I have finally got my cover art figured out, and am looking for thoughts on them. Thanks and have a good one.
Well hrmm, they're both a bit jarring to be honest, the colours don't really go well together in my opinion. Can you give a small synopsis on your story and what you're trying to convey in the covers? Maybe we can give better advice that way.
Cave Troll, I like the underlying concept just fine, but these aren't professional quality covers and no matter how good your book is I'm afraid they'd make a lot of people skip over it.
And this is more professional... I think if I got rid of my text and the Desert Eagles, my two might be just as good as the slew of these books by Matt Shaw. What do you say?
Well.. yes. They are more professional even though they are plain. It's much smaller than yours so I can't see the details, but the text looks higher resolution with no pixel-y bits.
My man Cave, these need to be better. Sorry friend, but I would have missed out on a great story if these were your covers. Although, I did have a small seizure when I scrolled down real fast from the florescent green, that has to count for something. Colors just a little too bright.
It's more to do with colour pallet, rough edges and inconsistent level of stylisation than general design.
In Photoshop or whatever you are using (I use GIMP) learn the feathering tool. It'll remove those obvious edges.
The Christmas tree scheme is pretty garish, and there's too much blank space. Blank space in itself isn't necessarily bad, but with that color scheme it is. But I have faith in you that you can make something better.
I agree with halisme. It is more about consistency of design. Mixing realism with surrealism never works too well but you will figure it all out because you definitely seem to have passion for your work.
Looks pretty edgy, I love to make mockups of bookcovers and use them as desktop backgrounds to keep my self motivated. Maybe you should try using some filters to make some of the objects look more like drawings? Bookcovers are fun to make
Do you believe in your work? Do you want it to have a fair shot at success? If so... I'd suggest paying someone to design your cover. A hundred bucks or so isn't too much to invest if your book does well, and isn't too much to lose if it doesn't. Seriously - covers are important. Give your book a fair chance.
@BayView 100 is a bit steep for something that might not make that in a year (if at all). The hard part will be finding someone in my tiny backwater religious town, with whom I can collaborate with for a much more reasonable amount. No point in vesting to much in resource to something that could be an abysmal failure. The risk reward ratio should be about equal for an unknown person such as myself, don't you think? Then again I judge a book by what is on the inside, the cover is just a flashy thing that often detracts from the actual story (provided it has anything to do with the story inside at all.)
No, if the book is of high quality and you want it to have a chance, invest in the cover. Your risk analysis is flawed in my view. All business enterprises are risks. You don't offer an inferior product because he business venture might fail, and you don't decrease already long odds with shoddy packaging.
I don't think you need to look within your town - the internet is pretty handy, right? And... I don't know. I haven't read your book. Maybe it's not much good and there's no point wasting money on a cover when people are going to be turned off by the content anyway. But... if it's any good? I wouldn't read it, based on the cover you have now. We can make up all the platitudes we want but we DO judge books by their covers, and I would judge yours as not worth my time/money. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh. In terms of balancing risk/rewards... how many hours have you sunk into this book? How highly or lowly are you valuing your time? So, how much have you already risked on this venture? I don't know your situation. Maybe you truly can't afford a pro cover, in which case all of this is moot. And I don't know your book. I DO know the e-book market, at least to some degree, and I can say that even if you spend good money on a cover, you may not sell many copies. That is true. I just... I don't know. I think you may be underestimating the importance of marketing to the success of a self-published author. I think it's at least as important to be a good marketer as it to be a good writer. (unfortunately)
You can find the occasional pre-made cover that looks nice for $35 bucks or so. The trick is finding one that fits your book. I should note that I'm talking about people who are approaching this as a serious business. Some people self-publish more or less as a hobby, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's what someone wants to do.Then the calculus is different. If you're serious, then you treat it as a business. I've worked with startups for the last seventeen years, different businesses in a variety of sectors. It's a risk, and it costs money. The ones who make it come out of the gate with professional goods or services, because they're competing against professional goods and services. I think writing has to be approached that way, whether it's making sure the editing, formatting, etc. are up to professional standards, or whether it's making sure you have a professional book cover. If you don't do those things, then of course your chances of succeeding are drastically reduced.
@BayView 9 months or so into getting it up to par. It is not up for me to decide on how well it will fair, but up to those who choose to read it. Overall I think going with something simple that fits theme will work well, considering theme and content. It would be a shame to pay someone for a few hours at most of work at high rate, to watch something you have worked days and months on fail. Lest I remind that I am green (new) to all this writing business, and am still learning how it all works from all the angles. If only I were better at this than I am at other things. Marketing is a tough thing to master. @Steerpike Where does one look for a pre-fabbed cover art?
This seems like a really fatalistic attitude. It's not up to you to decide how well it will fare, but it is up to you to make the decisions that will in large part determine how well it will fare. Just tossing your words out into the ocean of self-published material without giving them even a life jacket... I guess @Steerpike is right: this doesn't have to be a serious business plan for you. If you just want to publish so you can know it's published, then this is a totally valid approach. Your call, obviously.
I'm going to take a different view on this one. I like the red on green background but, I had difficulty making out what the image was. Is there a reason there is no top part of the head? I also found the White showing through the mask off putting, I think it needs some fill colour in the gaps.May be making the face/ mask bigger would help. The green on red doesn't work for me at all. The title is difficult to read with the fading text and white showing through, but I realise you are trying to keep a theme. I think you can create good images yourself IF you are proficient with the software.
I'm a dab(ish) hand with graphics software @Cave Troll please see this linked 'print ready' file of your artwork that ain't far from being ready ( I believe ) to send to a printer.
@SethLoki That was cool, you definitely have a better grasp of how to use the software. Way better than my failed two day playing around with GIMP Shop, and Paint copy paste method.
