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cover_a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dh3fn9y-fullview.jpg


I used my photos of a clock and a slowed light spinning image of a Christmas decoration to make this image in Photoshop.

This is the working cover for my story A Lease on Wonderland. Matthias Haddler is the victim of an experiment in which is he is brainwashed into believing he's the Mad Hatter alongside other "patients" in a false clockwork Wonderland. His wife pretending to be a clockwork "Alice" comes looking for him, but when she and Matthias fall into a real Wonderland, they begin to discover who tricked the scientists into their seemingly pointless scheme to begin with.

the_teafarers_by_a_little_tea_rat_dj2688v-pre.jpg


This is a colored pencil drawing of the first Wonderlandians to appear in the story as Esther and Matthias escape the scientist's "controlled Wonderland". We have the Maltipook, a cross between a tiny dog, a pookah, and a malt tea fit for use as a puja. Teacup Pig, a chai Red Elephant, and a chialingosauras chachong also known as a Chalingosauras.

a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dhdg544-fullview.jpg

Here we have the main characters Matthias and Esther meeting the "real" Mad Hatter riding in the Golden Afternoon. Matthias is still wearing his clothes from when he had been brainwashed; though he was advised by another Wonderlandian to buy the Mad Hatter's hat, which he did. It's for this part of the story in which I am uncertain whether this counts as fanfiction as even though I'm sure this could be a novel all in its own right there are occurrences here and there of characters from Alice in Wonderland. Otherwise it is mostly a story about people just using the story for their own gain and most of the Wonderlandians are complete OCs.

tangled_in_a_good_yarn_by_a_little_tea_rat_di3uhti-fullview.jpg


This is an illustration from part 2 of the story in which Matthias is turned into a Rat for a few chapters and he's now lost in a good yarn XD

dhri60s-2b997927-8fe2-4153-b925-cbd83ca611e9.png


A cover made the same way as the first cover as a possible Book 2 image.
 
I like the drawings.

I'm not a fan of either cover though. They just look like a bad photo, where a crappy camera took a picture in bad light conditions and it was then processed on a computer to give it an even worse resolution. The font also becomes hard to read once you shrink the image down a bit to thumbnail size (which is how many people will be first viewing it). And it's missing an author name.

These covers would make me give the book a hard pass before even looking at the blurb or content of the book.

If you are going to be including the drawings in your book, and they are an integral part of it and match the writing style and story, then I would draw a similar image to use as a cover.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
That's up to you. If you want the thread removed, you may need to ask a mod, or report it and explain.

The pics dont hurt anything. Everything here is back office, meaning...this is where you come to find out what should go in front of the public, we are not the public itself.
 
That's up to you. If you want the thread removed, you may need to ask a mod, or report it and explain.

The pics dont hurt anything. Everything here is back office, meaning...this is where you come to find out what should go in front of the public, we are not the public itself.
Okay, thank you ^-^
 
I like the drawings.

I'm not a fan of either cover though. They just look like a bad photo, where a crappy camera took a picture in bad light conditions and it was then processed on a computer to give it an even worse resolution. The font also becomes hard to read once you shrink the image down a bit to thumbnail size (which is how many people will be first viewing it). And it's missing an author name.

These covers would make me give the book a hard pass before even looking at the blurb or content of the book.

If you are going to be including the drawings in your book, and they are an integral part of it and match the writing style and story, then I would draw a similar image to use as a cover.
Thank you for the feedback ^-^

Though, one thing I should mention is that I was not going to be ignorant enough not to put my name on it somewhere, but yeah, I get everything else you are saying.
 
Make it three. The pencil drawings are very good. Id out that on the cover instead.
Oh, when you said "make it thee" did mean the third illustration should be the cover? Cuz now that I think about it, it would look pretty nice. Thank you.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Oh...I actually meant, I would make a suitable pencil drawing for the cover. I dont know the content well enough to suggest. I have to trust you to know that.
 
Agree with everyone else.

I'm not keen on either of the covers, though I do think they have potential. The first one, I like the picture of the clock and think it could potentially work with different filters and lighting. But the spinning light thing you've got going on is very pixelated and shows up as sharp lines across the paper that put me in mind of an image that is printed when the printer is running out of ink. Also I dislike the fonts used. Too small and the two fonts really clash with each other.

As for the second cover, I actually quite like the use of fragmented light in this image. It's nice and swirly and not in the least bit pixelated like the other one. The image I also think is quite nice but I think the lighting is off again. It's too dark. The font is better than the previous cover but still too small and not quite right. I don't think I like the use of two different fonts here.

The pencil drawings on the other hand are absolutely stunning! I seriously love them! They're so whimsical and really, really professional. While I do think that the two cover art photos could potentially be tweaked to make them more visually appealing as a cover image, I would absolutely consider using a pencil drawing for the cover, especially with that level of talent. ❤️
 

Diana Silver

Troubadour
A lot has been said already, and I agree with the general sentiments. So I'll keep it short. For me, one of the key reasons why the pencils drawings work better than the cover pictures, is because the pictures don't convey magic. This is most true for the first cover; if I had to guess what type of book I'd find inside, I'd say a psychological spy novel, maybe a detective noire of some sort. Contrast that with your drawings, which pointedly convey all the wonder you'd expect from a wonderland-inspired story :eek:
 

Dylan

Scribe
cover_a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dh3fn9y-fullview.jpg


I used my photos of a clock and a slowed light spinning image of a Christmas decoration to make this image in Photoshop.

This is the working cover for my story A Lease on Wonderland. Matthias Haddler is the victim of an experiment in which is he is brainwashed into believing he's the Mad Hatter alongside other "patients" in a false clockwork Wonderland. His wife pretending to be a clockwork "Alice" comes looking for him, but when she and Matthias fall into a real Wonderland, they begin to discover who tricked the scientists into their seemingly pointless scheme to begin with.

the_teafarers_by_a_little_tea_rat_dj2688v-pre.jpg


This is a colored pencil drawing of the first Wonderlandians to appear in the story as Esther and Matthias escape the scientist's "controlled Wonderland". We have the Maltipook, a cross between a tiny dog, a pookah, and a malt tea fit for use as a puja. Teacup Pig, a chai Red Elephant, and a chialingosauras chachong also known as a Chalingosauras.

a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dhdg544-fullview.jpg

Here we have the main characters Matthias and Esther meeting the "real" Mad Hatter riding in the Golden Afternoon. Matthias is still wearing his clothes from when he had been brainwashed; though he was advised by another Wonderlandian to buy the Mad Hatter's hat, which he did. It's for this part of the story in which I am uncertain whether this counts as fanfiction as even though I'm sure this could be a novel all in its own right there are occurrences here and there of characters from Alice in Wonderland. Otherwise it is mostly a story about people just using the story for their own gain and most of the Wonderlandians are complete OCs.

tangled_in_a_good_yarn_by_a_little_tea_rat_di3uhti-fullview.jpg


This is an illustration from part 2 of the story in which Matthias is turned into a Rat for a few chapters and he's now lost in a good yarn XD

dhri60s-2b997927-8fe2-4153-b925-cbd83ca611e9.png


A cover made the same way as the first cover as a possible Book 2 image.
Nice work!
 
Oh...I actually meant, I would make a suitable pencil drawing for the cover. I dont know the content well enough to suggest. I have to trust you to know that.
Oh, well, either way I guess I was just a little overwhelmed at first by all this. Not that I mind people don't care for my digital covers all too much. Really, I suppose I should have known, but the fact that people think my drawings are so nice very much surprised me, ha, ha! For a long time I was under the impression that my kind of drawings weren't publishable, but that was a long time ago. I'd probably make a drawing specifically for the cover if I still decide to make my own.
 
A lot has been said already, and I agree with the general sentiments. So I'll keep it short. For me, one of the key reasons why the pencils drawings work better than the cover pictures, is because the pictures don't convey magic. This is most true for the first cover; if I had to guess what type of book I'd find inside, I'd say a psychological spy novel, maybe a detective noire of some sort. Contrast that with your drawings, which pointedly convey all the wonder you'd expect from a wonderland-inspired story :eek:
Thank you for your input! While, I am definitely convinced that my covers no longer work, I am intrigued a bit that you say the covers do convey psychological spy novel only because one of the things that my drawings at least thus far have not conveyed the more psychological/mysterious element that is also part of the story, but perhaps they are also better left to the more whimsical side as well at a visual level.
 
Agree with everyone else.

I'm not keen on either of the covers, though I do think they have potential. The first one, I like the picture of the clock and think it could potentially work with different filters and lighting. But the spinning light thing you've got going on is very pixelated and shows up as sharp lines across the paper that put me in mind of an image that is printed when the printer is running out of ink. Also I dislike the fonts used. Too small and the two fonts really clash with each other.

As for the second cover, I actually quite like the use of fragmented light in this image. It's nice and swirly and not in the least bit pixelated like the other one. The image I also think is quite nice but I think the lighting is off again. It's too dark. The font is better than the previous cover but still too small and not quite right. I don't think I like the use of two different fonts here.

The pencil drawings on the other hand are absolutely stunning! I seriously love them! They're so whimsical and really, really professional. While I do think that the two cover art photos could potentially be tweaked to make them more visually appealing as a cover image, I would absolutely consider using a pencil drawing for the cover, especially with that level of talent. ❤️
Thank you so much for your in depth critique! It means a lot! If I continue going for making my own cover, I will certainly use my own drawing for it this time! I guess I had no idea that people would respond to my drawings so positively and was under a false impression that covers were expected to be digital unless they were serious paintings or similar. It's an eye-opener to me!
 
Thank you so much for your in depth critique! It means a lot! If I continue going for making my own cover, I will certainly use my own drawing for it this time! I guess I had no idea that people would respond to my drawings so positively and was under a false impression that covers were expected to be digital unless they were serious paintings or similar. It's an eye-opener to me!
Your drawing are more than good enough to be cover art! 😁
 

Fidel

Scribe
cover_a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dh3fn9y-fullview.jpg


I used my photos of a clock and a slowed light spinning image of a Christmas decoration to make this image in Photoshop.

This is the working cover for my story A Lease on Wonderland. Matthias Haddler is the victim of an experiment in which is he is brainwashed into believing he's the Mad Hatter alongside other "patients" in a false clockwork Wonderland. His wife pretending to be a clockwork "Alice" comes looking for him, but when she and Matthias fall into a real Wonderland, they begin to discover who tricked the scientists into their seemingly pointless scheme to begin with.

the_teafarers_by_a_little_tea_rat_dj2688v-pre.jpg


This is a colored pencil drawing of the first Wonderlandians to appear in the story as Esther and Matthias escape the scientist's "controlled Wonderland". We have the Maltipook, a cross between a tiny dog, a pookah, and a malt tea fit for use as a puja. Teacup Pig, a chai Red Elephant, and a chialingosauras chachong also known as a Chalingosauras.

a_lease_on_wonderland_by_a_little_tea_rat_dhdg544-fullview.jpg

Here we have the main characters Matthias and Esther meeting the "real" Mad Hatter riding in the Golden Afternoon. Matthias is still wearing his clothes from when he had been brainwashed; though he was advised by another Wonderlandian to buy the Mad Hatter's hat, which he did. It's for this part of the story in which I am uncertain whether this counts as fanfiction as even though I'm sure this could be a novel all in its own right there are occurrences here and there of characters from Alice in Wonderland. Otherwise it is mostly a story about people just using the story for their own gain and most of the Wonderlandians are complete OCs.

tangled_in_a_good_yarn_by_a_little_tea_rat_di3uhti-fullview.jpg


This is an illustration from part 2 of the story in which Matthias is turned into a Rat for a few chapters and he's now lost in a good yarn XD

dhri60s-2b997927-8fe2-4153-b925-cbd83ca611e9.png


A cover made the same way as the first cover as a possible Book 2 image.
I'm impressed these are actually really good!
 

Filifjonken

Acolyte
The art is wonderful. That style for the cover would fit very well as others have pointed out, but I must tell you too. The expressions and shapes are so fun to look at. The colors are wonderful as well, especially on the elephant (I see yellows and purples in the pink!)

The scene in the rowboat, and the one with the rat is one of those drawings you look at for a long while. It reminds me a little of the artist Sven Nordqvist, who is especially talented at adding more details than what is "needed," which is super fun.
 
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