The author says:

Contrarian: can a duo of paid guns for hire stop a criminal syndicate before they cause irreparable environmental harm?

Nathan says:

Very cleanly done. I have four suggestions:

1. Either make the central silhouette bigger, or lighten the background right around him to make him stand out more, especially in thumbnail.
2. Make the darks in the title lighter so it can be read at thumbnail size.
3. Where’s the byline?
4. The length of your tagline is cumbersome. Try to distill it down to something pithier.

Other comments?

The author says:

This book is a children’s picture book good for ages 6-10.

Brain the Bee is dared to fly to the end of the Universe by his best friend Sam the snail. He is confused and decides to go on a quest to find out more about our vast world and beyond. In this quest, he finds out what stars are, what is a planet, and what the big Universe is all about. Will Brain be able to fly to the end of the Universe, or will he find answers in the night sky. Fly with Brain and learn what it means to be a Bee In a Big Universe.

There is also a great story of friendship in the book. There are many science facts and bee facts. It’s a very good educational book that’s easy to read.

Two versions to see which you like better.

Nathan says:

Of the two, I like the second one better; the title doesn’t seem as cramped, and the complete flower would be easier for a preschooler to identify.

As further improvements, I would reduce the flower’s size and use the extra room to move the bee down and make the title bigger.

Also, the beehive in the tree looks like the poop emoji.

Other comments?

The author says:

This is a double-volume for books one and two in a historical mystery series set in the 40s. They are NOT cozies, but soft-boiled (harder crimes, some sex, light swearing) Audience is historical fiction/mysteries, probably 40-60 year old women will be the target. The individual covers are those used on the double volume, but I decided to package together.

Nathan says:

There’s nothing wrong with it as such, but I think you could do a series of tweaks to see if anything jumps out at you as a grand improvement, such as:

• Make the individual titles larger (while shrinking the accompanying image commensurately).
• Balance how much “noise” (texture) the two covers have.
• Put the “Express Investigations Series” banner on the diagonal.

Other suggestions?

The author says:

Axly, the Starlight Company’s premier seductress-thief and assassin, will do whatever it takes to keep her brother hidden. The secrets of his origin and hers could tear their world apart. High fantasy, fantasy romance, medieval setting, adult, dark fairytale retelling. Target audience is probably women who enjoy high fantasy and fantasy romance. Somewhere between the audience of Robin Hobb and SJMaas. This is a screenshot jpeg of the adobe file.

Nathan says:

The artwork is good. I think the existing weaknesses become apparent in the thumbnail:

• The title is far too small.
• The semi-transparent tagline and byline disappear; the byline especially becomes hard to read, even at full size.

All of these are easily corrected.  There’s enough space at the top to enlarge the title and have it break across two lines (especially if you left-justify it), and put the series title below it.  The tagline and byline just need a change to transparency.

Other comments?

The author says:

Matt Evans’s world crumbles when his father unexpectedly dies. Consumed by grief, he vows to keep the family business afloat and takes a risky loan from local thug, Jeff Holden. Once Jeff realizes he won’t be getting his money back, he pushes for an alternative deal. Matt is to assist a scientist with his covert projects to cover the debt. Although unconventional, the deal seems to be the only possible solution. But underneath the scientist’s pleasant demeanor lies a minefield of secrets and personal crusades. With every visit to the underground lab, Matt’s sanity is put to the test. The only one who can put an end to it is Jeff, but he has money on his mind. Matt must fight the growing flames of madness before they consume him, but can he survive the chaos that follows?

Nathan says:

There really isn’t anything wrong here — it looks competent and professional, which means that my suggestions are less necessary than usual, even.

• Make the byline bigger and easier to read.
• If possible, let the flames fill a larger proportion of the body silhouette; the fire gets lost in the thumbnail.
• Even if the novel itself is in first-person, I’d change the tagline to third-person; first-person taglines always seem like nonfiction memoirs to me.

Other comments?