Feedback for Travel/Love Story eBook Cover

LAgrunion · Feb 6, 2015

Time for a reality check ...

If it's not too much trouble, please take a look at my ebook covers and tell me what you think. Any comment on any issue is welcome. Harsh critique is okay. I'm willing to start all over if none of these is good.

http://i.imgur.com/tGPoaQK.jpg

The book is a contemporary love story during a backpacking trip through Morocco, likely shelved as women's fiction.

I'm especially interested in these issues:

1) Image - do you prefer the stairs or the lamps?

2) Title - which font do you prefer?

3) Effects - Most of the images (except #2 and #5) have effects such as blur or texture added. Do you care for any of the effects?

Thanks.

ElaineA · Feb 6, 2015

Total amateur "if I were browsing a bookstore" response:

I prefer the stairs. It's more tied to the locale for me than the lamps. I like #1 the best but I'm a little worried about the script. I prefer the "a love story" italicized (#1) but I think the title font of #2 is easier to read. I don't like the block font at all.

But, yanno, Donks, I have NO artistic sense, so def listen to the real pros in here.

Chris P · Feb 6, 2015

Number 2 gets my vote. The lamps look too Christmassy to me. I like the lack of visual effects in #2 as well, along with the font of the title. However, the "a love story" text throws me. I don't know if it's the placement, the font, or its very existence, but I found it distracting.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Feb 6, 2015

I agree the lamps looks too Christmassy, and I like the stairs better. Definitely prefer 2, both font wise and lack of effects. But it's still not hitting my eye quite right. It looks too busy, so my eye is distracted by the picture, which draws my focus away from the title. If I were starting from scratch, I'd be tempted to do a very simple design that incorporates Moroccan geometric art to frame the title, or take a magnified detail from a photo and blow it up so it looks abstract.

Or, yanno... just go with 2

Mclesh · Feb 6, 2015

My vote is for #3 with #2 as my second choice. The lamps also look Christmasy to me--I was getting a holiday vibe from them.

LJD · Feb 6, 2015

I like the stairs better too. Either #2 or #3. Though I might try to make the title a little bolder. Also the "a love story" part is kind of lost in the picture. I'd either ditch it completely or move it under the title somehow.

slhuang · Feb 6, 2015

I'm gonna buck the trend and say I like the lamps better! Hurr hurr.

I don't like effects that blur, but I like the ones that make it look sharper or more textured. My favorite image in each row are #3 and #5.

My favorite font is the third one, so #3 and #6. I think #6 is my favorite overall, though I'd replace the image with a sharper one, and I'm ehh on the subtitle font in that one.

BUT you shouldn't listen to anything I say, because I am 100 percent not your target audience in the slightest. So I'm really only commenting on what's aesthetically pleasing to me, not what would work for a book cover for you.

*is the uselessest*

alleycat · Feb 6, 2015

Stairs. If I just had to pick one I'd choose 2.

Although I think you could find a better font.

Gringa · Feb 6, 2015

Lamps give heat. Hot. Spicy. And Lust.
Stairs are too cold. Icy. Winter. And Blue.

Prefer the clean font, bottom right.

little_e · Feb 6, 2015

I'd do "Morocco" in #3's font, and "maybe" in some form of italics.

The title is hard to read, especially in 1-3, and the "a love story" is too small/doesn't contrast well enough with the background. Consider putting a black (or other color) band across the lower portion of the picture and then putting the title and subtitle on top of the band to make them stand out well.

I don't like the blurry ones.

My husband says he doesn't like the title.

I like #3 best. Husband votes for 6.

I have always thought some camels leaving a heart made of footprints in the sand would be cute.

For a love story, I feel like the human element is missing from the pictures. You don't want to be mistaken for a travel book.

Good luck.

K. Q. Watson · Feb 7, 2015

I like 1 and 2. I feel the texture in 3 muddies everything too much, makes it too busy. Particularly "A love story", which really gets lost.

The font in 3 might work though.

ap123 · Feb 7, 2015

I'm not loving either picture, sorry.

If I had to pick one, I'd pick 4 or 5, but the above points about the lamps giving a holiday vibe make sense to me.

That said, when my untraveled self thinks Morocco, I think of the really rich, deep colors of the spices used for Moroccan foods, mosaics/tile work, and I'd love to see those colors reflected in the image.

Gringa · Feb 7, 2015

little_e said:
I feel like the human element is missing from the pictures. You don't want to be mistaken for a travel book.

This -

Fruitbat · Feb 7, 2015

Number two is an appealing cover and I'd be tempted to pick it up. I like the curly writing, it looks more romantic-ish to me. The only problem is it's a little hard to see against that lovely blue background. The bolder letters in number three stand out more but they don't say "love story" to me. If possible, curly letters that are a bit wider/bolder would take care of that.

ETA: Also, "a love story" could stand out more. Maybe make it a darker red? And maybe keep the font in the title of #2 but change the color? The white letters look pretty against the blue, though. That cover says travel, dreamy, exotic, and I see the romance in it too because the stairway brings to my mind "going upstairs" kind of bedroomish, and also an aisle, such as leading to the altar. It doesn't scream either of those things but I think in my mind that's why it does look like it fits a love story and a travel story at the same time.

beckethm · Feb 7, 2015

ap123 said:
That said, when my untraveled self thinks Morocco, I think of the really rich, deep colors of the spices used for Moroccan foods, mosaics/tile work, and I'd love to see those colors reflected in the image.

^^This. I think the lamps suggest more warmth and romance than the stairs, but spices would be even better.

The stair photo is a little too monochromatic for my taste. I'm also not sure how well it would show up in thumbnail size.

Of the fonts, I like #3 best, but there's something about the line spacing that looks a little rough. Can you push the lines of the title closer together?

Also, I want to know when this gets published so I can buy it!

LAgrunion · Feb 9, 2015

Thank you all so much for chiming in. I appreciate everyone's vote.

Because I'm a nerd, I made two charts for the fonts and the images, and tabulated the votes. Heh.

The overall feedback (based on this thread and non-AWers) so far has been interesting. Some I expected, some I didn't.

Areas of agreement:

- Almost no one picks the font in the left column. I'll axe out that font.
- The "love story" subtitle is hard to read.

Areas of disagreement:

- Font: There is an almost even split between the Coronet (center column) and the Century Gothic (right column) fonts.
- Image: Folks here strongly favor the blue stairs. However, of my non-AW beta-readers who are squarely in the target audience (heavy readers of romantic and women's fiction), the three of them all prefer lamps. Although the sampling size is probably too small.

I think it'd be nice to have a human element in the picture. But I haven't been able to find a satisfying combination of stocks photos for the human and the background. I'll go back and comb through stock photos again and see if I can find something.

A couple tidbits about the images:

- The blue stairs are from the town of Chefchaouen, Morocco. The entire town is in blue.
- Moroccans love lamps with warm colors. They are everywhere. These ones are made from thin leather, I believe.

Thanks again.

little_e · Feb 12, 2015

If you can just get a picture of a hand or part of a dress or some small bit like that (and photoshop it into the picture in a way that actually looks good,) that might be easier than a full human, and still look nice.

Maybe.

Or maybe you could get someone you know to dress up like a backpacker and then take a picture of them out in the mountains.

slhuang · Feb 13, 2015

LAgrunion said:
- Font: There is an almost even split between the Coronet (center column) and the Century Gothic (right column) fonts.

Just a quick note Donks since I recognize the name Century Gothic -- I'm pretty sure that's not a free-for-commercial-use font. Now, you might know that already and have bought a license for it (or maybe I'm mistaken!) but just in case, or for others reading this thread, make sure you have a license to use your fonts commercially. Most of the fonts that come with Windows and other operating systems are not licensed for commercial use, only for personal use.

If you're trying to keep costs low, there are a surprising number of free-for-commercial-use fonts available for download. These are useful sites:

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/
http://www.1001fonts.com/free-fonts-for-commercial-use.html
http://www.dafont.com/

Not everything on those sites is free for commercial use, so make sure to double-check before you download, but many are.

LAgrunion · Feb 14, 2015

slhuang said:
Just a quick note Donks since I recognize the name Century Gothic -- I'm pretty sure that's not a free-for-commercial-use font. Now, you might know that already and have bought a license for it (or maybe I'm mistaken!) but just in case, or for others reading this thread, make sure you have a license to use your fonts commercially. Most of the fonts that come with Windows and other operating systems are not licensed for commercial use, only for personal use.

If you're trying to keep costs low, there are a surprising number of free-for-commercial-use fonts available for download. These are useful sites:

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/
http://www.1001fonts.com/free-fonts-for-commercial-use.html
http://www.dafont.com/

Not everything on those sites is free for commercial use, so make sure to double-check before you download, but many are.

Thanks for looking out for me, Pencil.

Of the three fonts I used in my mockups, one came from fontsquirrel. The other two came from Windows. I was under the impression that you could use Windows fonts to sell a book, but I could totally be wrong.

So I'm gonna research this some more. If anyone can point me to an authoritative source re this issue, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

LAgrunion · Feb 14, 2015

Okay, I’ve burned several hours researching this issue. This is my understanding thus far (still subject to change): it seems legal to use Microsoft Windows fonts to design a book (cover or interior) for sale.

Two of my fonts come from Windows 7. Thus I first looked to the Windows 7 licensing agreement, which, by the way, is extremely hard to find.

Section 3.b. says:

b. Font Components. While the software is running, you may use its fonts to display and print content. You may only
· embed fonts in content as permitted by the embedding restrictions in the fonts; and
· temporarily download them to a printer or other output device to print content.

I did not find this section to be useful, as it tells me nothing about whether I can sell an image created with Microsoft fonts.

I did a search for “commercial” in the agreement. Three hits.

Section 3.c. says:

c. Icons, images and sounds. While the software is running, you may use but not share its icons, images, sounds, and media. The sample images, sounds and media provided with the software are for your non-commercial use only.

This doesn’t seem relevant to the font issue. The other two search hits are clearly irrelevant to the font issue.

I didn't spot anything else in the license agreement that says I can’t sell an image created with Windows fonts.

I googled. The chatter seems to be that you can use Windows fonts to make a book. But the problem is that people just talk but don’t really provide cites to legal authorities.

A couple of interesting discussions, though neither are legal authorities.

Font and Typeface Basics:
A typeface is a set of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks whose forms are related by repeating certain design elements that are consistently applied. Put more simply, typeface refers to the way a set of letters or numbers appears, whether on a page or a computer monitor. Something like “Times New Roman” or “Comic Sans MS” is a typeface. A font, on the other hand, is the computer program that tells the printer or computer display how a letter or character is supposed to be shown. So what most people refer to as “fonts” are actually typefaces!

In the United States, fonts are protectable under copyright law. Typefaces, however, are not. The Code of Federal Regulations explicitly provides that “typeface as typeface” is not protectable. [color emphasis added]

Cite: http://glarts.org/font-and-typeface-legal-tip-sheet/

Here’s another interesting discussion. http://blog.crowdspring.com/2011/03/font-law-licensing/

Please let me know if anyone knows about any contrary sources. I want to make sure what I'm doing is legal.

It’s probably easier if I just stop thinking about this and just use a clearly free font from a legit site like fontsquirrel. But I’m kinda obsessed and really want a definitive answer to the Windows question. Ugh.

Oh, nothing I write in this thread is legal advice, blah …

slhuang · Feb 14, 2015

Hmm, well, IANAL; what I know is gleaned from people talking here.

You just knocked me down the rabbit hole, too. I agree that it looks like the restrictions on using typefaces aren't a matter of copyright, as you cited, but are instead part of the license agreement of using the font software. If I'm reading right, that is (which is questionable, and you'd be able to parse that sort of thing better than I would).

So it depends what the EULA on the font software is as to how you can use the typeface, assuming you're typing things on your computer and not, like, photographing it? I think?

Anyway, everything seems to point toward reading the end-user license agreement for the font as the proper place to find the information. But for the life of me I cannot find where those licenses live on the system -- there don't seem to be any readmes where the fonts are actually stored -- and the web suggests many of the fonts are licensed by other parties rather than by Microsoft. If I were you, I'd do a search for the specific fonts you want to use and see if you can find information on them specifically -- that's what I always do when I want to use a font provided under Windows. Maybe that will help?

Sorry for all the extra work -- I bet if you post a separate thread asking about this, some of the pro graphic designers here will come and weigh in.

LAgrunion · Feb 14, 2015

Pencil, no need to be sorry. I thank you - I appreciate your watching my back to make sure I’m not screwing up. That’s why I ~~love~~ have platonic fondness for you. It’s not just your mathy super powers, as sexy as it is.

Microsoft has developed its own fonts for Windows, but it also licenses fonts from foundries.

The End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) is often hard to find. The only thing I can find is this:

1. If you’re using Windows 7, go to Control Panel.

2. Click on “Appearance and Personalization.”

3. Click on Fonts.

4. If I’m gonna use a Windows font to design my book cover, I’m leaning toward “Coronet Italic,” so right click on that icon.

5. Click “Properties,” then click on the “Details” tab.

6. Under License description, the space is empty. Grrr. So what does that mean? Perhaps it implies I can use the typeface to design a book as long as it doesn’t violate the Windows EULA.

7. If you try Century Gothic (for some mysterious reason you have to double-click first, before you can right-click for Properties). Here, the License description does have text, except it’s obscured! Grrrrr. You have to go to the bar on top, click on the divider to the right of “Value,” and drag it to the right several times to expand the text field. I can’t copy and paste from the text, but this is what the relevant part says: “Unless you have entered into a specific license agreement granting you additional rights, your use of this software is limited to your workstation for your own publishing use …” This speaks to the use of the font software, but it does say that I can use the software for my "own publishing use." Since I'm self-pubbing, that's my "own publishing use," right?

Businesses overwhelmingly use Windows typefaces (anything from flyers to presentations to letters to customers). That’s not personal use. Probably commercial use, right? Until recently, I’ve never heard of businesses (even those in the legal industry) obtain extra licenses for their use of Windows typefaces, so does this affirm the view that commercial use of the typefaces is generally permitted? I don’t know what version of Windows businesses tend to use, but the EULA for the Professional edition doesn’t have typeface restrictions.

So yeah … *feels dizzy *

I barely slept all night cuz I couldn’t stop thinking about this issue. I mean, as an aspiring writer, I want to make sure I respect intellectual property rights. Maybe I’ll start a new thread in the forum to ask for wisdom.

(None of this is legal advice and all that disclaimer stuff ... heh.)

ETA:

I started a new thread on this topic. http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9301208#post9301208

slhuang · Feb 14, 2015

Good call starting the new thread. I started to respond over there speculating on whether there might be differences if the aesthetics are equally important to the content delivery and I realized I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll sit and wait for others to weigh in. I'm very interested in this as well.

Ravioli · Mar 2, 2015

Loving 1, 4, and 6 though the font in 1 is very thin and problematic in readability when thumbnailed. Maybe fatten that up a bit? Otherwise I love the romantic feel of the top row design.

Feedback for Travel/Love Story eBook Cover

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