The author says:

It’s been 10 years since the unprovoked Arez attack on Lhasa Space Colony. The war between humanity and the Arez is in full swing with no end in sight. Countless heroes have been struck down by the alien hordes. The orbital cannon on the moon of Titan is the only thing keeping the Arez armada from penetrating further into Terran space. The courageous Captain Jake Takeda has been dispatched to Titan along with the rest of his elite Strike Team. Their mission is to defend the orbital cannon from the viscous Arez ground forces stationed on the exotic moon and to defeat their cruel leader. The dreaded general known only as The Crimson Death.

Nathan says:

I think this is much closer to the bullseye than the last cover you submitted. The genre of military sci-fi is very clearly communicated.

I’m still not crazy about that title font; it sacrifices readability, and doesn’t bring anything in return (it could as easily be on an ’80s-inspired slasher novel).  And I don’t like how the byline is pretty much the only non-centered element.

If the cover art was rendered in separate pieces and composited, then I would suggest you move the cannon to the right so that the planet can silhouette the figure’s head as well.  If not, then I would suggest extending that highlight we can see on the right shoulder up around the top of the head to separate and emphasize it.

Other comments?

The author says:

This book is written for those who are uncertain of their eternal destiny. Many give little thought to what happens when they die. This books lays out the truth about heaven and what changes can be made to help one change the trajectory of their life if necessary to be sure they get to heaven.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

It’s a complete rework of the initial concept — complete with a new title — but it retains one of the problems of the last iteration: There’s nothing visibly Christian here.  While inclusion of a cross might be too on-the-nose (or not, depending on your content and target audience), perhaps something like a dove would give just the right Christian connotation.

Beyond that, your type placement seems random.  The whole top half of the cover seems explicitly designed as space for the title, so there’s no reason to crowd it over to the left.  And the placement of the description and byline seem like attempts to squeeze text into places not meant for them.  On those elements, my inclination would be to delete the “Not sure? There’s still time” text altogether, and place the byline centered across the bottom in larger type.

And that clock… not only is it squished for no good reason (thus attracting the attention of those of us who regularly complain about such misuse of images at LBC), but its shadow contradicts that of the leaping figure.

Other comments?

The author says:

Jake Takeda is a high school student living a quiet life on Lhasa space colony. He has a genius level I.Q. but not much in the way of common sense. When he discovers an alien pod in his father’s salvage yard, he does what any sensible person would do. He opens it up and befriends the beautiful alien girl who emerges from it (Adeola). She just so happens to be an Arez, a warrior race with red skin that humans have warred with for centuries. It’s a desperate race for Jake and Adeola to stay ahead of Station Security. All the while, in the shadows, a team dispatched by the Arez conducts a violent search for the red girl.

Nathan says:

There’s a definite “Kelly Freas” vibe from the picture of the red girl, but I don’t think that’s nearly enough to get “sci-fi adventure” across to your potential readers.  Here are the main problems:

• The title is almost unreadable even at full size, and it’s incomprehensible at thumbnail size.
• The illustration style for the girl clashes with the background.  (And her transparency serves no purpose.)
• A portrait and a cityscape don’t say “sci-fi,” and they say “sci-fi adventure” even less.  (I know that, on further examination, the cityscape appears to be on the inside of an orbital ring or Dyson sphere.  But things that are only noticed on further examination don’t have the up-front impact your cover needs to attract the right eyeballs.)

I think you need to re-think the concept behind your cover.  Instead of starting from “What kind of cover can I put together with what I have?”, think “What would attract the interest of the readers who would enjoy this story?”  The main ideas your cover needs to get across (aside from being able to read the title) are:

1. Science fiction.
2. Adventure and intrigue.

I know that custom artwork may be beyond your budget.  My advice is to search sites with already-finished artwork (DeviantArt, ArtStation, etc.) and find something with the right “feel” that doesn’t actively contradict the events or setting of your story (e.g., don’t  choose artwork with dinosaurs if there are no dinosaurs in the story) and ask to license it.

Other comments?

The author says:

This is a 90 minute fantasy short read of a boy who meets the seven deadly sins. In the story he prays for the seven, but now they want more from him. He just wanted peace on earth, but now he’s summoned the seven into his home. The story is for fans of Frank Peretti and Bill Myers.

Nathan says:

I CAN’T READ ANYTHING.

Seriously. Between the uppercase cursive font, the lack of leading, and the placement of the text over the busiest part of the image, you’ve done everything you can to make it unreadable, even at full size.

Put the title in the top half of the image (that’s what it’s for), in an easy-to-read font, with enough contrast with the background that it stands out, and you’ll be halfway there.  (Then you can deal with things like the poor resolution of the statue photograph, or the way that the lamb’s neck is half-absent.)

The author says:

This book is written for those who are uncertain of their eternal destiny. Many give little thought to what happens when they die. This books lays out the truth about heaven and what changes can be made to help one change the trajectory of their life if necessary to be sure they get to heaven.

Nathan says:

It just comes across as perfunctory and plain.  While a handwriting font could certainly work in this context, this specific font seems far too casual to me, given the subject matter,

One of the frequent commenters here likes to use this test: If the text were in a foreign language, could a reader know generally what the book is about?  I think this cover pretty clearly fails that test.

Obviously it’s neither easy nor desirable to try to convey any doctrinal specifics through the cover imagery, but I think the two concepts that the non-text elements of this cover could be expected to convey are “Christianity” and “hope.”  If I were designing this cover from scratch, my first impulse would be to use an image of Jesus’ hand reaching out to the reader — that covers both of those concepts, and very clearly bullseyes the intended readership.

Other ideas?