Feedback on Wordsearch book cover

Sabrina Hartford

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I am making a book cover for my sister's word search book that will be sold on Amazon, under this category.

On Amazon, for some reason, non-word search books tend to show up under the word search category. So it’s important that my cover doesn’t deviate too much from the norm, otherwise, people may not realise it is a word search book and skip over it. At the same time, people browse several tiny thumbnails at one go, so I want my book to stand out.

Here are examples of the best selling competition:
(Click to make bigger)


My book is aimed at women, and it will often be people buying a book for their elderly mother.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

Idea 1 (Click to make bigger)



Idea 2 (Click to make bigger)




Idea 3 (Click to make bigger)




Idea 4 (Click to make bigger)




I am not necessarily after which design is best (unless you think one is really good), but rather pointers for making something that stands out while still looking similar to the competition.

I making a series of books, so I will change the flowers and colours on each one, but I thought I would just focus on book 1 for now. Thanks in advance!
 
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Sabrina Hartford

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I've redone my covers, as I think the first set weren't that good.


Cover B1 (Click to make bigger)


Cover B2 (Click to make bigger)




Cover B3 (Click to make bigger)




I think they look much better, but it still feels like there is something quite not right. Like they all still need something changing. I'd love a second set of eyes. Thanks!
 

Earthling

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The second set look exactly how I expect a puzzle book to look. I like B2 best, because I think it emphasises the large print which will be a good selling point.

I have to say the "Wonderful Women's" would put me off because it looks like it will be full of gender stereotypes, but I'm not your target audience as a 30-year-old.
 

Sabrina Hartford

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Thanks for your feedback!
I have to say the "Wonderful Women's" would put me off because it looks like it will be full of gender stereotypes, but I'm not your target audience as a 30-year-old.

Yeah, I wasn't sure about this either. But the best sellers seem to go for it. Interestingly, the puzzles have themes that are non-gender specific, such as science, political systems, travel and grammar.
 

ajaye

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I like the font of B1 and the flower/puzzle segment of either B2 or B3. Am wondering if the font of 'Large Print' should be a little fuller/bolder so it's easier to read--especially by those who need it.
 

KBooks

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B2 is my favorite. B3 is my second favorite. The first set IMHO had too much emphasis on the flowers and (I have difficulties with my vision and have to use a special screen) the type was hard to read. In your current set, I would make the LARGE PRINT stand out more.
 

Sabrina Hartford

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Earthling, ajaye, KBooks: Thanks for all your help.

Here are my final covers for all 4 books in the series:

Book Vol 1 (Click to make bigger)


Book Vol 2 (Click to make bigger)




Book Vol 3 (Click to make bigger)




Dairy Book (Click to make bigger)





I’d love to hear any final comments. Thanks!
 

starrystorm

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These look great. Except one thing. You say it's the "Dairy Book" but the cover says "Diary book." Also, I don't think the last one matches if it is a series. Maybe make it a flower as well?
 

Earthling

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I like them! #1 and #3 are really eye-catching in particular.
 

ajaye

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I like them! And I like how you've embedded the books series numbers in the H.
 

Sabrina Hartford

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ajaye, Earthling, starrystorm, thanks for the feedback.
And yes the diary book is different from the rest. Thanks again for all the help :)
 

Sabrina Hartford

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I am now making a Kids Word Search book cover that is part of the same line:

Here are the best selling kids word search books on Amazon: (Click to make bigger)


I think they suffer from being too busy.

Here are some designs I have come up with. They follow the designs I did for the Women's WordSearch book, so they feel like part of the same brand.

Design A (Click to make bigger)


Design B (Click to make bigger)


They look OK, but I feel something is missing, that I can't put my finger on so I would like a second pair of eyes! In particular, I am not sure if they work better with a color character or a B&W character.

They are going to be a series of 5 books so the character will change on each one. On other books, the character is a book, beaker, globe etc in the same style.

They will be sold on Amazon, where people only see the smaller thumbnails first before they click to see the full image, so I want the thumbnail to stand out. The text in the subtitle doesn't matter so much because it will be on the product page.
 

ajaye

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I definitely prefer the character in colour, but I wondered at the use of a calculator/numbers on a word/letter book. I suppose it's to convey the 'smart kids' angle, but my initial reaction would be to confuse it for a maths puzzle book -- could be just me.
 

Pastelnudes

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I also found it strange, to see a calculator.

Definitely go with colour. Just wondering, though if purple is the best choice for a kids' book? Are you limited in the tone and amount of colours you can use? If not, maybe go for a multi-coloured character. Spotty? Stripey? You literally cannot be too bright.

It's looking good, though.
 

Sabrina Hartford

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@ajaye @Pastelnudes Thanks so much for your help. Your comments helped snap me out of the mental rut I was in!!

------------------

Here are some revisions:
Design 2A



Design 2B



Design 2C



Because Amazon shoppers see a lot of book thumbnails at once, I want my design to stand out.
I am not sure if I should go for the Pencil character (who is cuter) or the kids (who probably relate to the topic more). I quite like the idea of having 1 dominant color (because it is a series of books, so I can use a different color for each cover), but I am not sure if having a second color works better. I am also not sure if the background doodles should be in colour.

Would love a second pair of eyes. Thanks in advance for any help!
 

The Second Moon

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I think 2C looks the best. The kids relate to them theme and the dark blue doodles on the blue background is the right amount of things without looking too busy.

The other one with the kids looks too busy and so does the pencil one.
 

ajaye

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I think the blue background looks best too, without the doodles in colour. But I prefer the pencil character :) . And also, 'Smart Kids' is quite faint--maybe a stronger outline, or try filling in the font as you had earlier?
 

starrystorm

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I agree with everything Ajaye said. The pencil character on the blue background.
 

Sabrina Hartford

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@The Second Moon, @ajaye, @starrystorm

Thanks for the feedback, it was very helpful. In the end, I went for the kid characters, as I think when a person glances at the covers, the pencil might be confusing. Plus there is also a separate journal book coming out later, so the pencil would be suited for that.

Here is how the final covers look, I would love any thoughts or feedback:

Click to make bigger


I did consider changing up the background color, but I think it makes it less clear that they are part of a series, so I probably won't be going for that:


Alternative rejected designs - Click to make bigger


Plus, there's also a Word Scramble series, so I think it's better using one background colour for each series to make it easier to tell them apart.

Scramble series - Click to make bigger


Thanks for all the help, and I'd love any further opinions.