thriller cover feedback (NEW COVERS #23)

Gregg Bell

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Any feedback is welcome. Thank you. PLEASE SEE POST#23.

Navy-SEALmockup-EVERGLADES250-X377.png
 
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InkFinger

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It's an interesting cover, but it doesn't say Everglades to me. With the blue background it looks as much like snow as water.
 

frimble3

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Is the white swirl meant to indicate that the helicopter is crashing into water?
For me, it would seem more 'Everglades' if the water was green - likelier a yellowish or brownish green. An alligator is probably superfluous.

I have just read your other post, about taking the series in a more realistic direction - that explains why there's no more cartoon figures on the cover. How about going whole hog and making the background look more realistic - ripples in the greenish water, in rings around the downed chopper? Instead of the flat, monotone backgrounds of the previous books.
 
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Gregg Bell

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It's an interesting cover, but it doesn't say Everglades to me. With the blue background it looks as much like snow as water.
Thanks InkFinger. I hear you. It was kind of a tradeoff. The navy blue and gold are SEAL colors. Introducing green lost that.
 

Gregg Bell

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Is the white swirl meant to indicate that the helicopter is crashing into water?
For me, it would seem more 'Everglades' if the water was green - likelier a yellowish or brownish green. An alligator is probably superfluous.

I have just read your other post, about taking the series in a more realistic direction - that explains why there's no more cartoon figures on the cover. How about going whole hog and making the background look more realistic - ripples in the greenish water, in rings around the downed chopper? Instead of the flat, monotone backgrounds of the previous books.


Nope. It's not crashing. And yeah, Everglades water is often brown but the SEAL colors are the navy and gold. Brown or green would be hard to figure in.
 

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I can't really read what is happening to the helicopter, my first instinct was that it was flying through a snow flurry
 

FletcherHavarti

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Two things come to mind:
1. What would this look like if you removed the white swirl, and just had the helicopter? I also thought at first that it was snow against a background of blue sky.
2. How critical is the color palette to you? I know you're going for the SEAL colors, but a swampy-looking cover would fit the setting.
 

mrsmig

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Not the feedback you're looking for, but since the series is called "Navy Seal Adventure," isn't it a bit redundant to have "Navy Seal" in the title of the book?
 

Woollybear

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Any feedback is welcome. Thank you.

I feel like A NOVEL should be placed elsewhere, perhaps centered, or left out. I feel like the chopper is thrashing in the water.

But I also feel like the cover is serviceable. Might depend how much weight you want it to carry in your marketing. It's clean and clear. The font works for me. Balance seems ok.

one nitpick so small the nit has nits and this is picking one of those smaller nits: I've not heard of Navy Seals being spoken of in the singular, except when indicated as 'a' Navy Seal.

If my feedback agrees with anyone else, well, that'd be a first. :)
 

Girlsgottawrite

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The white water/ cloud is distracting and hurts the image in my opinion. Also, I know you're going for Navy colors, but that yellow (it does not look gold to me) next to the dark blue is not a good color combo.
I would also consider using a font with serifs as it would add a little personality to the title. Example here.
 

Gregg Bell

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I can't really read what is happening to the helicopter, my first instinct was that it was flying through a snow flurry

Thanks veinglory. Yeah, it's not snow but I hear you about the confusion. It's a painting so there's not much I can do with it. Since it's about the Everglades hopefully people won't think it's snow.
 

Gregg Bell

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Two things come to mind:
1. What would this look like if you removed the white swirl, and just had the helicopter? I also thought at first that it was snow against a background of blue sky.
2. How critical is the color palette to you? I know you're going for the SEAL colors, but a swampy-looking cover would fit the setting.

Thanks Fletcher.
1. Well, I'm pretty committed to it and it's a painting (iow I can't remove the swirl). In the story the chopper (a Coast Guard chopper--I've since added the identifying markers) hovers above the swamp so maybe it's white water.

2. Yeah, I hear you. Something about the Everglades should really at least have green in it, but I need those Navy SEAL colors (the navy blue and gold) and green doesn't fit with that.

Navy-SEALEverglades-Rescue-Final250x377.jpg
 

Gregg Bell

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Not the feedback you're looking for, but since the series is called "Navy Seal Adventure," isn't it a bit redundant to have "Navy Seal" in the title of the book?

Thanks mrsmig. To answer your question: yes. But I've been unable to come up with a suitable serial name yet. "Navy SEAL Exploits #1." "Navy SEAL (any suggestions?) #1"

PS. I love your covers!
 

Gregg Bell

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I feel like A NOVEL should be placed elsewhere, perhaps centered, or left out. I feel like the chopper is thrashing in the water.

But I also feel like the cover is serviceable. Might depend how much weight you want it to carry in your marketing. It's clean and clear. The font works for me. Balance seems ok.

one nitpick so small the nit has nits and this is picking one of those smaller nits: I've not heard of Navy Seals being spoken of in the singular, except when indicated as 'a' Navy Seal.

If my feedback agrees with anyone else, well, that'd be a first. :)

Thanks Bear. I tried centering A NOVEL and it looked stacked. Just didn't work. And I'm quite sure Navy SEAL is okay. I've looked at a lot of covers and almost all have SEAL.

I'm glad you think the cover's decent.

And this world needs more unique feedback. Keep it up!
 

Gregg Bell

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The white water/ cloud is distracting and hurts the image in my opinion. Also, I know you're going for Navy colors, but that yellow (it does not look gold to me) next to the dark blue is not a good color combo.
I would also consider using a font with serifs as it would add a little personality to the title. Example here.

Thanks Girl. Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I plucked the navy and gold from a few Navy SEAL books out there that I thought looked good but I'll double check it. And I've seen a few serifs out there in Navy SEAL books but they seemed more memoirish than action-based.
 

rgroberts

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Not the feedback you're looking for, but since the series is called "Navy Seal Adventure," isn't it a bit redundant to have "Navy Seal" in the title of the book?

I agree with this one - I think "Everglades Rescue" is probably a much more engaging title. Techno-Thriller titles like to be short. Particularly if you're coupled it with "Navy SEAL Adventure," or some other series title including the SEALs. You could probably take "Navy" right out of it, too; even most civilians realize that the SEALs are only Navy. And if they don't, they'll figure it out in a hurry.


Thanks Bear. I tried centering A NOVEL and it looked stacked. Just didn't work. And I'm quite sure Navy SEAL is okay. I've looked at a lot of covers and almost all have SEAL.

I'm glad you think the cover's decent.

And this world needs more unique feedback. Keep it up!

SEAL is correct when you're going for the singular SEAL. It's also SEAL training, not SEALs training. You're absolutely on the right track there. As for colors, I love that you're aiming for Blue and Gold, but I've got to be honest and say that you've hit more yellow than gold. If you are aiming for the Navy Blue and Gold, a near miss won't bring Navy to mind. The original cover didn't get me there, and I bled Navy for 10 years. The second cover is getting much closer, but the color yellow is still a miss.

Edited to add that I like the grayscale helo better than the red one, but it would be much better if you could get a picture of a military helicopter. I think this one is a Coast Guard helo; the red really makes it stand out as inauthentic. Stealth is the name of the game for the SEALs; a red helo is a no go unless they're borrowing an asset from our Coast Guard brethren or someone else.
 
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Gregg Bell

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I agree with this one - I think "Everglades Rescue" is probably a much more engaging title. Techno-Thriller titles like to be short. Particularly if you're coupled it with "Navy SEAL Adventure," or some other series title including the SEALs. You could probably take "Navy" right out of it, too; even most civilians realize that the SEALs are only Navy. And if they don't, they'll figure it out in a hurry.

Edited to add that I like the grayscale helo better than the red one, but it would be much better if you could get a picture of a military helicopter. I think this one is a Coast Guard helo; the red really makes it stand out as inauthentic. Stealth is the name of the game for the SEALs; a red helo is a no go unless they're borrowing an asset from our Coast Guard brethren or someone else.

Thanks rg. You're right it's a Coast Guard helicopter and I guess this might be messed up, but in my story, it is a Coast Guard helicopter and it's not rescuing. It's pursuing my protagonists. I'm quite sure readers will remember the cover when they get to the scene but I admit it's kind of weird. And I'm thinking of bailing on the Navy SEAL approach. My protagonists were SEALs but had their status pulled, and they are rescuing a kidnap victim, but for this book they are former SEALs, so the "Navy SEAL rescue" is misleading.

Somehow "Ex-Navy SEAL Everglades Rescue" just doesn't cut it.
 

rgroberts

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Thanks rg. You're right it's a Coast Guard helicopter and I guess this might be messed up, but in my story, it is a Coast Guard helicopter and it's not rescuing. It's pursuing my protagonists. I'm quite sure readers will remember the cover when they get to the scene but I admit it's kind of weird. And I'm thinking of bailing on the Navy SEAL approach. My protagonists were SEALs but had their status pulled, and they are rescuing a kidnap victim, but for this book they are former SEALs, so the "Navy SEAL rescue" is misleading.

Somehow "Ex-Navy SEAL Everglades Rescue" just doesn't cut it.

So, what do you mean by "had their status pulled?" Did they get kicked out of the Navy, or just have their tridents taken away? The latter is very rare, and they'd still be in uniform, just with a new rating. (Sorry for poking at something that isn't your cover, but now you've got me curious.)
 

mrsmig

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None of those covers say "thriller" to me. They're too generic, especially the first one, which actually looks peaceful. If you stuck an embracing couple in the foreground you'd have a nice southern romance cover.

Is there a reason you're so married to this particular font?
 

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2nd and 3rd kinda make a premise of something dangerous. Kinda. I would bet it is a story about documentary team in the Amazon forest. If I were looking for thriller I wouldn't bother to read the blurb of those ones.
1st is total miss. It sends vibes of anything but thriller.

Is this font final or just placeholder? It looks super generic. Simple is good, don't take me wrong. But sometimes too simple is not the best approach.