The author says:
THIS NOVEL IS AN ADULT FICTION THRILLER The book melds WWII history, murder, graphic sex and extreme serial killer violence into a thrilling novel. It is not suitable for children. While with their parents, who were serving as SS Nazi guards at Auschwitz, six boys with psychological behavior patterns, were selected for a special educational class. Their teacher, who is a Nazi officer, instructs them in the new beliefs of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The young teenage boys are indocumented into Nazism. Through books and teachings, the Nazis prove that the Gypsies and Jews are a threat to Germany, and must be exterminated. The boy’s witness this first hand, while at the concentration camp and are encouraged to participate, in the raping and murdering, of the prisoners. After World War II ends, some of the boy’s parents, as war criminals, are caught and hung. Now, while their being raised by other German families, their psychopath and sociopath behavior festers and becomes heightened, as they approach their late teens. Soon they began to rape and murder Jews and Gypsies.
Nathan says:
If I were to see this in the bookstore, I’d assume it to be either a historical account from WWII, or a wartime novel. What I don’t get — and should — is the “graphic rape and murder” part. Fortunately, you’ve got all of that red space that would otherwise go to waste; if you overlay it with a bloodspatter pattern in a deeper blood red, I think that could close a lot of the gap between the cover and the subject matter. I’d also be tempted to try adding grungy scratchmarks (the kind you often see on “torture-porn” DVD cases) either around the title text or in the border area, but only once I’d already added the bloodspatters to make sure I don’t over-texture it.
Other ideas?
A very nicely designed cover! The only thing wrong with it, as Nathan says, is that it really doesn’t say anything about the book at all.
I would certainly try to get something of the character and nature of the book across. Even the blood-spattering Nathan suggests would probably be insufficient: the book is about Nazi brutality but rather the development and eventual predicament of your characters—that is, it is not about the horrors of the Nazis but rather the effect these had on the protagonists/antagonists of your story. To this end, I would absolutely try to indicate this human factor on the cover. Which is to say, show one of these people in some way, even if it’s just a extreme close-up of part of a face in the background.
(By the way, although this has nothing to do with your cover design I do want add a word or two about your blurb. I don’t know if this is the text that will actually accompany the book or not, but if it is you ought to take a closer look at it. It will be the first example anyone will ever have of your writing and it needs to be letter perfect. As it stands, there are far too many problems in punctuation and grammar to make a good impression.)
I agree with Ron. This book sounds really interesting and the cover is not bad at all. A quick fix and it’s going to be good to go. But the blurb is seriously worrying me about the quality of the proofing, too.
Was the book copyedited? If not, I’m willing to do it for you in exchange for a free read, and an aknowledgement in the credits section. You can contact me via http://www.publibris.com. All I need is a Word file. Here’s what I would do with your blurb:
THIS NOVEL IS AN ADULT FICTION THRILLER
It is not suitable for children.
This story mixes WWII history, murder, graphic sex, and extreme violence into a thrilling novel. While with their parents, who were serving as SS Nazi guards at Auschwitz, six boys with psychopathic behavior patterns were selected for a special educational class. Their teacher, a Nazi officer, instructs them in the new beliefs of the Third Reich, thus indoctrinating the teenage boys into Nazism.
Through books and teachings, the Nazis prove to them that the Gypsies and Jews are a threat to Germany and must be exterminated. While living at the concentration camp, the boys witness this first hand and are encouraged to participate in the raping and murdering of the prisoners. After World War II ends, some of the boys’ parents are caught and hung as war criminals.
As they approach their late teens, and while being raised by other German families, their psychopathic and sociopathic behaviors fester and become heightened. Soon they start raping and murdering again.
I think the cover’s simplicity is a plus. But, yes, some blood splatter along one of the corners might be an improvement.
My bigger concern was with the blurb, assuming that what was submitted here was what you had planned for it. It really needs to be cleaned up. It gives me a bad impression as to the quality of the manuscript. It screams unedited.
indocumented? I think you mean indoctrinated! I agree that the blurb is very poorly written. I would judge the lack of writing skills to be indicative of the interior.
Mebbe a picture with a p38 next to a severed thumb all on top of a list of prisoners to be interrogated or executed. Add a few human teeth, and a little blurb about how bad they were like “where depravity and brutality were just a way of life” or something that illuminates the topic better. When i saw it i first thought it was a nazi youth handbook or some kinda recruitement guide for the AB.
You know what I really like? When an author comes back to discuss with us. Makes us feel useful, you know? 😉