Hi everyone These are sort of works in progress, three options for an ebook I'm putting together. I'd appreciate feedback, on which one you like best and any other comments, criticisms, improvements etc. Thanks!
I like the third the best. While a bit of a cliché (with the color red, high heels, etc.), I find it leaves most to the reader's imagination. The second kind of evokes thoughts about dreary winters, plus it's not as simplistic as I personally like my book covers, besides the title suggests you'd need something that references to sex. The third also looks the most professional of the covers. I also like how the font and the attire match color-wise. Just my opinion
honestly jazz, I don't like any: The expressionless face in 1 tells me the MC is bored The square jawed girl in 2 tells me nothing actually except maybe she's a bit more upscale The legs in 3 and the omission of 'not a confession' leads me to think it's a spill-all about her clients What do you want us to think the book is about? The harder, sleazier side of a call-girl's job?
I don't care for the first one at all. The second would look better without the bar containing the title/information. Looks more cut and paste the way it is, although the titlework might get lost in the clothing/cleavage I like the third the best, but too much white space. Maybe have the title near the top right and the author name along the bottom? Make sure whatever you pick, you see how it looks/reads/stands out as a thumbnail, as that is how many readers will initially see the cover. If it is unclear, can't be read or is unattractive or too 'generic' then it'll get passed by without being clicked on to look further. Also, if you hope to go to print some day, make sure that the titlework isn't right up along the edge of the cover.
Depends on the story I think. #2 is out, IMO. It's not interesting, too much scarf, not enough anything else. #1 & #3 have different emotional feels, so the story matters. And while legs and heels suggest fun, those too long, too pointy toes of the shoes look odd in the angle in the image.
Hey guys, thanks so much for the suggestions! Ok, answering questions, I'm only making it for existing fans, I don't anticipate it selling further than that. guess the third (original idea) is the most liked. I'm trying to fit the title somewhere, it's a bit challenging because of the white space, but I was going for Murakami-style simplicity with red and white etc. [MENTION=52161]erebh[/MENTION]: Aww, pity you don't like them. It's all the same girl though (I used my original artwork, and these were the selfies I thought might fit well with a theme) she doesn't have square jaw, so I guess the second definitely let her down The covers are supposed to be a bit edgy, the blank expression isn't because MC is bored, she is sort of numb, but I can se it didn't work very well in this situation; I decided to remove (not a confession) because of simplicity. It's not focused on salacious stories, although there are a few, it's written as a personal journal that is a mix of chic-lit, philosophy, diary, etc. [MENTION=53143]GingerCoffee[/MENTION]: You are right, the shoes look a bit weird, I think I must have accidentally stretched it to tall in photoshop (I was trying to fit the dimensions of the cover). Shoes are pointy anyway, so it just exaggerated it a bit. Thanks for pointing it out [MENTION=53403]KaTrian[/MENTION] and @TWErwin2: I'll use the third one, re-work it a little, but that's a general idea. Thank you guys
One final thing to consider. You know what the title is supposed to be so Call Girl Dairy sticks out of callgirldairy. Someone like me did not recognize it immediately. Consider if this is a good thing or a bad thing for someone skimming covers/titles for something that catches their eye and interest.
not to be confused with milk maid fetishes salacious stories [MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION] ? Ahem, didn't think you were 'that' kind of writer Only kidding, go with three so if the diary is a little confessional - legs in the air usually tell straight away what's within the sheets, sorry covers... Also the title straight away makes me think of the TV series 'diary of a call girl' which is full of confessions / kiss and tell.
Title is rather similar to an existing work: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/044654082X/?tag=postedlinks-21 (erebh - the series was based on the book, IIRC) Anyway, of the three covers, I definitely prefer the third.
Hmm, none of them appealed to me really. The first was probably the best in my opinion, but I don't like the expression of the model, and I don't find her attractive either. The second doesn't look professional to me, and the shading on the girl's face looks odd... The third is all right, but as another has said, the angle with the pointy shoes make the feet look very odd and make the legs look chubby. Maybe it's cus I'm a girl? I did not find the third one sexual/sexy at all, which sorta defeats the point cus now they're just... legs. I'd consider using the first one, but with a different expression on the model, possibly different angle. Definitely not the second. The third one could be good if the angle thing could be fixed - I'm not keen on the colours of any of the covers.
[MENTION=405]TWErvin2[/MENTION] and iolair: The original title of the blog was on-call girl diary but I shortened it. Thanks for letting me know, I'll change it back I'm only publishing this for the blog audience, and the book isn't in English so I don't know yet if Amazon will accept it, or will I only be able to go through Smashwords and the like. [MENTION=52161]erebh[/MENTION]: I'll re-work the title, I think it's best [MENTION=23298]Mckk[/MENTION]: Aw, I thought she was pretty cute But thanks for your feedback. I really like the slightly 'off' angle, makes it look a bit clumsy and more accessible, rather than the typical 'taking itself too seriously' type covers. It's all an experiment, just wanting to bring that old project to some kind of conclusion. I no longer write in Croatian so I'm not invested in it in any particular way. Just thought it might be a fun thing to do rather than have it sit idly in my hard drive
Sounds like you've already made your decision, but I like the third. It looks like a fun, offbeat kind of sexy which seems, as you said, more accessible and more realistic in my mind.
I like the third one; the red and white contrast very well and has an artistic-like feeling over it, which I like. Your mentioning Murakami was rather spot on, in my opinion, and if anything, I think you should have a cover in this color scheme or something similar in spirit.
I like 3 best by far but would like to see some color work. Don't care for the orange looking shoes against pale pink legs. I would her give a tan and some darker red shoes. Also edge her to the right a bit. Draw a # on your picture but make it vertical instead of slanted. There are 4 points where the lines cross. You need to have something visually interesting or eye pulling at one of those points since you have a lot of white space. Moving her to the right and up a bit will get her hips close to the bottom left intersection, which is often the best one. But what do I know? I am just a guy gets the wind sucked out of his lungs when he sees a nice long pair of legs. jh
The girl in the first one looks very, very young and innocent; I get an after-school-special or YA novel vibe. The second looks like it's about the scarf. The third is by far the best, IMO. I don't know that I'd buy it, but I'd pick it up to read the back cover.
[MENTION=55364]kburns421[/MENTION]: Thank you so much, that's totally what I was going for [MENTION=55406]Orihalcon[/MENTION]: Thank you I'm a bit obsessed with Murakami covers, truth be told [MENTION=55548]jvh24521@gmail.com[/MENTION]: Eh, if only the original photo wasn't exactly like this, only narrower Unfortunately, I can't move her any more to the right, but in the final cover, there's a bit less white space on the right hand side than in the image. I quite like the pale on red, and again, I brightened the background (it's a bit darker and warmer in the original) because I wanted a clean looking high key image. But I totally know what you mean about eye travel, I do a bit of photography myself [MENTION=16328]ChickenFreak[/MENTION]: That truly is a compliment to cherish, my friend. The 'girl' was 32 in the photo, testing pre-wedding make up. Also, not that innocent Thanks so much for the feedback, I'll go with the third after I rework it a bit
On the 3rd a trick i use when designing posters id to use the same font but either bold the word in middle or italic it, or if the font has a light version use that. I'm guess its century Gothic which i don't think has a light weight. Gills sans is similar and has greater variation in weights.
Thanks [MENTION=21729]SuperVenom[/MENTION], that's an intriguing idea, I'll try it! The font is 'Champagne and Limousines' in Photoshop, but that's not final yet
Hi, Number two is definitely the worst in my view - it's a particularly unflattering image of half a face that almost repels. The first one is a better face but my thought is that the woman doesn't really look like a call girl. Number three would be the best - it suggests a bit of fun - but the model's anaemia robs the picture of any impact. Legs can't actually be that pale can they? Also as an aside as was said before - why is it callgirldiary and not Call Girl Diary? Clumped together like that the words are harder to read and take more time to be read by the browser. And to add to that only one of them even has a piece of the author's name. You will need for your font's to be larger if you want readers to actually know what the book is called and your graphics need to be bolder to attract the eye. Remember your book will be seen in ebook stores as a postage stamp sized image and you'll have at best a few seconds to draw the reader's attention. You need for your image to say to the browser - this is something interesting / different / exciting etc and for the title to imprint on their minds something about what the books about. I personally don't worry about the size of the author's name so much because hey - I'm not Steven King and my name doesn't sell books. Hope that helps. Cheers, Greg.
[MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION] forget to mention, congrats on getting to the 'words finito, now to choose a cover' stage!
[MENTION=25103]psychotick[/MENTION]: I feel there's pale people discrimination going on here, the model is indeed pretty pale, we get next to no sun here in the UK. Thanks so much for the tips on the text, they'll come in useful. This e-book I don't intend to sell much, it's just for existing fans and word of mouth sort of thing. It's an old project. Also, originally titled 'on-call girl diary' so I might change that back [MENTION=52161]erebh[/MENTION]: Aw thanks! It'll be my first
Hi, No pale discrimination here. I'm a kiwi but have bugger all in the way of a tan myself. It's not about the paleness of the skin, it's about how it stands out against the white background. But with your title - looking at your original title could I suggest instead: Dairy Of An On-Call Girl. Also, never set out with an expectation of selling only a few books. Make your goals ambitious. That way even if you fail you'll probably do better than if you aim modestly. Cheers, Greg.
