Two short story ebook covers. What do you think?

SBibb · Mar 3, 2012

I'm in the process of creating ten, 1,000 word short stories with book covers for my Honors Project, (called 1,000 words), but in the meantime, I plan to self-E-publish each short story on Kindle and Smashwords.

I'm about to start formatting Snow Witch, and I need to edit The Carrier. But meanwhile, I've completed designing thier covers, and I was wondering what your opinions on them are, and if they would be effective at getting people to purchase the story. (I'm thinking of putting each individual short story up for 99 cents).

(Note, large image size)
http://www.sbibbphoto.com/clients/sbibb_snowwitch_web.jpg
http://www.sbibbphoto.com/clients/sbibb_carrier_web.jpg

The Snow Witch is fantasy, and The Carrier is sci-fi, leaning towards a young adult audience.

Silver-Midnight · Mar 3, 2012

I personally like the cover for "The Snow Witch". It looks really interesting. The second looks okay I guess. However, keep in mind, I'm more of a Fantasy fan than a Sci-Fi fan.

BAY · Mar 3, 2012

I like both. The Carrier is perfect for boy-girl and spreading of disease or whatever. Snowwitch is real good. Any tips you want to share or something you learned in the process that you didn't expect?

Gale Haut · Mar 3, 2012

There's a lot of texture things going on with Snow Witch, which makes sense with the frost element. I'm on the fence as to whether it's too much. I definitely would like to see her face pop out of the texture more. Definitely, you should consider removing the tree from her cheek. And also consider visually blending her hair with the tree silhouettes in appearance.

Just my two cents and not the final word, mind you.

They do look good. Nice work!

Nimram · Mar 4, 2012

Did you check them in thumbnail? The font looks a bit small.

I really like them.

SBibb · Mar 4, 2012

Thanks for commenting, everyone.

Bay: Anything in specific? For me, playing with text is one of the harder aspects of this, and trying to find something that really fits the image and story. Also, placement of items can be tricky. For the Carrier, I played with how far down the top head was placed in conjunction with the title. For Snow Witch, it was "where should the head be" and how prominent should it view in the image?

Thanks for the suggestions, Gale. I'll ask around and see what other people say, and I'll keep what you've said in mind.

Nimram: As far as I can tell, the title is still mostly readable, though "1000 Word" is mostly lost, and author varies.

SBibb · Mar 5, 2012

Updated cover for Snow Witch. Changed the font and title placement, eliminated the tree and made the face more prominent, and made more contrasty. Thoughts?

Note: Large Image Size

http://www.sbibbphoto.com/clients/sbibb_snowwitch_web1.jpg

ohthatmomagain · Mar 5, 2012

I kinda liked the tree... It looked like veins (to me).

But I love the font much better on the second snowwitch.

Gale Haut · Mar 5, 2012

I think it looks better. If you do decide to bring the tree back to make it actually look more like veins, I could stand behind that depending on how it looks. But I do like these changes and could see this cover being ready for publication.

veinglory · Mar 5, 2012

On Snow Witch it looks like 1000 words is the title.

But I do think length should be very clear or you might get some unhappy customers.

FOTSGreg · Mar 5, 2012

I'd dump the "1000 words" pseudo-subtitle for The Snowwitch, and also the "The" to just make it Snow Witch. Next, put that at the top of your image and increase the font size, maybe making it 2 lines. Also increase the font size for your name. Change the font color slightly to make it stand out a little but better from the image background (brighten it up a bit, I think). You want this readable at thumbnail size (say 600x900 or AW avvie size).

I'd virtually the same thing for The Carrier, making it simply Carrier, blowing up the font size and title & author byline, placing the title at the very top, dumping 1000 words, and setting it up so you can see the title and author by,one in thumbnail and avvie size.

Unimportant · Mar 5, 2012

I like the second Snow Witch better, including font change. (Beautiful image of her face!). What would it look like with black font instead of white?

I agree with others that the "1000 words" thing is confusing. Could you put it somewhere at the bottom, and make it more clear, e.g.
Snow Witch

by
Stephanie Bibb

(a 1000 Words Production)

or something?

oaktree · Mar 8, 2012

I like both of these very much. Two things:

The white font on Snow Witch is a bit hard to read in the thumbnail size.

Also, I agree that the "1000 Words" title is a bit confusing. What about making it smaller, putting it at the very bottom, and adding something to make it more obvious that 1000 words is the name of the series of short stories, like "1000 Words: Volume 1"?

SBibb · Mar 8, 2012

Here's the finished cover to Snow Witch, now available on Smashwords. I took what you guys said into consideration, and made some adjustments.

(Note: Large Image Size)

http://www.sbibbphoto.com/clients/SBibb_SnowWitch_Smashwords.jpg

fadeaccompli · Mar 9, 2012

I really like the finished cover! It looks a lot more professional than many I've seen. The '1000 Words' bit is still a bit confusing, but the whole arrangement looks great.

Gale Haut · Mar 10, 2012

On another note, I thought the actual story was interesting and the cover illustration suited it well.

Jessianodel · Mar 10, 2012

I really like The Carrier cover it looks very interesting and the large green title pops on the background. I would pick it up and read the back if I saw it.

However I would probably pass over the Snow Witch just because...I don't know I feel like everything blends together too much and it looks like covers I've seen before...I don't know it just reminds me of Julie of the Wolves and Freeze Tag I think, which were both "okay" books so maybe that's influencing my decision a bit? I just don't think it's pops or catches the eye as much as Carrier does.

But that's just my opinion and overall they both look pretty good. Congrats btw

LadyA · Mar 14, 2012

I really like the new cover, and the wistful look on the model's face. I'm not sure about the 1000 words thing (maybe put it down the bottom?) but overall, it looks very professional!

Scarlett · Mar 17, 2012

I really like Snow Witch, I agree with 1000 Words though. You need to specify hierarchy and the title goes first because that's what people look at first.

Secondly I think you need to change the colour of the type- it can disappear in thumbnail size, and it means the dynamics of the cover can look flat because it's all so white and snowy. Try a completely different colour other than blue. Perhaps a good chocolate that reflects the colour of her eyes or a warm deep grey. This also means you can remove the drop shadow -which is usually an indication of less-than-professional use of type.

Love to see how you develop this

Al Ross · Apr 3, 2012

Font Size Author Name is too small for thumbnail size. Otherwise great cover.

I noticed something else, when thumb-nailed the font color blend in with the background making it difficult to read.

LittleKiwi · Apr 13, 2012

I'm still worried about the font visibility in the thumbnail size, but otherwise I like the final design. I think that the 1000 words is better smaller, however it could confuse those not aware of your project. I don't know why, but The Carrier's cover really appeals to me. It reminds me of something else I've seen recently and I like it. Good luck

SBibb · Apr 13, 2012

Thanks for all the suggestions.

These are the ones currently in use for those stories, however, I've definitly been working on making the text have better visibility and readability in the later covers (example: http://sbibb.deviantart.com/art/The-Hunt-Book-Cover-295819406)

So the main thing I'm hoping for now is to show improvement over the course of the project.

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2012

I'd be grateful if the OP could please reduce the size of the image: guidelines are here.

You'll have to use image-editing software to resize it, and then edit your post to delete the original image and upload the smaller one. Thank you.

Justin_AC · Apr 24, 2012

"The Carrier" is your strongest and best looking cover. That's a good cover. Not good for indie, or good for self-made, just good. Good by professional standards. Excellent work!

The cover in your avatar and the "The Hunt" one are actually kinda bad. "The Hunt" one is the worst of the lot. It's kinda garish and the text is funky looking. The lion woman has some serious blurring issues along her back and arm, and the stick she's holding has zero texture aside from a very obvious gradient. She's also not casting any sort of shadow on the rocks around her. The whole thing is just...weird looking.

The cover for "1000 words" itself is just kinda bleh. I have no idea what it's about and it seems cluttered. There's a woman looking at me...and a dude...and...stars or something? Fuzzy white balls? I have no idea.

The Snow Witch one is really good too! Very pretty! I'd only have one suggestion: maybe move your name down a little further so it's more in the blue area and blends less with the white of the woman's skin. Other than that, quite lovely! I could see it on a shelf at B&N.

SBibb · Apr 24, 2012

Old Hack said:
I'd be grateful if the OP could please reduce the size of the image: guidelines are here.

You'll have to use image-editing software to resize it, and then edit your post to delete the original image and upload the smaller one. Thank you.

Sorry about that. They're link to my own site, so I'm not worried about hotlinking in this case, but I did make them into a link to click on with a large size warning for now. (I've finished these, but if I post any other images, I'll try to keep the size in mind).

Justin_A: Thanks, I'm glad you like the Carrier and Snow Witch cover. This project has been completed (since it's due this Friday to my professors) and ordered, but I'll keep the other things you've said in mind for future covers, though.

I would have liked to do more work on the 1000 Words cover, but I believe procrastination and the sudden lack of time got the best of me there. I do not recommend procrastinating.

Two short story ebook covers. What do you think?

SBibb

Silver-Midnight

BAY

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic

Nimram

sometimes woefully inaccurate

SBibb

SBibb

ohthatmomagain

writing, working, weeping, winning

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic

veinglory

volitare nequeo

FOTSGreg

Today is your last day.

Unimportant

doggone

oaktree

SBibb

fadeaccompli

here and there again

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic

Jessianodel

Blessed by the AW Gods

LadyA

Always lurking, never posting...

Scarlett

Al Ross

LittleKiwi

SBibb

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Justin_AC

Maestro of Mischief

SBibb