (the pose and expression of the man are OK). Picture of someone giving a lecture could work as a cover for the lecture notes, nothing more.
Since we are not sure what to do with this, how about a case study: If the central figure appearing on the cover is critical to the book, and a better photo is not available, are there ways to treat this photo so it could make a good component for a cover?
Absolutely, but the treatment would depend on the ultimate goal. IE what type of book this is and its intended audience. I mean, if this where a fantasy book I could make him appear to be breathing fire but that would be totally inappropriate if this meant as a genology. But is this meant as a thriller? A literary story about overcoming oppression? a inspirational story of faith and family? the little blurb gives no real clue nor does this picture as is so It’s hard to recommend a treatment for it. I personally think there are probably a million better pictures with which to sell any of the already mentioned types of books but that doesn’t mean this one couldn’t be tweaked.