K.S. Crooks
Maester
Here is my working cover for my new book in my Guilds of Galyndor series. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
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Firstcover design of new Guilds of Galndor book
- Thread starter K.S. Crooks
- Start date
Michael K. Eidson
Archmage
The concept is cool.
There are things....
I can see the background through the wolves. Is that intentional?
The breath shown between the two human figures looks two-dimensional.
The figures don't appear to be lit by the same light source.
The image is square, which means you're going to have blank space above and/or below this image, or you're going to have to trim the sides down to make it fit a book cover.
Do you have a version of this image that is high resolution? You might need it, especially if you intend to publish print versions of your book.
The chosen font is hard to read.
The yellow title is set against a background that makes it even more difficult to read. I'd never be able to read the title if the image were shrunk down for marketing purposes.
"The Breath of Avead" doesn't hook me. The title might as well be "Breath", as far as I'm concerned as one of your potential readers. Avead means absolutely nothing to me: I don't know if it's a person, place, or thing. I might guess from the cover that it's the guy on his knees, and he's having his breath stolen, but if I have to see the cover image for the title to click with me, the title isn't doing its job. Now if you already have a following, especially if you've already written lots of books about Avead, then I suppose your title will work with your loyal fans, but it doesn't help draw me in, a potential new fan.
The above are just my opinions. As with any critique, take from it what works for you and cull the rest. Won't hurt my feelings at all if you ignore everything I said above.
There are things....
I can see the background through the wolves. Is that intentional?
The breath shown between the two human figures looks two-dimensional.
The figures don't appear to be lit by the same light source.
The image is square, which means you're going to have blank space above and/or below this image, or you're going to have to trim the sides down to make it fit a book cover.
Do you have a version of this image that is high resolution? You might need it, especially if you intend to publish print versions of your book.
The chosen font is hard to read.
The yellow title is set against a background that makes it even more difficult to read. I'd never be able to read the title if the image were shrunk down for marketing purposes.
"The Breath of Avead" doesn't hook me. The title might as well be "Breath", as far as I'm concerned as one of your potential readers. Avead means absolutely nothing to me: I don't know if it's a person, place, or thing. I might guess from the cover that it's the guy on his knees, and he's having his breath stolen, but if I have to see the cover image for the title to click with me, the title isn't doing its job. Now if you already have a following, especially if you've already written lots of books about Avead, then I suppose your title will work with your loyal fans, but it doesn't help draw me in, a potential new fan.
The above are just my opinions. As with any critique, take from it what works for you and cull the rest. Won't hurt my feelings at all if you ignore everything I said above.
C
Chessie
Guest
Ok...here goes...
It's...not good. I'm sorry. This would be one cover that not only wouldn't catch my eye as a fantasy reader, but it screams 'homemade' so what's the rest of the book like? Covers are your first impression, and a very important one! Some issues I see with this cover:
1. Too much going on. Covers are more powerful the simpler they are. Their main and only objective is to signal to the reader the type of story the book promises, and the type of story those readers like. I have no idea what kind of story this cover promises me.
2. It's unattractive. Fantasy lovers like flashy covers with magic, lots of color, and fancy fonts.
3. The wolves look strange with their foreheads missing.
4. I have no idea what The Breath Of Avead is.
How to fix this: not sure what your funds are but I would hire out for this instead of trying to make it myself. Your cover is the second most important thing for your book...the first being the story, then the blurb. I work with two really good cover artists, both do fantasy, so let me know if you want their information. Here are some resources for pre-made covers:
-selfpubbookcovers.com
-thebookcoverdesigner.com
Good luck.
It's...not good. I'm sorry. This would be one cover that not only wouldn't catch my eye as a fantasy reader, but it screams 'homemade' so what's the rest of the book like? Covers are your first impression, and a very important one! Some issues I see with this cover:
1. Too much going on. Covers are more powerful the simpler they are. Their main and only objective is to signal to the reader the type of story the book promises, and the type of story those readers like. I have no idea what kind of story this cover promises me.
2. It's unattractive. Fantasy lovers like flashy covers with magic, lots of color, and fancy fonts.
3. The wolves look strange with their foreheads missing.
4. I have no idea what The Breath Of Avead is.
How to fix this: not sure what your funds are but I would hire out for this instead of trying to make it myself. Your cover is the second most important thing for your book...the first being the story, then the blurb. I work with two really good cover artists, both do fantasy, so let me know if you want their information. Here are some resources for pre-made covers:
-selfpubbookcovers.com
-thebookcoverdesigner.com
Good luck.
Alyssa
Troubadour
I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt. I'm not doing this to be mean, for the sake of being mean. But the cover often sells the book as much as the contents inside. I would strongly recommend a cover designer.
Here goes:
The font is awful, difficult to read and unsuitable. Go for a Serif font, with a significant undershadow, with text in white, grey, silver or gold (not yellow, not red, not black). If you're stuck for choices, go for a garamond or something. But remember, text is more important than you think. You can have the nicest cover art in the world, but if you do your text in comic sans ms then your are going to be in for a world of hurt.
If you're using a highly stylised font, all the others should be simple, in the majority of cases.
The banner should not be there. When it is specified as different from the title it should be done with a change of font or of colour.
The heraldic shield looks odd, because who sticks four different types of fractal on a shield.
Colur variation is completely off. You made a very sensible decision of going for a mixture of teal and orange/red. The contrast between the two catches the eyes very well. However, you've got blasts of colour in the wrong places. Your name, should not be red, it detracts from the central scene, you are not a well known author, your name will not sell your book. Similarly with the banner (which shouldn't be there in the first place) it drags the eye away from what's important.
The wolves have had lobotomies, that I think is the result of you using the magic wand too and then not deselecting certain areas.
The background is grainy and poor quality. Also, it's probably not yours. You need to get professional royalty free (but paid for) photography if you don't want to potentially get sued by someone for stealing their picture in the event that you hit the big leagues.
The characters looks wooden, and the lady's dress got the bad end of the feather tool on the upper right and left sides.
The lady's arm is an unnatural colour.
The characters are unnaturally bright for such a scene.
The breath looks unrealistic.
Your name at the bottom is crammed into one small area, it needs more spacing between it.
Here goes:
The font is awful, difficult to read and unsuitable. Go for a Serif font, with a significant undershadow, with text in white, grey, silver or gold (not yellow, not red, not black). If you're stuck for choices, go for a garamond or something. But remember, text is more important than you think. You can have the nicest cover art in the world, but if you do your text in comic sans ms then your are going to be in for a world of hurt.
If you're using a highly stylised font, all the others should be simple, in the majority of cases.
The banner should not be there. When it is specified as different from the title it should be done with a change of font or of colour.
The heraldic shield looks odd, because who sticks four different types of fractal on a shield.
Colur variation is completely off. You made a very sensible decision of going for a mixture of teal and orange/red. The contrast between the two catches the eyes very well. However, you've got blasts of colour in the wrong places. Your name, should not be red, it detracts from the central scene, you are not a well known author, your name will not sell your book. Similarly with the banner (which shouldn't be there in the first place) it drags the eye away from what's important.
The wolves have had lobotomies, that I think is the result of you using the magic wand too and then not deselecting certain areas.
The background is grainy and poor quality. Also, it's probably not yours. You need to get professional royalty free (but paid for) photography if you don't want to potentially get sued by someone for stealing their picture in the event that you hit the big leagues.
The characters looks wooden, and the lady's dress got the bad end of the feather tool on the upper right and left sides.
The lady's arm is an unnatural colour.
The characters are unnaturally bright for such a scene.
The breath looks unrealistic.
Your name at the bottom is crammed into one small area, it needs more spacing between it.
C
Chessie
Guest
OP, here's a video that might help some, although I highly recommend a cover artist:
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Alyssa
Troubadour
Yep, that's the guy I look at for this stuff.
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C
Chessie
Guest
Alyssa, he's also the guy to go to for a lot of other publishing information, too. Totally off topic, but CreativIndie is worth checking out, if you already haven't!
Alyssa
Troubadour
Yeah, he's great, I have him bookmarked with several other people who I look at. I mainly just watch his videos as he reiterates most things there, except more coherently, in depth, and concisely
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Alyssa
Troubadour
Anyway, the site the OP might be interested in looking up is
Diybookcovers.com
(By the creativindie guy as well... he's a sneaky backlinker...)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Diybookcovers.com
(By the creativindie guy as well... he's a sneaky backlinker...)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #10
K.S. Crooks
Maester
Thanks for all the suggestions. I used a lower quality image as the real one is 12 Mb and I wanted to make sure it would upload. The wolves can ghost a part of their body, thus the missing sections. The female isn't human thus the colour difference and skin pattern. I'm going to play around with the positions, sizes, lighting and other aspects. I will change the title as to either mention Avead is a Queen or mention the main theme of the story.
I'm finding making a cover like writing the story. I needed to simply get it done and not worry about any mistakes. Now comes the editing. Thanks again to all for the ideas.
I'm finding making a cover like writing the story. I needed to simply get it done and not worry about any mistakes. Now comes the editing. Thanks again to all for the ideas.
psychotick
Auror
Hi,
Like the others I'm afraid. first it's way too busy. The figures all look as though they've been pasted on to a background image. The wolves with the missing bits despite your explanation looks like a photoshop error. The fire between the woman and the man not only looks fake, but I can't tell which one it's coming from. The shield is ok as a header, but the banner looks wrong. Either it is part of the image which means make it of some material and flap it in the wind. Or it isn't, which means give it a clear delineation / border. And kill the orange. Best advice, get a designer to help.
Sorry, Greg.
Like the others I'm afraid. first it's way too busy. The figures all look as though they've been pasted on to a background image. The wolves with the missing bits despite your explanation looks like a photoshop error. The fire between the woman and the man not only looks fake, but I can't tell which one it's coming from. The shield is ok as a header, but the banner looks wrong. Either it is part of the image which means make it of some material and flap it in the wind. Or it isn't, which means give it a clear delineation / border. And kill the orange. Best advice, get a designer to help.
Sorry, Greg.
scribbler
Dreamer
I think the wolves would be more successful if you played with the opacity to convey the sense that they can "ghost" parts of their bodies. If you put a slight feather on the selection tool, like a 5, the images of the people would blend a little better with the background. You can also play with the hue/saturation of the figures to match the lighting scheme of the background.
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