The author says:

This is a sequel to the book “Legend of the Dark Star: Year One”. It follows the characters on their journey to track down the enchantments on the powerful weapon in order to be able to disenchant them. The journey continues through a High-Fantasy world with a dark main plot and a lot of different sub-plots. The main plot kicks off with an unknown terror that grips a village known as “The Virgin’s Vale”, every once a year. The protagonist heads over to that city with his followers going in after him to help him in his battle. Being a sequel, it should appeal to the readers of the previous book, mainly, Teenagers and Young Adults. This is a preliminary design concept and I’m open to all sorts of suggestion, even a complete redo if need be.

Nathan says:

I hope you trust us enough now that you’ll listen when I say, “Absolutely not.”

Even if the technical deficiencies in the artwork were corrected, it’s such a different style from the first cover in the series that it works against any possible series branding.

Your first cover features a strong central figure against pretty much no background, and deep colors in a limited range.  You should replicate those features in every successive cover in the series.  You can obviously shake up the specifics — for instance, this one could be an armored rider on an armored horse, with a maroon background — but there definitely needs to be visual continuity between the first and second covers.

Other comments?

The author says:

This is a fantasy adventure romance set in the volcanic badlands of Idaho. The hero is from an alternate world who travels by magic to our world in pursuit of his king’s missing heart. As he crosses over, he stumbles across the heroine, who helps him and becomes vital to his quest.

This is an adaptation of the original cover which has been deemed too small. I like the couple picture, but I’m wondering if I should just start over.

Nathan says:

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer:

I’ve come to believe that fantasy novels benefit more from custom cover art than any other genre, because the novel setting or background is such a large part of the appeal.  (Compare that to a crime thriller or a romance, where no reader is upset because they can’t immediately tell from the front cover whether the setting is Boston or Newark.)  I know that hearing you need to shell out some extra shekels for custom artwork isn’t what anyone wants, but compare that to what you have here: A male and a female, so romance is probably part of the story. And a calligraphic font, so there may be a fantastic or mythic angle.  But the guy looks completely 21st-century American (so does the girl), and there’s no action or adventure implied.

I think you definitely want a cover with

(a) action (running, fighting, something)

(b) him in fantasy garb, her in definitely modern American clothes

(c) the background doesn’t need to specifically say “Idaho,” but something that’s both contemporary and rural would be a plus (a gas station, perhaps?)

Other comments?

The publisher says:

Faun Song is a book in the Winterbourne collection by our author, S.A. Baker. It is an urban fantasy centering around an adult through the looking glass type of adventure. It involves the twisted writing style of the author and his take on the way fantasy characters, like fauns, actually would be like. From start to finish, it twists the reader through discovery and conclusion.

We are looking at feedback on the cover for sales have been somewhat flat since it was released several months ago.

Nathan says:

I can see why this would work at conventions and other live sales, but not online; the image is just too intricate at thumbnail size — it’s a puzzle, with nothing to keep the browser’s attention until the “aha” moment when the image makes sense.

Exploring other cover concepts might make sense. However, if you are devoted to using this cover idea (whether you keep this actual artwork or not), here is a five-minute redo showing four refinements:

1. Crop the extraneous visual data from the border — it makes it harder to comprehend.
2. A larger title font, more easily read in thumbnail, with more contrast. (I’m NOT suggesting you use Impact or lose the Celtic character completely; this was just the closest font at hand that was as tall as I wanted, because hey, five minutes.)
3. Make the eyes bigger.  Eyes make the face.
4. Up the contrast enough that it doesn’t seem murky.

Any other comments?

The author says:

What would it take for you to discard everything you believed in and give up your sacred honor? What would it take to make you rise up and fight when all the odds are against you?

Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin “Benno” Sanchez has devoted over 20 years of his life to the Alliance of Liberated Systems’ Navy, defending his colony world from the continued encroachment of the Terran Union. His young daughter has been virtually orphaned for years, but his time away is coming to an end. His debts are paid, their lives and prospects have been secured, and he will soon achieve his dreams of freedom and a better life for his child.

On Adelaide, fourteen-year-old Mio Sanchez chafes at the limitations placed upon her. With her father away and her mother long since passed, she struggles with an indifferent foster family, too young, too poor, too female to be taken seriously. She yearns to leave her simple life and join her father in the Alliance Navy…or be anywhere but Adelaide.

Now, with all-out war underway, Benno’s devotion and sacrifice have been betrayed—Adelaide has been invaded, and his Mio is under threat by the implacable Terran forces. And the aristocrats of the Alliance plan to do…nothing. Benno must now make a choice: Honor his oath and leave his daughter’s fate to chance…Or do the unthinkable and rise up in mutiny against his own. And on Adelaide, Mio must also make a choice: Keep her head down and survive…Or fight against the invaders and endure hardships, horrors, and dangers far beyond what a “just a girl” is prepared for. Sacrifices must be made…but how far will a father and daughter go to be reunited?

Nathan says:

This one just begs for a five-minute redo, because it’s sooo close.

The two problems:

1. The art is visibly stretched horizontally.
2. The colors and contrast are muted.

I also think that the type could be stronger and thicker, especially for the title.

So here’s the five-minute redo:

(more like 90 seconds, because I didn’t try to modify the type.)

Other comments?

The author says:

This is a mock-up for the first book in a series, so some of the images still contain watermarks.

Robots never *meant* to take over. They’re just so damn useful. When a machine can do as much work as three men, the labor force was quickly replaced by much more efficient androids. As the number of robots grew, jobs disappeared, and everyone in the middle class found themselves obsolete. While the wealthiest few prosper, most of humanity has been thrown into extreme poverty.

Leona lives a life of privilege, while Roemell never knows where his next meal will come from. A terrorist group–the lurch–starts targeting wealthy estates, burning them to the ground. Leona and Roemell find themselves thrown together, but even though they’ve both lost everything dear to them, that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to work together to find and take down the terrorist.

Nathan says:

First off, THANK YOU for looking for feedback at the mockup stage. My hackles rise when an author says, “This is the final version of my cover…” because that’s not really inviting comments.

I like the design, but I wonder if it doesn’t need a human element to it, since your description is of a story about the people, not the robots.

As far as the design itself goes, you could use more contrast between the highlights on the robot and the background. Maybe tone down the flare in the title, and instead make the reflection on the front of the robot’s head into the bright spot on the cover.

Other comments?