Hi Guys, Title says it all really. Have a new urban fantasy doing its final run through with my editor at pres and have commissioned a cover. I'm curious what the cover says to you guys - especially about the MC. Cheers, Greg.
I like it, mostly, but there's something weird about the gun. It kind of looks like a hair dryer, or at first I thought maybe it was a can of something, or one of those airhorn-in-a-can things... Otherwise? I like the colours, the scene seems dynamic, I feel like I've got a good idea of what the story's going to be like - it works for me, except for the gun.
Hi, Thanks for that. The gun is actually meant to be a toy looking ray gun - it fires spells not bullets and the MC hates it. It's part of the plot. May have to weave it into the blurb too. I didn't want him to use just a standard Sig as it would take away from the fantasy element of the book which is urban fantasy. May have to rethink it though. Cheers, Greg.
I agree with @BayView as regards the gun. Not just the shape of it (I read you above post just now) but also the color palate for the gun itself. All the rest of the colors have a nice connection of palate, they look well-chosen and they "match" for lack of a better word. The gun's light-grey barrel sticks out, color-wise, and it looks a little flat, like the perspective is off just for the gun.
The 'gun' is a similar concern as mentioned above. The character is in the foreground, with strong light behind him. As there is no evidence of the light striking him from behind, along the edge of his shoulder or head/hair, it makes him appear cut out and pasted in, rather than an integral part of the scene. And, with his face, it appears he is simultaneously lit from the front. Minor, but it's what I noticed upon taking a look.
Unfortunately, I think TWErvin is right, the lighting really seems off and it does have a copy and paste feel to it. I think you should go back to your artist and explain the lighting errors.
It's that dinglebob on the rear of the gun that makes it seem off. That's because a regular human world firearm needs that space for the slide to rack backwards so a spent shell can eject out the port after each trigger pull. If you put that dinglebob on a real gun and pulled the trigger the gun would blow up in your hand. I don't know what kind of firearm technology we're dealing with here, but definitely would need to for suspension of disbelief.
Agree here - the character is front lit and the cityscape is backlit. It's slightly offputting. Overall, as it stands, the cover isn't weak. Nor is it compellingly powerful. Explaining the dinglebob on the gun or changing it and fixing the lighting. Those would be my two action items to make this cover pop.
You're seeing lighting errors because the sun is setting behind him, yet the shadows are falling onto the front of his pants.
Is he an anti-hero? Motion from right to left, as well as his facing the left, usually indicates a character who is moving against the norm, or that they are simply bad.
Hi, Old post I'm afraid. The book went out in December. I darkened the front of the man's vest to correct lighting issues (not his face but it looks ok to me), took out the colour of the toy gun, and darkened it as well. I'd never thought about the left right thing, but oddly enough he is a little bit of an antihero - a tiny bit misanthropic. And in fact one of the reviews I had for it which I loved said that he was glad he wasn't some emo whiney kid. Also reworked the fonts. Cheers, Greg.
