Requesting feedback on my covers for MY DEADLY PRINCE CHARMING

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crossword

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edited to show the pics:

I plan to self e-pub. Book 1 of my Young Adult paranormal romance series is titled MY DEADLY PRINCE CHARMING.


Book 2 is titled MY PASSIONATE PRINCE CHARMING


here are the covers for both:

http://imgur.com/ENpTRtV


http://imgur.com/ZS8pouL


are they attractive or do I need better ones? Are they just ok or would they totally grab women readers?


in the genre of Young Adult paranormal romance, the covers usually feature a pretty girl in a flowing gown.


A cover designer is going to design a free cover for me to build up her portfolio. Should I ask her to design a new cover for either of these 2 above titles? If the covers are good enough, I can leave them alone and I can ask her to design one for the next book in the series instead.



But the first book should look eyecatching. Would the cover for the first be enough to make people click? Or do I need something more spectacular? I could ask her to design a cover of a handsome guy and pretty girl in each other's arms. The girl would wear a flowing gown.


short pitch for Book 1: Eighteen-year-old Iona captures the heart of a prince and encounters heartbreak, danger, and mystery after mystery when she visits the utopian island of Idylla.


Thanks a lot for any feedback on the covers.
 
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mccardey

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I get a "not available" code. No pics. :(
 

crossword

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I just joined imgur today and don't know how it works. On my page I now see:



“crosswor's images are not publicly available.”


so how do I make them publicly available? Or can I post them as attachments to my post somehow?
 

Helix

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crossword

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Thanks a lot. I did it. Can you see them now?
 

mccardey

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This is never easy, just so you know. It isn't just you...
 

crossword

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i definitely set my Album Privacy to Public and verified my email. maybe it takes a bit to go through. perhaps it might work if you try again?
 

mccardey

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i definitely set my Album Privacy to Public and verified my email. maybe it takes a bit to go through. perhaps it might work if you try again?
Still not. I'll try tomorrow.
 

crossword

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no, i can definitely see them. i guess i better write to imgur.
 

dpaterso

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If you posted both individual links they'd maybe show up okay for other people, that's how it's worked for me.

-Derek
 

crossword

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Is there any other pic hosting site I can post pics on? I had a flickr account but hardly used it and now find it tough to get back into.
 

mrsmig

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I was able to see them.

The figure in the first one seems really "off" to me, like it's been cut out and pasted onto the scene without regard for the laws of physics. The hem of the skirt, the hair which seems to be defying gravity, the weirdness of the fleshy folds at shoulder and breast, and the dark thumbnail which reads like an eye peering out of the hair - all distracted me from the emotion of the figure and the background, which I liked.

The second is a little more pleasing to the eye, but I'm not a fan of "headless" figures, and the top half of the artwork seems super-busy. Also found the odd turquoise-colored nail polish distracting.
 

A.P.M.

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Are these two books in the same series? Because the style of the covers is very different. If it weren't for the title, I would not assume they had anything to do with each other. Within a series, the covers should probably have the same style.

The cover for the first one doesn't scream "YA paranormal romance" to me. It looks more like a cover you would see on a tragedy or a mystery. I would change the style to fit more of the one you see in the second cover.
 

crossword

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thanks, everyone. will respond further. can everyone who couldnt see them see them now?
 

MaeZe

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I saw them fine from the OP links.

On the first one, the lacy sleeves on the woman's arms make her look odd, like old and wrinkled odd. Also the lettering could be moved up so there's less room at the top and more at the bottom to even it out.

I'm not a fan of the cropped head on the second one but I like the flowing gown and the background squiggly thing. Same with the lettering, just move both the title and author up a tad.
 

JulianneQJohnson

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I like the ideas for both, but I had some issues with both as well. On the first one, I can't get past how her hair looks. It draws my eye because it looks so off. The rest of the figure looks realistic, but that hair looks like fur. I also think the font on the title could be bigger.

On the second one, I like it except that it's a little too busy. I'd like to see it without the added curly cues on the top left and bottom right corners. I don't mind the headless woman. I've seen quite a few headless people on romance covers lately.

Hope that helps! I think you are on the right track.
 

Sage

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I think the 2nd one looks amazing, personally, but the first one has a totally different vibe, and I'm with Julianne that the hair is really freaking me out. I have no clue what I'm supposed to be seeing in the space where the hair is... cut out? Is her eye/face sideways? Is the hair supposed to start again, mid-face? I don't know what I'm looking at, really. It also doesn't say YA PNR to me, so there's that.

and the dark thumbnail which reads like an eye peering out of the hair
Oh, that's what it is! But still looks like an eye to me, and the hair starting again mid-face is still a problem.
 

crossword

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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks, everyone. Am mulling over your responses. This is the original pic for Book 1:[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]http://imgur.com/A2OURad[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]it was cropped and the hair made blond for the cover. Does the original pic look better? I actually wonder if I should not have cropped it. I read covers can be rectanglar. I like the entire background and did not want to crop it but I thought it should look the size of the real cover. Now I wonder if I should not use the original pic with no alternations but just put the title and my name on it.[/FONT]
 

MaeZe

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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks, everyone. Am mulling over your responses. This is the original pic for Book 1:[/FONT]


http://imgur.com/A2OURad


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]it was cropped and the hair made blond for the cover. Does the original pic look better? I actually wonder if I should not have cropped it. I read covers can be rectanglar. I like the entire background and did not want to crop it but I thought it should look the size of the real cover. Now I wonder if I should not use the original pic with no alternations but just put the title and my name on it.[/FONT]

You have a bunch of extra code interfering with your link, I took it out.

It still has the problem of looking like the woman is cut and pasted in, and it still has my issue, that the lace netting on her arms is problematic. But the face in her hands looks better.
 
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