The author says:

Sophia wakes in a dilapidated museum believing she’s been kidnapped and abandoned. She isn’t the only one… As she and four others struggle to understand their new reality, they discover the museum boarded with no obvious exit. Who brought them to the museum and why? How can they escape? Their only link to each other is a mysterious woman named Blair, who they each encountered before blacking out. When Sophia is drawn to one of the other captives, their attraction plunges the group into suspicion. Allegiances shift as pieces connect. But is the real danger inside or outside the museum?

Nathan says:

I can suggest a few tweaks, but I wonder if the cover concept doesn’t seem more “lit fic” than “suspense.” I’ll let others debate that in the comments. But if you were to go with this cover, I would definitely:

• move “The” from left to right so it doesn’t blend in with the image behind it.
• tilt the mannequin so it looks less natural.
• either increase the byline font size or deepen the contrast with the background (or both) so that it stands out more.

What say you, hivemind? Does the concept work?

The author says:

Paranormal Romance Mystery with light humor (readership age: new adult, adult, upper-YA)

Nathan says:

Bullseye. The only thing I would do is remove/darken the glow around her head so that her hair doesn’t blend into the background.

Other comments?

The author says:

The odd events that have plagued Eve have always made her an outsider. A moving table, shattered windows, a shaking classroom. But when they turn dangerous, Eve is forced to consider something more than just coincidence might be happening. Fighting off horrible creatures with strange powers, her father is kidnapped, and Eve is saved by the one person she never expected to meet: her mother. This is not how her sixteenth birthday was supposed to go. Can she control her power, or will it consume her?

Nathan says:

“Witch’s Blood,” surely? (“No, and don’t call me ‘Shirley!'”)

The artwork is great. A litte cropping, and some tweaking of the type, will bring the rest of the cover up to the artwork’s level. Here’s a five-minute redo:

(One of my rules of thumb: “Nobody really needs to see feet.”)  I didn’t take the time to find a matching apostrophe because, hey, five minutes.

I’m not sure about the interaction between the title font and the byline font, but that might just be personal taste.

Other comments?

The author says:

Science Fantasy Adventure intended for gamer guys and geek gals. From the moment he could walk, Bowmark has trained for a fight to the death. The Disc awaits him: a giant bronze platform suspended over a river of lava. He dreads the day of proving—when he must kill or be killed—to claim the throne. His people have hidden from the rest of the world for generations. But when the discovery of a mysterious Atlas reveals forgotten lands and peoples, Bowmark begins to question his culture’s traditions and laws. His unavoidable future seems grim and pointless when contrasted with another world full of unique civilizations populated with other intelligent species and marvelous creatures. Meanwhile new threats arise from the depths, hidden enemies emerge from within, and soon everything and everyone Bowmark knows and loves will be changed forever. Torn between a desire to fulfill his duty, and his empathy for others, Bowmark must use all his intelligence and courage to navigate an uncertain future. Perfect for fans of Salvatore’s Drizzt.

Nathan says:

Unfortunately, this cover misses the “science fantasy adventure” part entirely.  There’s a penumbra of the fantastic in the title font, but that’s it. The bronze head with dreadlocks only says “African-American interest,” which doesn’t overlap at all with the description you gave.

Better go back to the concept stage on this one.

The author says:

LitRPG is a niche within the Fantasy genre. Within even that is something referred to as DungeonRPG or GameRPG. It is Fantasy stories that take place within a game or within a world where the rules are clearly set, like a game. For fun i thought wrote a story that falls on the edge of all three of those.

Adventurers enter dungeons every day. Battling evil monsters, defying dangerous terrain, triumphing over devious traps… … but none of them ever ask why? That arrow trap, who reloads it? The pitfall trap, who cleans out the bodies and sharpens the spikes? What if the grates get clogged, where will the blood and gore drain? When you are trying to study ancient lore or plan on conquering a kingdom, you don’t want to worry about all that. You just want peace.

Mortis Operandi is a different kind of company. One that celebrates diversity. One that celebrates value in individuals. With flexible pay and plenty of advancement opportunities, it is a company that knows its workers are it’s most valuable asset. As they design, build, and install traps, rooms, obstacles, and repair they are a one stop shop. The sudden exit of Mortis Operandi’s CEO, the company was facing ruin. The goblin Eft was choosen as the new CEO and boss. The previous CEO made promises and contracts that Eft now has to fulfill, and it is causing a lot of trouble. Restoring the ancestral home of Ogre’s seems easy enough, what if a thriving town now resides there? Along with facing corporate invasion, Eft must take on the tasks he wouldn’t wish upon his worst foe, Customer Service.

*Note the above statements are forward looking statements. In no way do they promote or suggest that Mortis Operandi will project greater sales or revenue. Understand that investing in a company does involve some risks, and possibly much rewards.

Some covers of books within the Genre for comparison:

• Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests by Neven Iliev
• Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer
• NPCs by Drew Hayes
• The Land by Aleron Kong -I think he updated his cover though.

My previous cover you guys rocked at helping my identify things that needed fixing. This time I think the idea for the cover works for the genre but still just looks crappy. So any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated. Even if I have to scrap this one, I’m hoping I’ll have enough to know what is wrong to ensure I don’t pay someone to make the same mistake. Thank you again.

Nathan says:

Just for comparison, here are the four covers you referenced:

Using these four as a sampling, I think the only commonality between fantasy LitRPG covers seems to be “a cover with solid fantasy tropes.”

Your novel has a quirky hook: This is the company that works behind the scenes to make all the cool stuff happen.  That’s really something that needs to be be put front and center.  I can sort of see where you were heading that way with a few of the elements you use, but I’ll be honest: It’s a mishmash.  Bad fonts, poor layout, and mismatched graphic elements.

I think you need to start over from concept: How can you get the “hook” of your story on the cover? The first idea I thought of was a Mortis Operandi business card being passed from a goblin hand to a dragon hand (or whatever other fantasy creature’s hand) — enough of a fantasy element in both the hands themselves and in the title font (as in The Land) to convey a high fantasy setting, and the business card as the novel element.

Other ideas?