Before It’s Too Late

Covers

The publisher says:

Deserted by her mother, Lydia, as a high school student, Melissa Streeter vowed never to see her again – and never has, until a letter from Iowa arrives, imploring her to visit her dying mother before it’s too late. The ask comes from a man named Gabe, Lydia’s husband. A dairy farmer in beautiful northeast Iowa, his urgent words compel her to break her long-ago vow.

Nathan says:

Assuming that the inciting incident leads to drama and reconciliation, I think the cover’s very wrong for this novel. The face looks like Lichtenstein-lite pop art, and it took me far too long to realize that the blotchy shapes at the bottom were in fact cows.

I just don’t think this is going to attract readers who would like the novel. Your best bet is to go to Amazon, figure out what category this novel would fit in, and look at the covers against which this book would be competing — figure out how the target audience is used to being wooed.

(Also, “estrangement” needs another “e.”)

Other comments?

Redeye

Covers

The author says:

Greetings, you all helped me with my Call Numbers novels, now after three successful releases, I’m branching out with my first standalone novel, Redeye. Here’s the summary…

Nate and Cynthia Durant were a happy, loveable, full-figured couple. But then they both decided to live healthier, with him having weight-loss surgery and her losing the weight naturally. Now both turn heads wherever they go, fighting off advances from everywhere. And while everything looks amazing on the outside for them, each of them can’t shake the insecurities of their former selves.

Determined not to go back to how he was, Nate has become a renaissance man, with many jobs. From podcasting, to photography, writing, DJing, and even doing stand-up comedy, he has a lot on his plate. Meanwhile Cynthia lives off her wealthy parents as a former substitute teacher in-between jobs. With their 10th year wedding anniversary coming up, the couple’s appears to be passing each other like ships in the night. When Nate stumbles upon a picture online of someone from his past, a series of events leads the couple on a journey far from home, where their relationship will endure the ultimate test.

Nathan says:

Glad you’re finding our advice helpful.

My first impression of this cover is “not stark enough.” Both in terms of readability, and as a subtext to the theme in the novel of a hard choice, there needs to be more contrast between light and dark.

My second impression is that the title font gives a much more light-hearted, even comedic impression than your description does.

And my third impression is that there’s not enough of a visual focus. There are many disparate parts, but there’s not one place that the eye goes to and branches out from there.

My suggestion would be to have the couple central, with the man more clearly distracted by something to the side (a female silhouette).

Other comments?

Entangled

Covers

The author says:

Young YA (ideal reader: 12 years old) about teleportation. Most important question: is the title readable?

Nathan says:

Most important answer: No.

There have been successful books with cleverly unreadable covers, but (a) they usually have a big TradPub promo push behind them, (b) the author usually has an existing following, and (c) they’re not for a young YA audience.

Heart Bypass: The Road Map

Covers

The author says:

This is a book I wrote for people who are going to have open heart surgery. It’s advice seen through the patient’s perspective. I did this with no understanding of covers and I know it’s poor.

Nathan says:

Just so I could understand the content a bit better, I pulled in the Amazon description:

The author found himself facing open-heart surgery. Researching the Internet, he found lots of scary stuff that led to terrible fear. The books he found didn’t give a good idea of what it was going to be like from the patient’s point of view, and so he resolved to keep a day by day diary of the whole process, from diagnosis to recovery, detailed here in “The Road Map”.

The Road Map doesn’t replace existing books, nor does it attempt to advise you on surgical matters. It relates the details of diagnosis, preparing for surgery, and recovery: the things that can only be experienced by those who have undergone a heart bypass procedure.

I think that, because the book emphasizes the personal and experiential side, you ought to begin with the image of a person. Maybe someone being advised by a doctor, or someone in a hospital bed receiving a shoulder-hug from a visitor. Emphasize that this book isn’t about the organ, it’s about the person.

I just searched “patient” in iStockPhoto, and there are scads of images showing a patient in comforting consultation with a healthcare professional (most of them run between $12 and $33 for a license to use them on a book cover). Happy hunting.