Cover Art: Draft Two

By J.D. Ray · Mar 5, 2020 · 711 · 14
  1. Still working on the blurb. Thoughts? Feedback?
    Lives In Time Part One Cover - Small.png
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  1. Some Guy
    I don't know anything about blurbs. Still, I'm wondering if starting with incident would be more gripping:

    "Marko and Celeste have been thrown back to medieval times. Everything in their priviledged 23rd-century lives has been stripped away...
    is being in love enough
    will they make it back etc
    I don't know why the 'live long enough' pokes at me. Is it because it's another question?
    This is only food for thought. Yours covers all the bases. :)
    Some Guy, Mar 5, 2020
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  2. Some Guy
    PS: I immediately connected with the art. :)
    Some Guy, Mar 5, 2020
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  3. J.D. Ray
    I wish the picture I used as a base for the art had been a bit wider shot. Gradina is off to the right just slightly. I also wish the ruins of the villa showed up better. I may do some painting on the original picture, then re-process it. If that works, I'll make the pier show up better too.
    J.D. Ray, Mar 5, 2020
  4. J.D. Ray
    Oh, and regarding the "live long enough" bit, it sets the tone for the novel. We establish that they're long-lived early in the story. Now the question is, do they jump forward in time to get home? Do they live through nine hundred years of time linearly? You two have some insight here, but someone picking up the story for the first time won't.
    J.D. Ray, Mar 5, 2020
  5. Some Guy
    Well, it's a deep theme in the tale, but you've essentially put mortality back on the table with a thousand-year timeline - clever, but should it be a secret to a prospective reader? Veritable immortality without vampires is novel these days. Capitalize on it?
    Insight? Yeah, but I'm a duality kind of reader, mostly from ADHD. I basically changed my mindset to the day I picked up one of my 17yrs-little brother's books. It was A Spell For Chameleon, part of the Piers Anthony Xanth series. I proceeded to read everything of his I could get my hands on until I could no longer see print. Gotta get audiobooks, soon.
    *Ahem*
    My point is you have an angle that would attract a reader right from the blurb.
    Meesa don't know. I kinda turned into a protective advocate! LOL
    Some Guy, Mar 5, 2020
  6. Some Guy
    OT
    I figured out what was niggling me about the cover art. The scene could be that image on a wall inside the hellenic travel-dome, with him shining the lantern on it as she looks at a different scene on a wall behind him - glyphs present too, etc.
    Some Guy, Mar 5, 2020
  7. J.D. Ray
    If I sell a ton of Part One, I'll hire a professional artist to create the cover for Part Two, I promise.
    J.D. Ray, Mar 5, 2020
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  8. Some Guy
    Aha! A ton - I like positive attitude! :D
    Some Guy, Mar 5, 2020
  9. big soft moose
    its very amateur - with a cover like this you arent going to sell a ton, sorry to be harsh but thems the facts... i'd urge you to use a premade

    that said if you are dead said on doing it yourself the main issue isnt the art, but the typography and the solid colour banding.. and that block of text under your name... that belongs on the back, not the front
    big soft moose, Mar 5, 2020
      J.D. Ray likes this.
  10. J.D. Ray
    "sorry to be harsh but thems the facts"

    I didn't post it here so people could pour adulation on me, but to offer insight and opinion. Thank you.
    J.D. Ray, Mar 5, 2020
  11. OurJud
    It screams 'self published' and is typical of its type. Professional book cover designers are paid good money for a reason, and that reason is the difference between what you have here and what you see on the shelves in Waterstones.
    OurJud, Mar 5, 2020
  12. big soft moose
    big soft moose, Mar 5, 2020
  13. OurJud
    Bit of a mixed bag there in my opinion. A number of them look like they could have been grabbed from the shelf of any major bookshop, but just as many are terribly cheesy and amateurish.
    OurJud, Mar 5, 2020
  14. big soft moose
    this is true - its not a single designer, but a clearing house for multiples, you still have to select carefully... of course if you really want to be assured of a good cover you're best going to a designer like say books covered (stuart bache) https://www.bookscovered.co.uk/ but you can expect to pay a lot more
    big soft moose, Mar 5, 2020
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