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Busy Book Cover

Ayaka Di'rutia

Troubadour
I'm moving my self-published works over to a different platform, and I've been thinking about this particular cover and I think it needs some changes. Ever since I designed it I felt the cover looked too "busy" and like I crammed everything together, but I was trying to fit all the titles and my name in. I ended up leaving it like this, but I have seriously been thinking about redoing the design.

I was wondering if my fellow scribes could offer some critique on this cover. Does it feel too busy to you? What elements would you keep or remove?

1_Book_I_Cover_FinishedC_thumb_zpsplwbfwoq.jpg


Here is a list of what's on this cover:

1. "The Chronicles of Libera" - This is the overall series name I have for several stories, standalone novels and series, in the same world. It's the same concept as Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms.
2. "The Legacy Incarnate" - name of the series this particular book is in, subseries to The Chronicles of Libera.
3. "Incarnate Journey" - the name of the book.
4. Author name - I may add a design element in with it like I did with a recent cover I designed.
5. On the left side is a white, chromy design that is incorporated into the spine and the back cover, and is an element I may or may not keep.
6. On the chromy design are the roman numerals I-VII. This is because there are seven books in the series, but I'll probably delete this.
7. Also on this side is the roman numeral I, which I may or may not keep on the front, as this element is also located on the spine.

The watermark on the front is for copyright protection purposes.

I appreciate any feedback on this. I'm grateful I have a community of fantasy writers and artists I can turn to.
 

RonCNieto

Dreamer
Hi!

So, I'm probably not well suited for cover advice (I'm very good and designing stuff I don't like, but not so much the other way around). Still, from a reader's perspective:

I would get rid of element 6, because if people are interested, they'll find out how many books are in the series. If you add it to the cover, you are limiting yourself not to adding anything to it ever again (like short stories or .5 novellas; this may or may not be relevant but I thought it should be pointed out). Also, it may overwhelm readers who are new to the series--"wow, seven books? I don't have time right now, I'll pick them up after I'm finished with so and so."

I would keep element 7, but I would relocate it and place it beside the relevant series name. You need to have it on the front, because lots of people will go digital shopping, and they won't ever side the spine. If the numeral stands beside the relevant series name, it will make things easier for readers: they'll find their place much more easily.

The rest of the elements are necessary, but I might suggest different typography?

Example: element 1 could be converted into a logo (dragonlance style). Element 2 could become a single line, plus numeral, in order to leave more space (and more attention) for the name of the book and your own name. Your name and the name of the book could be bigger, bolder and further apart, so that there's no direct "competition" between them for reader's attention (ideally, one item above the central image and the other below).

I understand you want the image to be the focus of the cover, but one of my cover designers told me once that in fact, author and book names are more prominent in traditionally published books and that the best to enter the market was to imitate them.

Hope that helped?
 

Laurence

Inkling
Personally I would lose the chrome thing. It could work with foil print but still not with that particular design - try googling steampunk book designs if you want to incorporate metal.

You should cut the font number down to 1 or 2, also!
 

Mythopoet

Auror
I wouldn't say the problem is that it's busy. I'd say the problem is that none of the elements are working together. And well... I'm not going to lie. I think this is a terrible book cover. It looks really amateur. If I were you, I'd hire someone to do a cover.
 

Mark

Scribe
I'm not sure about 5, 6 (I'd almost certainly remove this) or 7. I'd need to see what it looked like without them, but I think it may be better.
 

FarmerBrown

Troubadour
From a cataloger's (librarian) perspective, you essentially have three titles, which is a nightmare. I would choose one of the series titles, either the specific one or the over-arching one as part of the "title", then leave the other as more of a note. Right now the title of the actual book looks like a note.

My suggestions:
Title: Incarnate Journey (make the focus of the cover, can be a unique font), probably located above the character
Subtitle: The Legacy Incarnate, Book One (keep by the title--directly above or below, slightly smaller, same font as author name)

Author name below the character (larger than subtitle, smaller than title)

Note: (something like "A story from the realms of"...) The Chronicles of Libera (either at the top or the bottom, small font, same font as author)

NO MORE THAN TWO FONTS!

Additionally, get rid of all roman numerals on the cover. You could use "I" on the spine to indicate book one. Include thorough series info inside the book. The chrome cog thing is an interesting idea, but it's distracting. I'd tone it down, maybe make it black-ish/blue-ish to go more with your cover color scheme without getting rid of it. If you moved it more to the left you'd have more room for your title, which you need to make much larger, and I'd want it more centered. Then you're not distracting from your character as much, either, who is striking.

Hope that helps!
 

Ayaka Di'rutia

Troubadour
Thanks for all the pointers! I'll try to keep them in mind when redesigning this cover.

I wouldn't say the problem is that it's busy. I'd say the problem is that none of the elements are working together. And well... I'm not going to lie. I think this is a terrible book cover. It looks really amateur. If I were you, I'd hire someone to do a cover.

I see what you mean by them not working together. Maybe that's what was bothering me and I just couldn't name it XP Is there anyone you would suggest I look into for cover design?
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Unfortunately, I haven't done any real researching into cover designers yet. (I have nothing ready to publish yet.) But one of the indie authors I admire most, fantasy writer Lindsay Buroker, recommends Streetlight Graphics and DD Graphics. Both have done covers for her.
 
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