The author says:
Set in Boston current day timing, Contemporary Romance. readers: women 20-65 age group. This would be directed at the same kind of audience as Nicholas Sparks, Romance but giving attention to other issues such as adoption, etc.
Young woman of 18, meeting and falling in love with medical resident of 23. As a baby she was adopted, but due to circumstances, reunited with her biological father early in the series. She has gone through reunification with biological mother and other serious issues such as anxiety etc, again earlier in the series.
Nathan says:
Given that this is fifth of a series, I looked up the previous books to check the branding (here, here, here and here), and with that in mind, this book looks like you’re bullseyeing the branding perfectly. I don’t think there’s anything you need to change on the front. (The back looks pretty wordy to me — I’d be more comfortable with half as much text.)
Now, if you’re ever looking for changes across the entire series, I’d experiment with pushing everything just a little lighter, just a little warmer/pinker.
Other comments?
I was all ready to say “Nicholas Sparks covers have people kissing,” but then I realized I was thinking of Nicholas Sparks MOVIE covers. Turns out Nicholas Sparks BOOK covers are really boring! News to me. But I digress.
This is super professional looking; it’s very crisp and the typography is great. I actually love your mix of lower case, all caps, small caps, and italics. The picture is a tad grainy, but at normal resolution no one is going to notice. Brightening it up a smidge as Nathan suggests could be a good idea.
That said, I look at this and see women’s fiction or maybe YA contemporary, not straight romance. Books 1 and 3 of your series nail the audience you’re going for, I think, whereas this one doesn’t as much. Romance tends to be rather strict about having couples on the cover.
Now, the overall look is so nice and it matches the rest of the series so well that I wouldn’t blame you for sticking with what you’ve got. But going forward, I’d definitely suggest more overtly romantic imagery like you have on some of your other books.
Wow, thank you so much! It has taken a while to get to that final format and I’m thrilled it’s finally looking professional. Covers are tough so it’s a relief to be so close to having them right! I have been working hard to hit the branding and keep a consistent feel.
On the back cover, I have to agree it was too busy. I’ve revamped it and removed the bottom (fourth) paragraph and have one smaller tag line above the three remaining paragraphs so it’s less wordy and cluttered and it looks much better.
Book 5 is in preorder right now, so… This is the time to fix all of my covers to ensure they fit and match branding – and all five will have the exact same typography when I’m finished. 🙂 (So happy the set up on that works! I almost cried tears of joy.)
Book 1 and 3- Think I will keep the pics but move to a warmer tone, as I love the idea of brightening them up – make them more eye catching.
Book 5 – I hear what you are saying about the picture. I love it, but if it is leaning a little more YA then it needs to change and the graininess is a concern when I go to produce paperbacks. That one can change to a more “romance” picture in the same line as 1 and 3.
Now, Book 2 and 4 are my challenges for pics. Book 2 I was already wanting to change… but this is the book where Savannah finds her father, so I don’t want the cover to scream romance (maybe just give it a a little wave.) The two central characters are father/daughter (with a side of romance for dad). So I am thinking on how to fit the series given the mix of contemporary with romance. Maybe a romance sort of picture that focuses more on the dad with a hint of love interest cropped a bit so she’s mostly off-frame?
Book 4 – same challenge, except the centrals are mother/daughter (with a side of romance for each) which again, the cover is tricky to not mislead on the central story line, but the story does appeal to many romance readers as there is a fair amount included. This one stumps me… unless I can find a truly awesome mother/daughter picture and use that- but haven’t found a good one yet. Or focus on one of the MC’s and do the same as book 2 with the woman central with the love interest not full frame? (Am I making sense?)
This series ends up being an interesting mix, because it’s romance, but heading toward contemporary fiction for two of the volumes. Any thoughts on the pictures for 2 and 4, given the new information on content?
Well, Nathan is right: your branding is consistent. The problem I find is that I wish the first book had not set the precedent it did. Its cover and those of all of the following books are murky and grey, with very little contrast within the images and not much more between the image and the type. These don’t have to look like circus posters, but there is a monotonous dreariness to them that I, at least, find off-putting. If nothing else, it makes the covers look bland and almost indistinguishable when seen in thumbnail form, as made evident when the previous four are seen together, as they are across the bottom of the opening Amazon page.
The images themselves are fine and the typography is pretty good (though I would increase the size of the “we” on the current cover), but I really do think something needs to be done about the bland, dark grey monochrome.
Thanks Ron,
That’s a good point. I think I was overly heavy with gradient on the first pic trying to get the text to stand out, and I have adjusted some levels, but I might just change all the pictures. I have found some different ones for the whole series so they are much brighter and vibrant, but retain a consistent feel. The text is a quick an easy fix. Book 2 is a challenge to cover, but I have come up with a couple of ideas.
This is the revised copy of the Everything we Dream cover based on the suggestions – the rest will have the same style of picture.
The pictures are right for this kind of book, but the color scheme is definitely a sticking point in the advertising; that cold bluish-gray palette is more appropriate to things like a Lifetime movie or Gone Girl (a.k.a. Your Wife Probably Wants To Kill You). If you’re writing like Nicholas Sparks, your series probably has a body count (as someone once joked, “Stop Nicholas Sparks before he kills again!”), but these are supposed to be tragic deaths of the sort that could happen to anybody like car accidents or random crimes or cancer, not the deliberate murders of a murder mystery or thriller (or Lifetime movie). While increasing the contrast a little would make your covers clearer in thumbnail as intended, combining the increased contrast with the current cold color palette will just make it look like even more like a murder mystery/dysfunction drama like Gone Girl.
As such, unless you’re planning to have this slice-of-life-with-lots-of-romance series take a much darker turn (which Nicholas Sparks admittedly did with one of his books, having a psychopathic serial killer knock off a number of its characters), you need to warm up that color scheme. Try giving the pictures more red and green to go with the blue, and increasing the saturation to cut down on the gray. As our host says, better lighting and more pink, please.
Thanks RK, noted. I am changing the pics completely – to a set that are brighter/warmer tones – a more natural look to them – and will hopefully fit much better.