The author says:
An Insult Troubling The Elements is a fantasy set in contemporary New Mexico and is targeted to young adults and older.
Xaila commands the powers and abilities as an Enchantress of Turquoise Sky. Responsible for directing the Elemental Forces over the Land of Enchantment, Xaila discovers her work is being interfered with by sinister influences. She encounters an unpredictable Interdimensional obstacle, cryptic signals from an unknown source, and a teenage runaway on the edge of desperation. These challenges threaten the very fabric of the Land of Enchantment. Xaila must find the answers in an exploration of her own past and deep into the history of her ancestral culture. In spite of Xaila’s great skill and prowess, the Enchantress soon realizes the solutions are not entirely under her control.
Nathan says:
Sorry, I think this one just needs to be re-thought from the ground up. The current cover concept gives no idea of what the book is about; there’s neither magic nor New Mexico in evidence, which are the two main selling points. Back to the drawing board (or rather, before the drawing board, back to the brainstorming session).
I am afraid this needs to be rethought from scratch. There is nothing to suggest what sort of book this, what it might be about, its nature, theme or subject. It’s not even wholly clear that its fiction.
I hate to pile on without much “new” to add, but just NOPE. This cover won’t suit your book and honestly, not sure what book it might suit, in trying to think of that, either.
There’s no indication of fiction/non-fiction; nothing to say what arena it might lay claim to (fantasy, how-to, or anything else) and–and I hate to say this–you may wish to rethink that title too.
Right now, my immediate first thought on seeing the title was that it was a non-fiction Climate Change book. That’s not going to help you for a novel.
Also–and this is strictly anecdotal, I do not have hard facts to spew here, as backup, but in my travels, green, aqua, turquoise, and teal covers (I mean, the teal without the ubiquitous orange!) seem to really struggle in selling books. (My company has built over 7K eBooks and books for publishers and I do get a lot of reports on how this book, that book, that cover design, etc. is doing, sales-wise, for whatever that may be worth to you.)
I’d invest a few relaxed hours with a cuppa Joe or Chai or whatever your poison is, looking over your related genres at Amazon, B&N, etc., and see what they’re using for covers, both graphically and in color story. (Also, FWIW, that shade of bluey-teal-turquoise reproduces quite badly at KDP’s POD shop, just FYI. All bluey-greens do. It’s just how it is.)
HTH.
I can only echo what the others said. Hitch gave some good advice. And honestly, even from the written description I don’t know what the book is about. I don’t like the title. I feel like there are too many titles. Why not just “Enchantress of (the) Turquoise Sky”? And then Book 1 below.
Thanks to all for your honest assessments and suggestions. I will go back to the manuscript and rethink imagery and title. Fortunately I live in New Mexico, so I can look out at the landscape for further inspiration. Will also look over the book listings in the similar genres. Hope the next round will go better and I will resubmit with something that works.
I know that everybody always wants to be original, but there are reasons why repetition and emulation sell. It’s the same reason that TV series sell–people want something ‘new,’ but they want the comfort of knowing in advance what they’re going to get. Right?
If you create a cover that looks like epic fantasy, they expect epic fantasy. If you do a cover with hand-drawn supernatural men on it, throwing spells, fire, whatever, they expect urban Fantasy along the lines of Harry Dresden or Orlando Sanchez. Ditto a Regency gown on a heroine–yupperdoodle, Regency Romance. No surprises.
That’s why I suggested the perusal of Amazon’s shelves. Find out first what your perfect reader–your targeted reading demographic–wants and expects. Ask yourself what s/he is expecting, when s/he goes to that shelf on Amazon.
Do not tell yourself that s/he will respond to something wildly new, or different, or that they’ll click on it just because it’s so different (s/he won’t).
Just find out what’s working for SELLING authors in your genre, and then think about how that may be applied to your story and title.
Good luck.
Set in New Mexico, mention of elements and sky and no image of New Mexico’s awesome big sky?
I concur. Start over.