The author says:

This book is for professional women, ranging in age from 20+ to 60+, who live with the challenges of men talking over them, passing over them, and over judging them. The book is also for these same women who tend to grapple with the self-imposed pressure to over achieve and over commit themselves. These experiences are described as O-Syndrome. The book is filled with stories, advice, and strategies from badass women who are overcoming O-Syndrome at work and in life!

The cover design is not a quick concept but the finished design minus any refinements. Thank you!

Nathan says:

At the risk of being accused on mansplaining… [That’s a joke. Stand down.]

The first thing I saw is the all-white background. As most online bookstores have white backgrounds to their pages, the cover image ends up not having any visual boundaries.  Even just a line around the border can help.

(Full disclosure: The full image send to me is below, and I trimmed it for presentation here. But unless the plan is to include that gray glow as part of the ebook cover when it’s uploaded, the criticism stands.)

Second point: The novelty term on the cover (and in the title) is “O-Syndrome.” A novelty term like this is intended to be something that catches the browser’s eye and makes them ask, “Huh — what’s what?” Not only is “O-Syndrome” in the smallest type of the three words in the title, the gradient makes it even less noticeable.  You can still have “Overcoming” in magenta, since it implies contrast/conflict with “O-Syndrome,” but you should make “O-Syndrome” the largest word in the title, and at least give the letters a solid border. (Given that it’s a neologism, you should consider placing it in quotation marks, signaling to readers that it’s a term you’ll be defining, not one with which they should already be familiar.)

Third: While the book as described is largely about assertiveness, the general feel is not overbearing, and that’s good; the way to overcome at work is to hold your own while not making enemies, after all. But the “Real, Raw, Unapologetic” line drags it into overbearing territory — that’s the kind of wording one uses on placards and Facebook where the the goal is to sharpen discord.

Third-and-a-half: You’ve got one too many fonts here; the elegant cursive of “Women” clashes with the casual cursive of “Real, Raw, Unapologetic.”

Fourth: Maybe it’s just me, but the insertion or erasure of incidental gender terms into other words — “HERstory,” “womyn,” and in this case, “CollabHERators” — seems to me to be more of a hallmark of the strain of feminism which focuses on highlighting and winning systemic gender conflict.  I don’t understand this book as principally being about fighting the nebulous “patriarchy,” so I think that’s a bit of a false flag.  And putting “TM” after the word is unbearably cutesy.

Other comments?

NOTE: Tensions have run a little high among commenters over social hot-button topics of late. Please don’t wade into either criticisms or defense of feminism, “the patriarchy,” etc. any further than I’ve gone, i.e., only bring it up in the context of how connotation of terms affects the possible perception of the cover’s audience. 

The author says:

Only God defines the future. Jessica Thaller struggled to complete anything in life. She quit college twice, jumped from one entry-level job to another, and let Hector crawl back into her heart one too many times. The last reconciliation resulted in her getting pregnant. Jessica decides to keep the baby over the objections of her boyfriend and parents. Jessica wakes up from a coma unable to recall the event that landed her in the Intensive Care Unit. Her very survival sparks a national firestorm over a forsaken breath. How does she deal with those who despise her existence? God has a purpose for the tragedy, but will she stay on the path he gave her long enough to see the reason for her life?

Genre: Christian Thriller

Nathan says:

I’m a little stymied here.  I really can’t tell what the novel is about — i.e., the “national firestorm” described in such vague terms in your description that I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.  The cover’s competent, but not really intriguing — but without a description that actually spills the goods, I’ve got no idea what direction it needs to be intriguing in.

The author says:

After the murder of her grandmother, Dora Baskin inherits her home, a 172-year-old log house in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Was the murder a random act of violence, or something more sinister? With her new friend, Shawn, Dora gradually finds the answer in a handwritten account of one of her ancestors, Isadora Byrnes, a nineteenth century Englishwoman taken in by a Cherokee family. In the pages of this journal, they learn about the secret organization which spent decades pursuing Isadora Byrnes to America, beyond the Trail of Tears and into the Rocky Mountains, seeking to acquire the mysterious silver artifact she possessed. They also find that this organization is still around, and they still want that artifact. And they think Dora has it.

Nathan says:

Nice try, but I can see misfires at every turn.

First: This is a thriller/mystery with a centuries-old secret society, right? Something like that should have high contrast and plenty of shadows, not be all sunny and cheerful. This cover looks from the get-go like it might belong to an uplifting historical novel (possibly even a “mail-order bride” romance).

Next: Most of these cheap stock image models are cheap for a reason. I have no idea what the expression is on the mail girl’s face, but it makes me want to slap her. The central girl above her looks like she’s been eating hashish brownies.  And the digital airbrushing on everyone’s costumes is pretty noticeable, as are the hard edges where they were cut-and-pasted together.

Third: Nothing about Celtic knotwork says “Colorado” or “Cherokee.” Plus, its inclusion in the type (along with the internal shadow, external glow AND drop shadow) renders everything completely unreadable at anything less than full size. (And even at full size, as God is my witness, I thought the title read” All We Hold Bear.”

I think you need to scrap this and start again with a cover concept that conveys a primary impression of “suspense,” and a secondary impression of “historical.” A dark rustic cabin at night, with light coming from a single window, and clear but slightly antiquated type, would serve the sales needs of the novel 1000% better than what you have here.

Other comments?