The author says:

Eloise is a princess in hiding, an orphan, and an heir to the throne her uncle wants. In her grandfather’s day, Uncle Frideric would have staked her out for a dragon’s meal. Two birds with one stone, so to speak. Fortunately, virgin sacrifices to the dragons are passé now. Until the day she rescues a baby dragon, whose parents are searching desperately for him. Then she might just be food for wyrms, if they don’t realize she’s their heroine first…

Nathan says:

A lot of authors have found that using a sigil or symbol is a good substitute for the other, more expensive kind of fantasy cover (one which uses custom illustration), so I don’t fault that instinct.

Most of the problems here are readily apparent from looking at the thumbnail: All of the filters and ornamentation make both the dragon symbol and the text harder to comprehend/read; the chrome treatment on the dragon ends up looking like a hood ornament.  The lack of contrast between the yellow patch in the background and the ornamentation on top of it just exacerbates the problem.

And that title font… (It’s close to Flair Roman, but not the same. Our resident font expert, Hitch, will identify it instantly.) It’s not really strong enough for the title, and stretching it top-to-bottom doesn’t help.

My fix-it advice: Turn off all of the beveling etc., up the contrast, and check it IN THUMBNAIL  to make sure that both words and symbol are instantly understandable. Only add back any filters one at a time, and check them IN THUMBNAIL each time to make sure that you aren’t doing more harm than good.

Other comments?

The author says:

Hostaged in the hands of technology, the seski beings have long forgotten their cultural values and an integral part of their history. In an attempt to reclaim their lost past, an expedition force makes use of dimensional portals to outrace the light and land on a human habited planet, Iven, to stargaze into the afterimages of their planet – 300 years in the past. Some missteps and the seski beings’ identity are compromised before the human inhabitants. The human beings are intrigued by the discovery of a new sentient race but threatened by the intrusion, creating hostility between the locals and the expedition. Meanwhile, the seski expedition is intrigued by the cultural values of the humans but threatened by their hostilities. The humans try to defend their own in a preemptive strike, while the seskies try to defend their own and recapture the human culture through an aggressive one. The 33rd Century Wars commence.

Nathan says:

Here’s the first thing I saw:

The cover is full of terrific elements for a perfectly serviceable (if slightly generic) SF cover, but the layout needs work, as everything is unbalanced.  The text treatment on “Afterimage” is also a bit of a problem — I can read “Stellar” in thumbnail (just barely), but “Afterimage” is a complete loss.

Here’s the five-minute version of where I would go with the layout:

The byline seems, well.. having the surname be initials only comes across as too precious.

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The designer says:

An on-location film crew is making a monster B-movie, but the incantation that raises the monster in the script raises a real monster when delivered by the actress. (The rusalka in this book is a female Slavic water spirit, which may or may not be relevant.)

Client has asked for a cover that resembles a B-movie poster from the 50s, and loves the current version, but I don’t. I know it should be a true illustration, but client insists that I, a photo manipulator/compositor, am the best person for the job. At this point I have spent too much time with this cover to be at all objective (except to recognize it’s Not Right.)

Nathan says:

All rightie! This is right up my alley — not only did I review B-movies and cult cinema online for a dozen years (for a site which the internet has unfortunately swallowed), and not only do I have an archive of 65,000 movie posters and video covers on my computer, but I’m in the middle of making a B-movie-flavored cover for a project of my own. IZ MY JAM.

The problem here, as I see it, is that you’re trying to take an image perfectly suitable for a modern ebook cover (although not in itself particularly horrific or spooky), and then retro-engineer it into a B-movie poster.  The problem is that old B-movie posters were built differently from the ground up; the entire layout philosophy was different, and it’s a difference which even the most casual viewer will instantly recognize even from the thumbnail.

Here are a smattering of B-movie posters from the era, to show what I mean:

There are several cheats here — Cry of the Banshee is from 1970 and definitely shows a psychedelic influence, Flesh Feast is from 1970, The Day of the Triffids and The Body Stealers (“Galaxy Horror” on the Italian poster) and The Plague of the Zombies are from the 1960s, Night Monster and Calling Dr. Death are from the 1940s — but I think they all demonstrate the same aesthetic.

And that aesthetic is OVER THE TOP. Don’t hint that something unsettling might be going on; portray MENACE and MONSTERS and COME TO THE DRIVE-IN BECAUSE YOUR BEST BABE IS GONNA WANT TO SNUGGLE UP TO YOU DURING THE SCARY BITS.

Even more so than with other covers critiqued on this site, where the general advice is to follow the visual trends that other covers in a particular genre have used, I’m just gonna say: Steal. Look at old poster layouts in thumbnail like this, so you can see which ones still manage to convey their content at such a size (since you still need a cover that sells on Amazon), and then swipe that layout.  Trust me, anyone who recognizes that the cover of Rusalka is a direct homage to (for example) Terror From the Year 5000 is going to be more likely to look at it, not less.

Other comments?

The author says:

Five covers in one image of my Mike Delaney action thriller series. Think Lee Child meets Dean Koontz. I have avoided the ‘man alone’ formula. I’d appreciate opinions of the series concept and if they work and will attract clicks.

Nathan says:

I think they look very professional and “spot-on” for action thrillers, although I wouldn’t say you’ve avoided the “man alone” formula — it anything, you’ve jumped into it with both feet.  But for the genre, that’s okay.

I think the next step up for you is to think about the branding. These all look like part of a series when we see them together, but when they’re mixed in with other covers from the same genre, there’s nothing to tie these together. For instance, if the figure were wearing a red armband in all of the covers, it would be a simple but effective element tying them together. (I’m not suggesting that that would work for your series concept; I’m only putting it out as an example of a visual motif.) perhaps a distinctive sigil or symbol behind each title or in the lower right corner.. I’m spitballing here, but I hope you can see what I’m aiming for: a visual motif tying the series together more immediately than the series title below the book title.

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The author says:

Short version: Sci-fi thriller about immortal beings who inhabit a new human body every time they die.

Long (more sales-y version): In pursuit of their eternal love for each other, will Amon and Juno end up saving the world or destroying everything and everyone around them? Can they rally other Inhabitants to their cause and defeat their eternal foe, or will they remain outcasts life after life? Once you pick up this book you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve reached the mind blowing conclusion. Timeless love and hate play out over the centuries as immortal beings, “Inhabitants”, struggle to find balance and peace before they end up destroying the world.

From the award-winning author of “Digital Dementia”, “The Gravedigger’s Song”, and “Nemesis” comes a story that will have you racing from page to page, battle to battle, love to love.

Nathan says:

Your main font is Ubuntu. Don’t use it. Not only is it generic to the point of being characterless, it’s also one of the most used fonts in do-it-yourself cover templates, which means it automatically looks low-rent.  Find something that says “sci-fi thriller” by looking at other book covers in that genre, or at movie posters.

The photograph is intriguing, but it’s largely meaningless at thumbnail size. I would try cropping it down severely.

I don’t know if you can say your book “shocked the world” if no one’s really heard of it yet.  And your byline placement seems more like an afterthought than intentional.

So put that all together, and the five-minute version of my advice would be something like this (working with the small original you sent, so resolution’s gonna be a problem):

Other comments?