*NEW VERSION IN POST #18* My cover for my YA psychological thriller - what do you think?

Personally I like it. Maybe change the font color it kind of gets lost in the background.

The picture is pretty, but the combination of that very straightforward picture with that font-and-color doesn't look professional. You may want to see if you can hire someone who does this sort of thing professionally to at least make the text look better.

The picture is awesome, but definitely switch up the font and color (maybe fade it into the background a little so it looks less like an over lay.)

The image looks professional, but the type screams self-pub.

Like everybody before me: love the pic and have problem with font color. Also, you might want to try making your name bigger and center it to balance the title. Other than that I think it could work great for you book/genre.

Agree with all those above. The picture is striking, the typography isn't working. :/

Consider finding a font that matches the theme of your book, then play around with placement. What happens if you lower it, so that it is just off center of the horizon line?

I like the image but the font needs working on.

Also at thumbnail size I don't believe you'd be able to see the girl in the red shirt very well because she's quite small yes? Maybe consider using only a part of the image to focus on her going up the mountain. This will also be an issue for your name- make it clear and easy to read, and the name is more often than not centred as opposed to off to the side.

Good luck!

Wow, amazing image to work with! Really love it!

If I'd want to use this image as cover, I would zoom in just a bit on the girl, but not a lot. I'd use some color highlights to blur a bit of light on the clearing part of the image and make the trees/vegetation part a tinsy bit darker. I'd place the title something like 1/4 of the overall image height and a more angular font for it. The title needs to stand out from the image, not blend in. It also needs to be right size to work as a thumbnail, so I'd make the characters something like twice the size they are now. I'd center the author name and make it a bit bigger too, though not as big as the title.
Experiment with different colors for the fonts, just to see which one makes it stand its ground in the composition without being too far out there.

This image though is absolutely fantastic, I'm sure it will make a fabulous cover! Good luck with it all

(Muuuuch easier to have it traditionally published, wouldn't it? Someone else will have to worry about these things )

Agree with everyone else about the image being nice, but the typography not looking very professional. dafont.com has free fonts; if you don't want to pay someone to do your cover, you could sift through the stuff there (make sure it says free--not just free for personal use).

Also, try going to goodreads and checking out the covers for books in your genre. Actively think about how they handle text. See which ones draw you in the most. And good luck! ^_^

Try cropping in on the artwork to where you lop off the top fourth or even third of the picture. This will bring more emphasis to the girl (subject). As it stands now, the eye is having to travel much too far from the title/headline to the subject to the author.

Longer the eye has to travel, the more you stand to "lose" the casual shopper/browser.

Changing the font is a given. Play around with fonts that you can use bolded and with which you can either make your title all one line ie:

The Brightest Fell

or

The
Brightest
Fell

Either way, consider using a typeface and size/kerning combination that will allow the title to frame or callout the subject.

There is also the wordplay of "fell" which typically has the mind (think "theater of the mind") connotating "fall" with bottom or low--after all, most things do not fall "up" but rather "fall down."

Translation? You might play around with the title at the bottom of the book, using it as a "base" for the subject (girl in picture). Doing this will open up a few more typeface selections for you but the title will need to be all one line. (Author's name can move to lower right hand corner or at very top of cover as a banner.)

Color of typeface would be the last thing I'd play with and I'd even consider finding an art director at your local ad agency, offering him/her a free lunch in exchange for giving you some PMS (Pantone) color suggestions and choices.

You might be surprised at what he/she will come up with in terms of color that you'd never think of.

A side benefit to this route would be that the art director hasn't been born yet that wouldn't ALSO offer to tweak and tighten up your design and put it into mechanical form (ready for press) for you.

Very nice artwork and Texas-sized kudos to you for capturing it!

Font size Author Name too small, it will be difficult to read in thumbnail size. The Image is beautiful, but the size of the woman is small and might be difficult to see once in thumbnail size.

Agree with everyone above.

I'm not a big genius with photoshop or anything, but I would be happy to play with your fonts a little if you like. (This is totally platonic! I swear!) I started using photoshop for my own cover and now I'm all into messing with it so I can learn how to use it better.

Let me know!

Ok so i played with the cover just for kicks because im really trying to learn photoshop. This is just a little mixing up with the fonts i did so you can see if you think it improves the cover a bit? I'm not wierd or anything and insist that you use it, I just thought I would play with it a bit because a) its fun for me to learn photoshop and b) you can see a 'small' portion of the cool effects you can do with photoshop to make fonts stand out a little better.

I also sent you a private message with the image in it but i am not sure it sent correctly so ill post it here as well.

Here goes, hope it helps a little LOL K well NEVERMIND! I have no idea how to put up an image in here !! I sent you my email, if you can PM me yours i can send you a jpg of the new cover so you can see SORRY IM SUCH A NOOB!

I have no idea how to put up an image in here

Click to expand...

To post an image:
1. Upload a photo to an online photo site (such as Photobucket)
2. Locate your photo on the online photo site and copy the direct link
3. Come back to AW and click on the little picture of the mountain and sun with the yellow background next to the quote icon above the text box
4. Paste the link to your photo
5. You will not see your photo (a placeholder will appear in the text box) until you post your reply, then it will appear as if by magic

I like it, but I have the same concerns as the others have already stated; text and thumbnail. Once you've sorted those I think it could be a real goer.

The red font is hard for me to read. Blends in with the trees. I'm getting a creepy vibe from the hands. I think it's the woman's pinky or something. Her hand is almost claw-like. Something about their hands just doesn't feel "right" to me and romance is not what comes to my mind. If they were clasping hands, I'd think romance.

merrihiatt said:

I'm getting a creepy vibe from the hands.

Click to expand...

Same here. The guy's index finger looks as though the tip of it was lopped off.

Did you intentionally change the spelling of "Brightest" ?

And, yeah, the font is way too big. That may or may not be what is making it hard to read.

I like the first picture and red font is more amateurish--plain red? I would suggest going back to version one.

Learning to use the pen tool for cropping will help reduce the sharpness around the arms and hands. Also, see the stickied tutorial for tips to make the text pop on a photo. Notice how that color shows up more on the green grass and the dark tree trunks? If you drop a shadow or smudge some dark colors behind the letters, they will be more legible.

FWIW, I like the first one a lot better.

If I may be so bold, playing around a bit....