Book cover: comments please...

[Tamske]

Remember that book I finished more than a year ago?
All publishers have declined now. I'm going to self-publish. That means, among other (more boring) tasks, that I have to draw a cover.
I've worked a long time on it, but I'd work even more if needed. So please tell me what you think!

 

[Patches]

What is the subject of the book? I feel this is very relevant to what the cover looks like, because it depends on who's attention you're trying to catch with the book.

 

[Thalassa]

I honestly would not purchase this book, but that's based upon my personal tastes.

 

[wolfy]

What is the subject of the book? I feel this is very relevant to what the cover looks like, because it depends on who's attention you're trying to catch with the book.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Reminds me of the Stig of the dump cover.

 

[Tamske]

@ Wolfy: I looked up the wiki page of "Stig of the dump" and, according to me, the cover doesn't look at all like mine...
@ Marmie: no worries

As for the subject: it's a fantasy fiction. I'll translate the cover, that should give enough information (if not, then I better rewrite that cover text, too!)

Title: the fourth god

Blurb: Miran Timmermans has got exceptional magical power. She begins her studies to become a sorceress, but will she finish them? While Miran worries about magic wands and exams, her country prepares for yet another religious war. The army could use a strong sorceress. They fight for the three good gods, but Miran doubts. Will she remain true to her religion or does she choose for the fourth god?

Titles of the books in the drawing on the left corner: "Elf blood", "Dreams", "All Saints" and "Confessions of an atheist".

 

[wolfy]

@ Wolfy: I looked up the wiki page of "Stig of the dump" and, according to me, the cover doesn't look at all like mine...

Just reminded me of it. Must be the angle and pose of the character...

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

Looks very very amateurish. Download some images (pay for them) and use photoshop to clean them up. If you pick the images, I could help you do some of the design work. Get the dimensions down and send me the files. I'll send you some mockups. No charge. email me

 

[Totenkindly]

Looks very very amateurish. Download some images (pay for them) and use photoshop to clean them up. If you pick the images, I could help you do some of the design work. Get the dimensions down and send me the files. I'll send you some mockups. No charge. email me

Yeah. Not being cruel, but it definitely looks like a DIY title and it wouldn't go anywhere mass-market by the cover art.

If you have income to spend, you can also find some decent but still-trying-to-break-in artists online (I've done this before) and pay them a few hundred dollars to knock off a real piece of art that expresses the content of your book. I have no real idea what your book is about just from looking at the title or the cover. Otherwise you'll have to option some already existing photos or art.

 

[The Ü™]

I would consider going with simple, more abstract graphics. Maybe a silhouette image of a wand/sword, with a fire graphic along the side of the cover, and maybe a female form somewhere in there, or something. And maybe you can create a more appropriate font for the book's title. Font and logo design programs are nowhere near as expensive as Photoshop.

But the current cover looks very childish. Unless, of course, you're going for a children's storybook aesthetic. In which case, I hope the book has paintings on the inside, too.

Just a suggestion.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

A couple ideas...

contact this person about using the image

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

I would consider going with simple, more abstract graphics. Maybe a silhouette image of a wand/sword, with a fire graphic along the side of the cover, and maybe a female form somewhere in there, or something. And maybe you can create a more appropriate font for the book's title. Font and logo design programs are nowhere near as expensive as Photoshop.

But the current cover looks very childish. Unless, of course, you're going for a children's storybook aesthetic. In which case, I hope the book has paintings on the inside, too.

Just a suggestion.

Hmmm

 

[Tamske]

Looks like you want me to do less work!

First: I want to draw the cover myself. I really appreciate your comments, but I won't use a photograph or clip-art, even if it would look better. After all, I've written the book myself too, even while somebody else could have done it better. I'm not going to let somebody else draw it, even if you're doing it for free.
Secondly: I don't think the cover will boost or diminish sales. This is a self-publication.
Thirdly: frankly, I prefer figurative covers to abstract ones. That's why I made it like that in the first place. Then again, I'm the sort of thirty-year-old who reads children's books instead of adult ones. While the covers of ThatsWhatHeSaid are nice and stylish, they make me think of the sort of fantasy I wouldn't read. The sort of fantasy fiction where they are travelling along mighty landscapes, discussing strategies, seducing each other and having sex. This is not the content of my book. Especially that scantily-clad warrioress - my ESTJ heroine would never wear that. She likes to protect her body when going to the battlefield.
I'm sorry, folks - but even in my imagination common sense trumps good looks.

I wouldn't want people anticipating a certain style or imaginative sex scenes and being disappointed.

 

[EJCC]

I come from a town with quite a few self-published fantasy books, and I can tell you that your cover is much, much more creative and interesting than any of the other hand-drawn ones I've seen. I especially like the side view and the back view a lot because I love what you did with the colors and lines.

However, the front confuses me because I'm not sure what the person is doing, or what they're holding. And I feel like the smaller images might be distracting/confusing on the cover, but really excellent for, say, small images at the beginning of each chapter.

 

[The Ü™]

Hmmm

Actually, that's really good.

 

[JivinJeffJones]

Kind of looks like The Incredible Hulk's kid sister about to apply deodorant for some reason in a burning field of wheat. If you want the book to sell I recommend working something out with TWHS. Fantasy readers can be pretty snobby with book covers. We know our little addiction is ridiculous, so we'd rather our covers look as classy as possible for when we get caught in public with them. Even Terry Pratchett learned that lesson eventually. JMO.

 

[The Ü™]

Kind of looks like The Incredible Hulk's kid sister about to apply deodorant for some reason in a burning field of wheat. If you want the book to sell I recommend working something out with TWHS. Fantasy readers can be pretty snobby with book covers. We know our little addiction is ridiculous, so we'd rather our covers look as classy as possible for when we get caught in public with them. Even Terry Pratchett learned that lesson eventually. JMO.

Jeff, Dutch women are like that.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

I've seen your work before, and I can honestly say, that the cover is not your best. You can do better, I don't like the front picture at all...

The writing doesn't seem professional either, I suggested using a formated text instead...

Hmmm

Thats actually pretty fantastic...

 

[kyuuei]

:3 My initial reaction was that I loved that you wanted to do it yourself--draw it yourself that is. It has to speak to you, I know that.

That being said--MOST of the books that have attracted my attention have been from the cover. Word of mouth, and clearance items, are the only other sources of "Read this!" I get. Mostly, and foremost though, covers. So it is important that you spend time on it. Speaking as a fan of fiction novels, I am snobby with the covers as well. I cannot help it.. But I do have a wide range of snobbery going for me. I appreciate self-done art.

I also really did love the back and side of the book. The front's woman(caveman?) is what bothers me. I just could not tell what was in her hand. I couldn't tell what her expression and emotions are, and I couldn't at all figure out what sort of world it is from the cover. The cover has to breathe the world into a single image--because novels aren't picture books. You have one glimpse of everything and that's all you get. The rest is your imagination. I'd just imagine a caveman walking around in a flintstone's car with the cover's current front.

My suggestions are to definitely clean up the person if you want a person in it.. Make it crisp and clear.. Or WAY more abstract.

Whatever you decide to do.. Please remember your book is going to have your fingerprints all over it.. But unless you're the only one going to be reading it, I'd suggest giving the readers something as well. Usually, authors do this with catchy, snobby covers. We as readers demand it.. We want what we want.. and if you want your voice to be heard, you'll have to compromise somewhere. I'd probably have bought one of the covers TWHS had done.

 

[Tamske]

Okay, I can work with that! Thanks a lot!
I made one without the little drawings, too... well, I made that one first, saved it with another name and added the little drawings later. It's quite a nice idea to use them for the chapters.
The center drawing depicts a scene where our heroine is trying to combat a fire using magic... Lots of people liked it, but they also read the book so they knew what it is. It's interesting to hear from people who only saw the drawing. I'll think a bit about it. Fire is quite important, but maybe I'd add a background where the magic is more visible?
A nice thing would be to show the magic with rays of light or other effects... except that in my world, magic doesn't produce light as a side-effect, only heat.
Or I could use a totally different scene? A more typical one?
Thanks a lot!

 

[kyuuei]

I think you can still capture that scene you had in mind, though! Mayhap make the fire more of a center--something ON fire instead of the fire just being everywhere.. something to focus the magic on that she's using.. And while I don't know how to do it without photoshop, heat waves are easily done if you have awesome details--trees and limbs and houses and shit--to show off the magic--maybe the fire where the heat waves end being ashen and embers burning instead of the flames as she's starting to work. I think maybe a 3/4ths view of the girl, or a profile of her casting, would help too.. Her stance doesn't seem very combative, and thus I couldn't derive that from the picture at all.