The author says:

I’ve included the entire cover, including blurb. This isn’t final, and not yet published, but my current design. I am particularly interested in any response in regards to thoughts on copyright, as it intentionally parodies an existing movie poster design. All the elements are entirely originally made by me, but I’d still like to check thoughts. Thank you.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

Much, MUCH stronger concept, riffing on the visual motifs of one of the best known slasher movies of all time.  I don’t know that the italicized title works, and I’d definitely find another font for the byline, but I think you’ve got most of the heavy lifting done.

Re: “Parody”:  I don’t think you’ll run into any legal trouble hearkening back to elements from the Friday the 13th poster, but I also want to point out that, if “parody” is what you’re going for (i.e., emphasizing the “tongue-in-cheek” element that you mentioned with your last submission), I would encourage you to play up the humor just a little bit.  My first thought is to have something else in her hand instead of a blood knife — a bloody fork, or egg beater, or tennis racket, or…

Other thoughts?

The author says:

A group of teenagers work as camp counselors at a recently reopened summer camp. One that hides a sinister secret. An undead monster returns from the grave, picking them off one by one, until there’s only one girl left standing. For Ellie Cartwright, that’s not how the story ends. That’s how it begins. Because she’s not the only girl to have faced evil and survived. There are others. And now, they’ve sworn to protect those in danger. They’ve sworn to fight back against the creatures that lurk in the darkness. They are The Last Girls Standing. And Ellie’s journey is just beginning… (This cover is not final, hence I’m seeking feedback before I move on with it. Thank you for any help).

Nathan says:

I really think you’re missing a bet by not having the cover showcase Ellie and the rest of the Last Girls Standing. The “hook” to this story are the protagonists, not the monster, so having a bunch of blood-spattered teenage girls in a stance like the Bad Girls movie poster (what, that reference is too old? Fine, how about Birds of Prey?), with a shadowy monster looming them, would more clearly promise what the book’s main attraction is.

That kind of thing is budget-intensive, I understand; if you need to be more scaled-back, how about imagery which juxtaposes “teen girl” with “horror violence”?  (The first thing that came to my mind is an iPhone in a pink, bejeweled case, leaning against a bloody Louisville Slugger wrapped in barb wire.)  You could find someone to photoshop something like that together competently for a lot less than the custom artwork in my idea above.

Also: That font’s too self-consciously spooooky to be taken seriously. Only use it if you’re going for a solidly tongue-in-cheek, R.L. Stine-loving demographic. And even then, it really doesn’t work well on a slant.

Other comments?

The author says:

Two priests battle a dark presence arising in their parish in a cyberpunk future where demonic possession is common.

Nathan says:

Technically, there’s no problem with front cover.  However, all I get from it is “Catholic” and “sorta ominous.”  In a synopsis of fewer than twenty words, half of it focuses on the setting, and for good reason — the demon-filled cyberpunk milieu is the hook here.  So why is it completely absent from the cover?

Gimme a grungy tech typeface.  Gimme a neon, circuit-boarded background.  Gimme SOMETHING that presents the most intriguing part of the synopsis.  A shadowy pieta simply doesn’t cut it.

Since you gave us the full wraparound cover, I’ll also point out that that looks like a lot of words on the back. Expand it to fill the space so it doesn’t look so dense, or chop it down by a third or a half, or both.

Other comments?

The author says:

Title: Selendrus

Logline: On a distant planet called Selendrus, a displaced heir named Nyco must come out of hiding to stop an evil council called the Select from destroying life as he knows it.

Tagline: The last of his line, the first of his kind

Genre: AetherPunk, LunarPunk, Science Fantasy

Target Audience Members: The Mythologist (consumers who love lore and learning about the history and details of a world), the Romantic (consumers who enjoy complex characters, their chemistry, and the human tale), and the Maker (consumers who enjoy constructing, cosplaying, or creating pieces regarding the world).

Target Audience Demographic: SciFi and Fantasy audiences from late teens to adult

Cover: This is a quick concept mock up done on my computer.

Nathan says:

I had to look up “aetherpunk,” and the best definition I could find was “steampunk with magic,” which doesn’t really look like what I’m seeing here. Maybe that definition doesn’t mesh with yours.

It’s definitely got the SF vibe, as well as general “punk” — how important the granular sub-subgenre identification is will determine if other visual motifs are needed.

From a simple design standpoint, I think you’re hurting yourself by trying to fit too much of the figure on the cover. (One of my rules of thumb: “How often do you ever really NEED to see someone’s knees?”) I’m also not overly enamored of the typeface you used, if only because the thin letters are hard to read, especially at thumbnail side — if you’re absolutely committed to that typeface, make the type larger.  (And given that another of my rules of thumb is “The smaller the type, the clearer the typeface,” I doubly recommend changing the typeface for the byline.)

Here’s a three-minute redo trimming the blank space around the figure and title to show what I mean:

If you want to emphasize the steampunk/aetherpunk vibe, my suggestion would be to remove the semi-mystical characters under the title (which make it even harder to read), and instead add a pseudo-Victorian border to the whole thing, letting the curlicues etc. contrast with the starscape.

Other ideas?