The author says:

Genre: Children

Reading Age: 7+ (or bedtime reading by parents/grandparents etc)

A young girl puts a bottle with a letter containing her favorite word and asking others to add their favorite word. Where will the bottle travel, what other words will be added and will the bottle return to the girls island?

The choice of photo has been decided but font size/location etc is maybe too small in thumbnail images?

Nathan says:

The first thing I’d do is trim the artwork to avoid dead space and make the important parts clearer.

And then choose a title font that isn’t so obviously Dr. Seuss-y.

Other comments?

The author says:

Thanks to all who commented on the first pass of First Kyss. I appreciate it so much! I don’t have a designer, so it’s just me on Canva. I took in all the suggestions and tweaked and tweaked—brightness, saturation, fonts, font colors and size, kerning, tracking, image size and that damn medallion—which I think looks so much better even if it’s not perfect! Any other thoughts?

First Kyss is a paranormal romance featuring wolf shifters, magic, and Norse mythology. It is set in modern day Missoula, Montana with trips across the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard. My target audience are readers who love paranormal romance, particularly wolf shifter romance. It would appeal to readers of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series and Maria Vale’s The Legend Of All Wolves series.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

It does look much better. My only two solid recommendations:

• On the male figure, darken the shadows everywhere except around the medallion.
• I actually like the title font less this time around — it may be easier to read, but it’s less aesthetically pleasing.

Other comments?

The author says:

YA historical fantasy set in 1910. Aiming for the same market as Lani Taylor or Maggie Stiefvater. My premise involves a magic system where my protagonist, a 17-year-old girl, can talk to the characters in books.

Nathan says:

The underlying art is terrific, of course, but there’s nothing magical on this cover — you’re going to miss your target audience almost completely.  And the book icon has two problems: (a) it clashes with the style of the main artwork, and (b) its position and lack of color makes it entirely indistinguishable in the thumbnail.

My advice would be to find a painted image of an open book, place it at the bottom of the cover, and blend the two pieces of art together. There are already streaks of color shooting up from the bottom in the present artwork; if done well, the added book image can convey a “springing from the book” concept. That, some color tuning, and some fine-tuning on the title font could give you a cover that works really well.

Other comments?

The author says:

It’s a dystopian thriller set in the near future. It’s action-packed, and fast-paced. It’s similar to books like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Gone, Uglies, Divergent..etc. The title, “The Survival Strategy” is a working title. I’m not positive I will keep it. I’m also considering Fight or Flight as a title, because it seems fitting to the story, and the cover. All thoughts are welcome!

Nathan says:

It’s a well made cover, but my first guess was that it was a spy thriller.  (Something about silhouettes of men wearing trenchcoats…) I don’t know what kind of dystopia we’re talking about — cyberpunk urban, post-apocalyptic, etc. — but a hint of that would go a long way.  Even just adding some pure green glows will give it more of a futuristic vibe. And have you tried a distressed typeface?

Other comments?

The author says:

First Kyss is a paranormal romance featuring wolf shifters, magic, and Norse mythology.It is set in modern day Missoula, Montana with trips across the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard. My target audience are readers who love paranormal romance, particularly wolf shifter romance. It would appeal to readers of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series and Maria Vale’s The Legend Of All Wolves series.

Nathan says:

Well, it certainly hits all the bases for the genre — a quarter-second is all it takes to identify it as paranormal romance involving werewolves.

Two technical things stand out to me:

1. The glow on the medallion is very artificial-looking. It might be beyond the skills of your designer to add reflected highlights on the pecs beneath, but even breaking up the regularity of the glowing beams would help a lot.
2. It seems oddly muted, as if you purposely pulled back on the contrast. I would say, go the other direction. Punch it!

Other comments?