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?

The author says:

Keisha Rose has a curse. She’s an empath, able to feel the emotions of everyone around her, overwhelming her, forcing the young woman to live a life of isolation. When a race of alien telepaths invade her colony world, they do so by projecting overpowering waves of despair. They quickly capture Keisha, and unwittingly unlock her full telepathic potential. Keisha Rose must not only come to grips with her own curse, but must now deal with the fact that the fate of all humanity now rests on her ability to control her mental powers and use them against the invading “Mind Assassins.”

This is the first book of a trilogy. The novel is science fiction. The submitted cover is a test of concept.

Nathan says:

If I look at it full-sized, I can see that the background is actually a distorted starscape, so I can sorta see there’s a “space” angle here, but that’s only if I’m already looking, and in thumbnail that’s entirely lost.  And an eye is not enough to convey “empath” or anything like it. So especially when seen at thumbnail size, the cover fails to convey anything which would capture your target audience.

If I’m looking for “alien attack on a colony world,” I expect to see futuristic buildings amid alien plants, or alien spaceships descending from a sky with multiple moons.  I need to see some immediate, “cool” signifier of genre — otherwise I’ll never look further.

(Also, “Assassin” is misspelled.)

Other comments?

The author says:

A short erotic thriller focused on an innocent girl being drawn into her boyfriend’s wealthy family and discovering their dark and twisted sexual relationships.

Nathan says:

The biggest problem here is that you’ve chosen an image with the girl as the aggressor; that sounds like the complete opposite of what you want.  Start with a different image, on in which the female figure is in sexy peril.

The author says:

The attached file is my latest and final submission.

The book blurb for what it’s worth: Sometimes you have to break in in order to break out… Raphael, the world’s first superintelligent AI, has gone missing from its lab. If the security tapes are to be believed, it has simply vanished into thin air. A case of tech-theft or something far more sinister? Its creator, Andy, has complete faith in the security protocols he built into his AI, but others are not convinced. Confined to his home, he is now in a race against time to set things right, all the while staying one step ahead of the skulduggery and infighting within a company that seeks nothing less than control of the new economy. Dive into trolley problems and machine morality in this sci-fi howdunnit of Ex Machina meets Rear Window as you try to figure out whether Raphael is a guileless automaton or a monster that will do anything to get what it wants.

[original submission and comments here]

Nathan says:

Gosh, it does my heart good when someone submits a cover, gets constructive feedback, and follows through on that feedback. Well done.

My two comments:

• The way the title overlaps the sun’s glow is a little awkward; I would either tweak the layout to get rid of the overlap, or add a dark outline to the title to separate the red of the title from the orange of the sun.
• I would both enlarge and separate the robot and wheelchair figures, letting each take up more real estate closer to the edges. Especially with the robot, there’s nothing to be gained by leaving all that blank space behind it.

Other comments?