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Mock-up cover, what are your thoughts on this?

Chime85

Sage
Howdy doody scribers,

I have spent my afternoon creating a mock-up cover for my WIP. Although I should be typing away at the story, I decided to take a break and play with ideas on photoshop.

bookcoverib.jpg


What are your thoughts on this? Any likes, dislikes? If you had to make any changes, what would they be?

x
 

TWErvin2

Auror
The print doesn't stand out enough. Fades in to the dark background and too small. The picture appears too washed out. Consider how it all will be viewed as a thumbnail.

The dark and reddish pink are fine, but even the full size image appears just too faded overall to be effective, at least as I see it.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
The idea of a mockup is typically "This is what I'm sending to the artist so he can know what I'm looking for." If that's what you have in mind I think it looks great.
 

Chime85

Sage
or maybe the light version?

bookcoveric.jpg


At the moment I'm just experimenting with a few ideas and throwing them around :)

x
 

Aosto

Sage
I think overall the concept is good, I have a few issues with the picture itself. Nothing leads me to the main image, and i'm not exactly sure what the main image is supposed to be. The solid background doesn't provide much intrigue, it doesn't lead me into the concept of the point.
I would suggest moving your main image off center and adding something to the background. If this is a space scene, probably add some stars/nebula in the background, possibly an exotic planet of sorts. You want to lead your viewers eyes and provide something for them to look at other then the center of the image.
I created something a while back that I think would work perfect for this, have a look see.
Browsing deviantART
through_the_glass_by_aosto-d38qsf7.png
 

Chime85

Sage
Aosto, that's a fantastic image. Unfortunately, it's not a space scene, it's two moons eclipsing.

x
 

boboratory

Minstrel
The font just doesn't have the strength to reach out and grab you, it looks too sterile and detached from the science fiction nature of the book. I'll admit, it took me a minute to contemplate the scene, and sort out what was what- if I were at a convention or bookstore, I would have glanced and kept going, it didn't capture my attention.

I agree with Devor, if this is something you intend to pass to an artist as a guide, it's give them what they need to get the job done.
 
As someone who doesn't know what's going on for the story, the picture looks like spaceship meets portal meets red scale. Unless that's what you're going for, I'd find a way to make that front object more solid and clear.
 
Hi,

There's good and bad with the image. There are three things a book cover needs to do, and the first of them is catch the eye. The first (dark cover) does this quite well.

But the next two things a cover has to do are to tell the reader what the story's about and give them the names etc. When I like at the cover I can't work out if the front object is a spaceship or a pendant. Or in either case why it seems to have a shadow as if it's sitting on a mirrored coffee table. I don't know what the black disc is, and I'm guessing that the red one is supposed to be a moon. (But that leads me to another question, if it's sci fi why is there talk of a witch in the title?) But that's by the by.

I think you need to crystallise your key idea as to what the book is about and then graphically represent that so that it's completely clear to the reader. If it's a spaceship and a moon it needs to be clearly seen as a spaceship and a moon. If it's a pendant under a red moon, it needs to obviously be that. They say write a book for a reading age of about twelve. I'd add to design a cover for someone who's probably only going to look at it for a few seconds.

The font for the title and name needs to be larger and clearer, so that it stands out and can be read in thumbnail view, which is how most readers will see it, but that is an easy fix.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Greg.
 
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