Let's do cover critiques!

Kevin, I love the idea of cover critiques but I worry about bruising a few feelings along the way. Sometimes, a writer is proud of a cover that I think looks terrible...and, sometimes, they're right and I'm wrong. If it catches the eye, helps sell the book, and is true to the story, it's a good cover.

For me, your cover is a little awkward and the graphics are rough. I'm guessing, science fiction? Aliens and birds are paramount to the tale?

The piece I like best is the eyeball and that's almost thrown away when placed in the upper left hand corner.

Here's the cover for my new ebook, soon to be available on Kindle and Nook. I'm pretty stoked about it. Thoughts?

I think this is an interesting thread, given the blossoming self-publishing/small press wave.

When it comes to design, there are two major things to consider: form and function. E-covers must be legible at the thumbnail size. You should be able to grasp not only the title and author, but the overall image of the illustration as well in smaller sizes.

When your cover is greatly reduced, Spendad, we almost totally lose the author's name. Be careful adding lots of layer styles to the fontwork; simplicity and clarity is usually your best bet. Fancier doesn't always mean better. Also remember your 'bleed'; this is the edge/border of your cover. Don't run important text or images too close to the edge unless it works with your composition and you don't plan on printing out the cover. Give the important stuff breathing room to sit solidly on your page.

These are the rock-bottom basics of function. Form is a whole 'nother ball of wax, since it feeds into opinion and style, and this is where feelings can get hurt. I'll try to be gentle!

Splendad, your cover gets the genre across perfectly well (I'm assuming it's sci-fi) but it looks like a bunch of disparate images on the page. An eyeball here, an alien there...nothing relates contextually or compositionally. It looks home-grown: the work of a well-meaning amateur. Would it sell the book, though? Not sure. It's not super-important that you pay hundreds of dollars for a professional cover but an amateurish cover will, by implication, mean the interior is also not as professional as it could be, from formatting to actual writing. Think like a consumer! Think like your reader. If you have doubts as to your illustration skills, stick to a font-only cover, and pick a font that's both clean and indicative of your genre.

Like Josh! Very readable and professional. I might've left the 'a novel' and 'by' bits out, because...well, duh. (Then the author's name could've been bigger.) I'm not sure what the genre is, however, based on the cover. It could be anything. Maybe instead of 'A Novel', it should've read 'A Fantasy Novel' or 'A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller' or whatever it is.

Oh, another thing! Keep the number of fonts used down to 2 or 3 at the most. (You both did well on this front.) It makes the image look unified and helps sell the theme of the book. Font is very expressive; use it wisely.

Hope this gives everyone food for thought when creating your own covers…and I haven't stepped on too many toes!

~Cris

Splendad said:

Josh, it stands out. My impression is post-apocalyptic... is that what it is? How do you want it to feel? It's got that toxic dump warning feel to it for me... darkening around the edges gives a look of authenticity but the bright center might scare off a person or two who doesn't like brights because this is an e-book so they will be seeing the cover on a monitor, etc. and to my notion, softer covers are more inviting. One guy's view (that's all we can really do, right?)

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It's supposed to have a bit of a gritty, wild-west feel. The story is a cross between Greek Mythology and a western.

Ooo! Cover critiques!

Splendad, yours looks… interesting. It makes me think it's an evolutionary sci fi that focuses on the science instead of the people, which generally isn't my alley. (I tend to prefer character-oriented sci-fi, more focused on the effects of the sci fi elements on individuals.)

The cover's hard for me to read, but I have trouble with anything that isn't a standard font. (It seems to be a side effect of my specific learning style.) I'm not sure how it would work as a thumbnail, though. It seems like it would become incomprehensible if compressed, but maybe not.

Something strikes me as off about the images, too… I'm not sure they all have the same dimensionality, or whatever you'd call it. The images don't look like they had the same light source, and they look like they're in different points on the scale between 2D and 3D artwork. (I actually don't see in 3D and have no graphics training, so please take my words with a heavy dose of salt.)

scottishpunk, yours makes me think of Mockingjay meets Greek gods, so I guess you're good. I don't read westerns and am not too familiar with their covers.

I'm again not sure how yours would look as a thumbnail, and your byline text makes me wonder if you used a commercially licensed font for that. (I used to be able to ID standard font types and sizes to look at them. I'm a bit out of practice, but that looks like one of MS Word's standard ones, which aren't necessarily commercially licensed.)

I would keep the "a novel"; otherwise that background makes it look like it could be an academic text about the pantheon.

My (short story's) cover:

Cool. I could use some advice on a cover I'm working on right now.

Splendad-To be brutally honest, your cover looks self-published. You must ditch the wordart-y type title treatment, the clipart-y type images floating around, and the weird reflection thing you've got going on over your name. I like the green eye, though. I'd keep that. In fact, since I don't know how to explain this in words, I'd do something more like this:


I got the top image from googling "public domain space images." I think it came from the second or third search result, but my browser crashed and I can't find the address. (PM me if you'd like the photoshop file. Sorry if doing that was presumptuous.)

Scottishpunk--looks great! I would do as someone else suggested and ditch the "by" in front of your name.

And now...what do you guys think of this?


It's meant to match the first cover from the series, which you can see here: http://vjchambers.com/stillnessmid.jpg

Scottishpunk, I absolutely LOVE your cover! Did you do that yourself?

some thoughts and a cover of my own

Name of Alt:

Splendad:
This cover hit me only lukewarm; it is visual to me but the four elements don't define the book enough (for me). I also didn't think the vertical/wave of 'Alt' does anything for you. As with another poster, I think I'd rather see one/two fonts at most. I'd also NOT have 'of' dangle as it does; more like--



I could also see the blue moon/planet as a backdrop for your title as I laid it out above, but more centered/symmetric. The eye seems to hang meaningless and the 'bird'?? graphic is not discernable to me.** If I had to rearrange, I think I'd put the alien and bird character at the 7 and 5 o'clock position of the moon while having the title start above the moon and end inside it, probably necessitating a color change for legibility (as necessary).


Pantheon:

this one catches my eye immediately simply for being unique. I think you have a good contrast of color and when I put it in my 'would I notice this book cover on an endcap of a B&M store?', I definitely do.

I don't think I'd have gotten your take on a Greek western though, but it's close.* I get a Native American feel when I see it.

Overall, I like it.



Between the Heaves of Storms:

V, I thought your cover was no doubt unique, but unless your book is about a swarm, it's offsetting. I also wasn't enamored with the 'heaves' part of your title; it's a 'different' word to be sure, but taking from my poetic experience, the word doesn't ring.

You can suggest that storms heave between spells of violence, but somehow I think a better word exists. I'm thinking; 'Between The Arms of Storm', or along the same lines, perhaps this: 'After The Thunder, Before the Rain'. Just ideas to consider.

Re the cover though, I'm not sure I'd pick your book out from others simply because the colors aren't contrasty enough.

Also, 'Apocalypse Two' is too far offset for my tastes. I guess from this last that you're portraying insects as all that survives an apocalypse, and though that's probably accurate, I guess I'd go with a more stereotypical backdrop (unless of course, the bugs are integral to your story). Just some thoughts.




And for review, my current WIP proto cover idea;* For review purposes, I'll post both the front and back blurb, and the cover can be judged solely on it's own presentation and/or knowing the back blurb.* Thank you for any input/feedback.

* Just an aside; I know I don't need 'a novel by' but that's one of my conventions from my previous two books and I'll probably keep it, but feel free to mention if such gets in your way.* Also, I'm not nearly as worried about thumbnail/shrinkage because this cover is designed for print, not electronic publication.

I suppose I could redesign for both but I'm not writing to expose my name as much as my story; tis just my way.

Michael








Back cover copy;

Imagine getting on an L train, late at night, hoping to find a last solitude for what you’re about to do and instead, entering a car filled with a cast of characters from your past; some actually know you, some couldn’t care less, and some have motives you can’t fathom. Imagine that the emotions that have built for 9 years, are unable to be contained, emotions surrounding the events of a divorce and a daughter’s decision to leave. Imagine that only one suspects that the bulge in your pocket is a gun and couple this with a passenger who gets on soon after you do, unobtrusively sliding a worn briefcase beneath his seat.

Imagine all this and wonder at the characters which seem to pull at the fabric of every fear and joy you can know. Will Wallstreet survive the crash? Will Siren get to Jax and his biker-boy good looks? Will Prudy purse her lips the whole time? Will Bert and Ernie really know what lifelong friendship is like? And Norman and Ethel: how can they need so little reason to dance on the L? Then there’s Spyder--how do the music and drugs keep him alive? The professor nicknamed ‘Plato’ who’s always arguing with the Jesus Freak...can they compromise? And the boy...the silent one, bouncing a blue, rubber ball...

Imagine the frustration of wanting to be heard, of wanting reconcilation, and not finding it.

Into this melee of words and textures, Michelle is thrust as she receives word that her father, Matt Owens, is critically ill in the ICU.

What she imagines though, can only happen
on the L...

Okay, here's my possible book cover!

Josh, is that a phoenix rising on the cover? That was my first thought when I saw it. If so, then I think you nailed it on your cover. The distressed colors and graphics made me thing Native. The phoenix and the title made me think of Greece and mythology. Good job!

Carradee, I really like the colors you've used and the crisp look. Is there anyway to make the boot larger and centered, then have the butterfly look as if it just landed on the boot? What if you would use a softer font for the word Butterfly and a sturdier font for the word Boots, just to tie in with the graphics?

Valerie, Love the overall look of yours. Just wonder how it would look by lowering the opacity of the bee image layer so the fonts become a bit more distinguishable. Also, the line above "apocalypse book two", I can make out that it says "jason and..." but not the last word. Would darkening that layer make it stand out just a bit more?



Hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes, especially since I don't have my own cover to post. For the past several years I've done alot of graphic design with my business so those were just things that stood out to me.

valeriec80, it looks neat, but the title's a bit hard to read. That's my only complaint about it. (And I have difficulty reading non-standard fonts, anyway.)

BrokenSword, You may want to consider centering everything more evenly. As it is, the title and the cover image are off-center, making it looks like they're cut short immediately after the L. Your byline also doesn't work in a thumbnail size; only the top half of it actually shows up.

The back cover copy's also a bit long, isn't it?

lizzyj1991, I love it! Clear, simple, readable, pretty. Your byline looks nice where it is, but it's small and illegible when you

Nobody critiquing mine above? Here's a larger version of the image:

Carradee said:

Nobody critiquing mine above? Here's a larger version of the image:

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I did post just above you.

Oh I'm sorry! Carradee, I had to look a second time to see it. I do like yours a lot too! I love how it corresponds with the title of the book perfectly. Did you make that cover yourself? I think it would look really nice with a tougher font for the boot and a softer (or slightly more feminine) font for the butterfly, like said above.

Broken Sword - I love the back of your book, I do like the front cover as well but I'm not sure about the "On the L" bit at the bottom. Is that part of the title as well? And it looks like that might need to be centered a tad more also because the L hits directly against the black lining. Unless of course my computer is simply not showing me the picture correctly.

And Valerie I can't seem to make out the words above Apocalypse Book Two. I really do like everything else though, the font isn't my favorite, but that's only my opinion. I would only suggest darkening those words I mentioned.

OK, I am going to be honest. Hope it’s helpful rather than offputting.

Splendad: I’m afraid I’d say it doesn’t look professionally produced. I can see a black rhombus around the eye graphic where it’s been clipped out. There is also a greyish rectangle behind the text with your name on it. The overall image is too low-res. I don’t like the wavy text effects (no idea what program you used to make it, but if you want to do wavy text effects professionally, you really need professional software). The ‘bird’ shape is intriguing, but it’s blurry because of the low resolution. The alien thingy isn’t encouraging to me because it looks too much like a ‘Roswell’ alien and I’d look for something more imaginative.

What would work well if you wanted something that looked good but was easy to produce would be to grab an image from NASA’s website (NASA images are public domain) and add your name and title in a plain white font, large enough to read on a thumbnail size.

Scottishpunk: great cover, that does suggest Western in its design. The image and the title suggest Greek mythology. Only suggestion is that the font on ‘By Josh Strnad’ and ‘A Novel’ doesn’t quite match. Have you considered using all caps or a taller font? Possibly the dark areas of the cover could also be blacker to make them stand out better.

Valerie: I would make the light box containing the title less transparent so the title stands out more but you can only just see the flies through it. The landscape in the background I find slightly fussy and generic. It might work better with the insects overlaid on a solid background in a very pale salmon colour.

Brokensword: Text does not stand out very well. I would suggest making it thicker and going with a sans-serif font, and using a colour that contrasts more strongly as this blue gets lost a bit against the bluish background. I don’t really care for the borders around the image and would suggest fitting the images into the available space. The back cover image with the font over it works well, but I think the text if your back cover copy is maybe too long and detailed. I would recommend going with a one-sentence hook and then distilling the blurb into one or two short paragraphs below this.

LizzyJ: Nice. You’ve managed to use a crazy font effectively by matching it with a colour in your image and laying it out sympathetically.

Carradee: Right sort of idea, but I don’t think it’s quite there. The font in all the different coloured bits looks kind of childish. Lizbeth’s suggestions are good. I think the main problems are the fonts and the unimaginative way the different components of the cover have been put together (with the things equidistant from each other like this it looks a bit simplistic). I think you need to experiment by moving the components around and trying different fonts.

Thanks for the advice, all! I appreciate it. (Quick aside, the title is from Emily Dickinson's "I Heard a Fly Buzz--When I Died" so it's not really alterable, but thanks for the suggestions.

You know what would be really cool? If we could have a separate subforum here for cover critiques. Then each of us could post a new thread with our covers and the critiques wouldn't get all confused. Sort of like query letter hell, but for book covers? Is that a possibility, moderator? I guess there might need to be some rules for bandwidth, like keeping the images to a certain size, or using links for large images or something...

Anyway, thanks for the nifty thread idea. I really appreciate the feedback.

lizzyj1991 said:

Scottishpunk, I absolutely LOVE your cover! Did you do that yourself?

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A buddy of mine whipped it up for me. He's cool like that.

lizbeth dylan said:

Josh, is that a phoenix rising on the cover? That was my first thought when I saw it. If so, then I think you nailed it on your cover. The distressed colors and graphics made me thing Native. The phoenix and the title made me think of Greece and mythology. Good job!

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It is, indeed, a phoenix. Good eye!

And thanks for the compliments!

Name of Alt: Agreed with the other comments - it looks self-pubbed, and needs a cleaner layout. You'll definitely be able to keep some of the design elements, (the eye, the planet backdrop), just needs a sleeker design.

Pantheon: My brain immediately went to World War Z, just for it being a striking cover. 10/10, 'nuff said.

Between the Heaves of Storms: Ew, creepy, crawly bugs...sets a great mood just by looking at it. All I'd say it that I think your name needs to be a little lower (seems to be sitting too high) and that the titling/box around the titling could be centred (it's throwing me off being off-centre like that).

On the L: Potential for a great cover here.
Front cover - the photo is great, sets the atmosphere up straight away. However the black around the edges is...inconsistent and seems more like you couldn't stretch the image far enough rather than being a deliberate choice. Maybe a thinner border of black, with the edges of the photo dissolving into it (like the feather/smudge tool or something).

Back cover: Same comment about the black border/photo placement. And it seems like just a bit too much text. Wall'o'texts can be scary.

Imagine Peace: I'd shift the author credit to the lower half, rather than having it sit halfway up as it is now, for my 2c, it sort of just looks dumped there, whilst the bottom half of the book is essentially uninteresting (people look at the flowers, not at the stems).

Butterfly Boots: On the whole, I like this - just something about the font doesn't sit right though, like maybe another could be picked, with everything else kept the same, and it would look better. Also the "A story of" seems like it could find better placement.

Okay, I Suck with a capital S at visual stuff. I don't like this cover, and I can't decide why. Is it because it's text on a pic? I only liked white or black for the text, but it was so hard to place it in either color where it looked good. The only thing I like is the company logo on the building. Rip away! Anything will be better than this!