Cover Feedback for Fantasy Short Story? - Finalized! Thanks for the help!

EDIT 3: Cover has been finalized. Thanks for the help! :-D

EDIT 2: Final Choices at Post #45. :-D

EDIT: Updated Proof (V6) at Post #36

MaeZe said:

In the new ones, the face looks worse and the character looks cheesy.

The lettering and the background work in the last one, but it also works in D from earlier.

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Noted. I’m currently considering VD as an option, and scratching the updated artwork of that character.

EMaree said:

Hmm. This is a tough one. Of the new batch, my favourites are V6 and V9 -- but I share you concerns that the stock images might be misleading about the tone, and they're definitely not hitting the 'fantasy' notes enough.

Out of all your options, V6 is hitting the right notes: it's one of the cheaper options, it signals 'fantasy' a lot more than the others, and it looks the most professional.

Considering your budget constraints (which I should have been more mindful of, apologies) I think you would be better sticking with a text-only cover like V6. But then again, you might be able to find some free stock that suits your purpose -- run a few searches on the Deviantart stock section, there are some very nice photos there. One example (free for commercial use but donations appreciated), another (credit required, no other restrictions). Be sure to read any rules by that artist and contact them if you're unsure. You can search the stock section here.

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I hadn’t thought of looking at Deviant Art; thanks for the tip. I did take a look at the ones you linked, and I liked the veiled look, but still wasn’t sure it was quite what I was going for. I did some more searching through Deviant Art, and while I found several stock photos I liked, none quite had the look I was hoping for. The good news, though, is that search gave me ideas of what sort of keywords to try, and I found another potential stock image (would cost me around $15.00, but I think it might be starting to get closer to the right “look” after I did some work on the image, and that’s within my budget).

And no worries about not thinking of the budget. I don’t think I mentioned that earlier when I was first creating the post.

gtbun said:

Version 6 is the best out these. The issue I think you're having with image and background is that it becomes too busy. If you look at books in the market, it is rare they will have a vibrant background with a detailed image in the foreground. So, while I think V6 is your best bet, if you have your heart set on having a character on the front I would lose the background - which is a shame because it's not a horrible background. In version 6, you could lose the italic text at the top and make it regular, thus allowing you to italicise the "Wishing Blade" part. Otherwise, it's a pretty good effort, one of the better covers I've seen put together by an author on here.

If you are looking for free stock resources, you could look at makerbook.net - and this applies to anyone, I guess - they have lists of free sites for these things. I've not used their stock photography myself, but I have found them an excellent resource for other things.

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Good point about the background seeming too busy when combined with a foreground image. I tried to keep that in mind with my latest cover proof. Even if I don’t use the background as it stands in V6 now, I might come back to it later. Thanks for the resource tip, too. I’ll need to take a closer look at it.

Southpaw said:

I like V6, but the the intense colors of V5. Though the "AND" should be straight, they drooping letters looks more accidental than deliberate. I do really like the font you've chosen! I think that is adding to the fantasy feel.

I see fantasy books with vibrant colors all the time, but the are dark vibrant often darker around the edges with it brighter in the middle almost like it's the "flare of magic". The thing I like about that color scheme is that is read more like magic and fantasy.

I agree the stock images don't fit, they read more like romantic comedy.

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Thanks for the feedback! I tried to keep that in mind with the latest proof, and I may try V6 with more intense colors, as well. (Also, I fixed the drooping ‘And’).

*

All righty! After a lot of tinkering with the covers, I’ve come up with another potential design. Right now I’m considering one of the new designs, V-6 (possibly with more intense colors?) or V-D (with updated text). I changed the colors on this particular proof to be more "peacock-like," since a peacock and it's colors play a role in the beginning and end of the story.

V11




V12




Thanks for the feedback, everyone! :-D

EDIT 2: Cover has been finalized. Thanks for the help! :-D

EDIT: Final Choices at Post #45. :-D

All righty-then. Looks like the decision for V6 is unanimous.

I've started tinkering with that version and trying to refine it. Thoughts?

*Changed text position slightly
*Darkened edges and brightened center
*Attempted to make colors more vibrant
*Subtitle now only has "The Wishing Blade" in italics
*No more drooping "And"
*Cleaned up a few of the strings in the background. Brightened strings in foreground.
*Gave a slight fog effect over the edge text of "String"
*Applied a slight texture effect to sharpen the background. Not currently visible on the smaller size.



As a side note, I'm debating on whether the title will stay the same. I really like "Stone and String," and while the "string" reference is easy to pick up, the "stone" is not. But I'm not sure if that's going to be a problem or not.

Thanks for all the help, everyone! :-D

EDIT: Cover has been finalized. Thanks for the help! :-D

All right. I've tried the arched font (using the Photoshop warp tool). To be honest though, I think I'm leaning towards the former version, for the reason that EMaree mentions: the way the text hangs as if on strings. But I'm torn. I do like the concept of the arched font, and how it looks on "String."

Regardless, I'll probably be using the style in future cover design concepts, even if I don't use it for this.

I did go ahead and make "short story" in the subtitle smaller. Thanks for pointing that out. Something had been bugging me about it but I wasn't sure what until now.

These are the final two choices. What are your thoughts?

V14



V15



Thanks for the help, everyone! :-D

Thanks for the help, everyone! I've decided to go with V15, the previous version. I did a little bit of retouching, and it is now the cover of the short story. Now we just have to see if it can attract the right readers. :-D

Thanks again!

Gale Haut said:

Out of curiosity, what is the benefit of making a book cover for a short story?

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Like kevinwaynewilliams said, since I'm publishing it through Kindle as a single story, it still needs to have a cover. Plus, I'm thinking of printing a few small copies of this to sell at a local street fair with my other book, so I needed a cover for that, too.