The author says:
Q: When trusting your baser instincts threatens to stirp your hold on sanity, who do you turn to?
A: A turkey in the woods.
A primal force awakens in Tommy after learning of his mother’s impending death. She’s all right, not in the hospital on life support or anything, but her days are numbered. Returning to Buffalo made all kinds of sense, but Tommy’s efforts to “take care of” his mom faceplant when she refuses to let him help around the house. He teeters on the cusp of crashing into old patterns – but this canine has learned a few tricks since leaving for LA. Tommy engages his writer-brain in passing the time concocting elaborate plots, second-guessing his cousin’s livelihood – certain something more nefarious is brewing. And yet, who is he to point fingers when waking up covered in dirt with no memory becomes a regular “thing”. Amidst a neurotic, potentially psychotic, break Tommy is forced to face a past ready to plow right into his future. Reminiscent of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, I Animal immerses you in the head space of a Xennial neuroses.
Nathan says:
I wouldn’t blame anyone who picked this book up thinking it was a werewolf novel, and felt gypped when it wasn’t. Wolves and wolf-like dogs have become a signifier of a very specific segment of books these days; use them only with caution.
I don’t know that I can see The Catcher in the Rye in your description, but I’m guessing that, if not exactly humorous, the tale being told is wry and sometimes ironic. Yes? Then that’s what you should play up on the cover, not darkness and conflict (and wolves). I have no idea what the “turkey in the woods” has to do with anything, but a man and a turkey having a screaming contest (against a different background, and with a less self-consciously “epic” title font) would probably fit the bill better.
Other comments?
I agree with Nathan. Based on what I get from the description, the cover is completely misleading and entirely inappropriate. It needs to be replaced in its entirety.
Even though commenting on the existing cover is kind of moot, since it needs to be replaced with artwork that is more appropriate to the book, it might still be worth pointing out a few things as object lessons:
1. The man’s face and the wolf’s are all too obviously from entirely different sources.
2. It is too obvious that the art is cut-and-paste, especially the wolf.
3. The design elements are floating in a sea of black. Everything needs to be larger and better integrated.
4. Two typefaces are more than enough.
Well, I can read ‘werewolf’ from the description. But since it is onlly hinted at, is the cover meant to spoil the plot twist? It could be he is a wereturkey. Maybe he sleepwalks. But the cover definitely says ‘werewolf’ and thus strips all mystery from it.
So I too would start again from scratch, so I am mot going to nitpick the cover – but what N. said about everything floating in ink, that is definitely the first impression.
Yes, the concern was a werewolf vibe. Probably going to commission a designer for this one.
Wow. Maybe I’m just not a person who pigeonholes things, but I did not get a werewolf vibe. My instant impression of the image is an angry man yelling at a snarling K9. If this is a werewolf story, (which I doubt the lost time is indicating,) I would be turned off by his cover. A better approach to indicating a werewolf story would have the human and wolf howling, not looking like they are arguing. Howling together would indicate a connection between the two. Thinking about it further, I can see that perhaps the image could be symbolic of the internal struggle between man and wolf, but that thought only happened because everyone so far has stereotyped the image as werewolf. In any event, my impression right off the bat was humor. If this book is a wry look into this man’s life, past and animal instincts, I think it works. As for the layout, I’d move the author’s name to the bottom, make the title more pronounced, and definitely limit the fonts to 2 max.
I won’t read anything from an author who tells me how I will feel, how engaging the story is, or who compares their work to one of the greats. The worthiness of praise is for the critics to decide, not ourselves.
Also, that description make zero sense and the title, tag, and image tell me he’s a werewolf. I also don’t like the tag repeating the title.
HOWLING COMMANDOS
“These Commandos are Howling”
I agree.
I too got “werewolf story” from both the cover and the description.
To be fair, B.L., Nathan’s instructions for this site is for the author to compare their book to other authors, so the critics can have a reference of comparison. Since the Salinger reference is not on the cover, but in the comments to the critics, it is not fair to condemn Kevin for following this site’s instructions. And even Kevin’s Salinger reference did not claim to be an equal to Catcher in the Rye. He chose to say “reminiscent of . . .”, which is a far cry from claiming to be as good as. Personally, I hate the very notion of comparing my work to the work of other authors. It is not fair to the other authors, and is not fair to me. Just a suggestion, but Nate may wish to consider taking that suggestion out of the submission instructions to avoid issues like this in the future. Or, he may wish to remind the critics that it is HIS suggestion that authors make such comparisons, and not to take such comparisons as author arrogance.
I think there’s a difference between “This book is aiming for the audience who like X” (a very necessary marketing consideration) and “This is just as good as X!” I think there’s also a difference between telling us the audience the book is aimed at, and citing that book as comparable in the elevator pitch.
Me, I’m glad if anyone tells me that their book is reminiscent of CATCHER IN THE RYE… because I *hate* CATCHER IN THE RYE, and I appreciate the warning. 🙂
“I *hate* CATCHER IN THE RYE, and I appreciate the warning.”
LOL
I thought this was a weredog story, He calls himself This canine- so it might be entirely appropriate but if he transforms to German Shepard then use a animal that looks more like a shepherd and not a wolf. This might be work as a concept if you let the title do more of the heavy lifting. Make it much bigger and more centered and way more visually interesting. It will use up the black space better and its trending now, so win-win
https://imgur.com/a/mzKlqv1
Something more like this. Big title with a cinematic feel (I was too lazy to find a new dog that looked more like a dog)
PS. You could add humor or horror to it by adding small details in the font like fur or blood. A single drop of red blood dripping from the I or L would scream horror while fur sprouting would give it comedic flair. You could also use a textured background to add ambiance, things like cracks concrete texture or even silk (the list is endless)depending on the vibe your going for. If this a romance then change the author font to script, something with a serif.
PSS. to make the lighting match use a soft brush in white where you want the light to be, blur it and fade it and whallah. (I also added a red tone to both of them to make them look more matched, you do that almost the same way, just make a layer red set it to overlay and fade it out with the opacity slider.)
I am seeing a strong lycanthropy vibe here, regardless of whether that’s supposed to be a wolf or some other kind of canine on the cover. The tagline about family “bringing out the animal” had me thinking that maybe like either version of the Kingdom of the Vampire movie, this might be a kind of “Is he really a lycanthrope, or does being around his dysfunctional family just make him think he is?” plot. Aside from the confusion this cover generates over what kind of book this is supposed to be, I’d point out that as with vampires, werewolves and other canine and feline lycanthropes have severely over-saturated the indie book market right now (and for much the same reason: authors who despised the Twilight series and think they can do so much better mostly demonstrating that they can’t); just look up “wolfie” over on our companion site Lousy Book Covers sometime.
In any case, whether the guy’s some kind of lycanthrope or not, I’d definitely recommend putting him out in the woods screaming at that turkey instead, especially since I’d have to admit I’ve never heard of a were-turkey before. (I have heard of a were-owl in Patrice Kindl’s book Owl In Love.) If this really is an “Is he or isn’t he?” kind of plot, you might also want to look to the video jackets for those Kingdom of the Vampire movies for pointers on what kind of font to use on your title.
As for comparing oneself to other authors? Like our esteemed host, I can appreciate a cover that warns me away from things I’d rather not read as much as much as I appreciate one that will attract me to something I rather would like to read. For instance, I’m definitely not into any kind of story involving homosexuals… so, if you’re doing a homosexual romance? Don’t be shy: put those two dudes right there on the cover making out or looking like they’re about to make out so I’ll know to move right on past it while browsing for something to read. You definitely don’t want to read the kind of review I’ll write and see the kind of ratings I’ll give you if you go tricking me into thinking your book is something else.
For a Catcher In The Rye comparison, well… I’ve never read that book, so I wouldn’t know. You definitely want to draw the people who liked that book and drive away the ones who didn’t, however, so go with your instincts and try to make your cover somewhat reminiscent of that book’s if you can.
Any comment which references both versions of Kingdom of the Vampire wins the internet for the day.
Heh. One of these days, I’ve really got to get around to watching those movies instead of just reading your reviews of them (though those were awesome).
By the way, has the hopper finally run dry? Checking the date of this post, I see we haven’t had any new entries for over a week.
I don’t think there is any way in which the present cover can be saved. An entirely new cover concept needs to be created from scratch.
I would add to this that none of the fonts work. The byline font is inexplicable, a quasi-grown-up version of Comic Sans, displayed against the very formal display font for the title…it’s just jarring. They don’t work together, and no matter WHAT genre or area this book falls into (I’m still not sure if it’s genre or Lit–which is not a good thing), they’re wrong for it.
I’d like to see a rework that helps the story a bit more. Right now, there are too many unknowns and vagaries, for anyone to be very helpful.
I also assumed that the submitter was following the rules of the site, in relaying the tone/type, other books that his idea reader might have enjoyed, etc.