The author says:

Historical fiction/Coming of age and adventure mainly based in late 1960s rural England with elements of magical realism. At its heart, a boy’s love for his dog. Should appeal to readers of books such as ‘A dog’s purpose’/’Old Yeller’/’The art of driving in the rain’

Nathan says:

This one’s got conceptual difficulties. I might have gotten “rural” and “dog” from the cover, but the ghostly eyes and the suspense-thriller tagline work against the description you give.

If the milieu/setting is an important draw for the book, then I need to get a hint of that on the cover. If the boy-and-his-dog element is as important as you say it is, then I need to get a hint of that on the cover.  (Just a dog doesn’t cut it.)

I think you need to start by finding or creating (or having created for you) an image of a boy in dated clothes with his dog. Couple that with an era-specific typeface, and then start experimenting.

Other comments?

The author says:

A BLOODY CIVIL WAR A RAPIDLY COLLAPSING ECONOMY A DEADLY GLOBAL PLAGUE

Twenty-eight-year-old service technician Robert Ashton endures dangerous city streets trying to scrape by. His partner Zilv is his only light in a world enshrouded in polluted darkness. As society buckles, the pair finds safety in the city’s underworld. Working as a smuggler, Robert builds a new criminal life to keep himself and Zilv fed. Soon, the battles from the world above seep down into the underground, forcing Robert to return to the surface. In the hellscape of the Third World War, he endures a nightmarish wasteland of violence and death. When civilization falls apart, just how hard will a man fight to live?

Abandon Us is the prequel to E.T. Gunnarsson’s multi-award-winning book Forgive Us, a story readers call “thrilling, brutal, awesome, and completely unique.”

Nathan says:

Because this is a prequel, it’s important to see what branding has already been established, so here’s the cover for the previous book, Forgive Us:

Definitely on-brand, then.

I’m going to make one suggestion for the front of the Abandon Us cover: Make the human figure larger. (One of my rules of thumb: “Nobody feels bad about not seeing feet.”)

And for the back, I’m going to suggest that a serif font works increases the readability of big blocks of text.

Other comments?

The author says:

A picture book about a cute little mouse who is a fanatical gardener. It covers the topics of nature, friendship, and determination. It is aimed at 0-6-year-olds. It is very sweet and of course, has a happy ending.

Nathan says:

I think this is adequate as it stands, so let’s see if we can make it more:

• While the title type is okay, it would be confusing to beginning readers.  If you could find an iteration or substitute in which the letters didn’t randomly change size, that would be perfect.
• You don’t need to tell me that it’s “beautifully illustrated” — a sample illustration is there on the cover, so I can decide on my own whether it’s beautiful or not.
• If you must tell us what the story’s about, put it under the title, not the byline. “Rosie’s Flowers: A Story About Friendship and Nature.”
• Then you can just leave the byline as “Steven Tod,” or “Written and Illustrated by Steven Tod,” or “Words and Pictures by Steven Tod,” or…

Other comments?

The author says:

This novel is Christian WW2 fiction, set before and throughout the war in the US, Europe, and Russia. A young German-American returns to his homeland and ends up serving as a medic in the German army throughout the war. It’s a story of friendship, faith, family and forgiveness, geared primarily towards the Christian reader. Written with adults in mind but appropriate for younger readers as well.

Nathan says:

Unfortunately, very little of that can be seen in the cover, especially in thumbnail — it just becomes a murky mess with an unreadable cover.  Even at larger sizes, all of the important elements of the image (the soldier with a pasted-on backpack, the house, the planes, even the title) are swallowed up by the dim background which has enough texture to it that those elements can’t stand out.

My advice:

The sunrise to the right gives the connotation of hope, which is a big part of the appeal of Christian fiction. It also gives a good contrast to the title.  You could maybe fit a couple of airplanes above the title. (Leave out the watermark — I can’t puzzle it out, and all it does is distract further on a cover that needs no additional distraction.)

Other comments?