The author says:
Riven Calyx details the rise of a knight haunted by the children he was forced to kill. He is commissioned by the equally haunted king to find a wizard to remove a curse affecting them both and the area just conquered. It should appeal to young adults and all fantasy fans.
Nathan says:
While there’s nothing technically wrong with anything on this cover… it’s not terribly dynamic or exciting, is it? For a book with “haunted” and “forced to kill” and “curse” and “conquered” in the description, the cover just seems like two people on a springtime picnic, enjoying the ruins.
A more dynamic scene is definitely the best course, but even playing with the color scheme of your current artwork boosts it:
(This is only an “open Photoshop and grab a filter for an example” version. It is not the best possible example.)
The other advice I have, if you’re still planning on using the current artwork, is to decrease the dead space. Remember, 99% of readers will first encounter your cover as a thumbnail; thus, make the important elements — including the type — understandable at that size.
If you move the byline up, you can crop even more and still lose nothing important.
Other comments?