The author says:

Here is a revised cover of A Bee In A Big Universe. A funner readable font-Better beehive-bee moved more center and down – moon as a crescent – planets moved a bit – tree reduced in size. I hope you like it. I’m just trying to improve my cover, lots of things I like about the cover just needed improving. Darker blues don’t work. because of the interior page colors. I think it looks good. I was hoping to find out what looked better the newer version or older one and to make improvements. It looks better on thumbnail.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

I definitely think that this version takes the best parts of the other two. The flower is immediately apparent to a preschooler, the bee’s solid eyes aren’t as psychedelic, and the hive no longer looks like the poop emoji. 🙂

I would make the title twice as big (shrink the flower and tree to give it room).

Other comments?

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?