Although I got some positive feedback about a year ago regarding my rear-cover, I'm still not 100% convinced that it's any good. I think it should contain more than it does already. I'd welcome any feedback on it.
Take a look at some trade-published books, and that should give you an idea of what should be on the back cover. I'd add price and QR codes, but otherwise it looks OK to me.
I would shrink the font a little just so it fits more tightly in the middle. I'd enlarge the hand print and move it a bit down and to the left so that the forefinger is nearly touching the middle of the cover. I'd tone down the glow just a little.
I'd re-write the cover synopsis. "slightly lacking in the brain department" Try to be more concise, eliminate unnecessary adverbs. Ben fancies an intelligent girl but she's not interested.
Yeah, it's too close. It needs more 'headroom.' It also needs to be re-written. A lot. I'd widen the text box, give it more headroom, create proper paragraphs, and go nice and wide with the text justified so you hit the left and right borders, or just left justified. Centred like it is is annoying to read and I never like it when I see it.
The issue isn't how much info your back cover contains. The issue is it's not written in an engaging manner. The pacing is also extremely stilted, and the info doesn't connect to each other well. Ben and the love interest disappear midway through the blurb and it's not clear what's happened to Ben, which makes the whole virus part of the blurb read like info dump.
I feel like I'm getting too much detail and not enough detail. For one, slightly lacking, I just find something generally wrong with this. it could just be me and I'm sorry if it is. is he dumb? Does he have a disability or autism? For two, where does the time traveler fit into this? for three, the last bit. Why does it have three endings and why do you need to tell me? I don't find that pertinent info myself. It actually makes me want to read it a little less because I find it confusing and then I'm not sure if one of them is canon or if the other two were just random ideas you prattled with. I am sorry if what I said was unhelpful
Thanks, not unhelpful, just honest. I'll go back to the drawing board, as they say, and try again. How about this: Ben is slightly lacking in the brain department, having been dropped on his head several times as a baby. He fancies an intelligent girl, Anna, but she's not interested, she only likes people who can hold up a decent level of intellectual communication. When Ben hears about an experimental man-made nano virus that may increase his IQ, he takes it hoping this will open to the door to Anna's heart. However, it results in disastrous consequences. The virus adapts, causing widespread disease. The only thing tat stands between it, and the complete annihilation ofmankind is a time traveller from the future, who only as limited interaction with the present. Can this time traveller help prevent the end of days for the human race, and at the same time help Ben find true love?
The problem is, how does Ben taking the virus mean suddenly the virus affects all of mankind? It doesn't connect. And how has the virus affected Ben himself, which it surely must have? Your final sentence of "help Ben find true love" just adds to the incoherence. Ben has taken a virus that adapts and can destroy mankind - I can only assume the virus's effect on Ben is less than desirable - and yet the goal of the character and drive of the main story is for Ben to find true love? Rather than somehow cure him of a life-threatening virus? Also, how has the virus suddenly become a character? The line "The only thing that stands between it and..." - that implies the virus has a conscious goal. Of course I know it doesn't, but that it sounds like it might makes it odd - if it's intended, then cool, but from my perspective it ends up looking like you wrote badly, not realising what you've implied. I take it from your blurb that it is meant to be a humorous, slightly silly story, which is just fine, but the ideas still have to connect to one another, which it currently doesn't.
The design is better. I'd put the barcode back in, and give the text double the space on the left. Just to give it room. Also, why are the lines not roughly the same length? Lines 1 and 2 are strangely different. Otherwise, much better.
With this one, I recommend moving the handprint to the right side and increasing it's size until it fills up the space. Edted to add: And make the cover credit much much smaller, and for god's sake don't use that font. You're trying to sell a book, not a phone book ad.
I use it for my web page. Anyone who sees the book can immediately go there to find the ebook, if they want to.
Yeah, but as far as I've seen people rarely, if ever, actually use them to link to a website. They've been a big failure, apart from ticketing, but that's a different use. I for one have never used one. Ever. Neither has anyone I know. The company I work for is an internet based company and has ditched it in all of it's marketing because people don't use them. And they're ugly.
Thanks so much for the feedback, much appreciated. Here is a new mockup, as regards to the design, still working on the actual blurb:
@Selbbin Thanks for the feedback. I've made a few changes to the blurb, does this now read a bit better and drum up some interest?
It does read a bit better. I'd make more edits, but I'm not judgung the blurb here really. Just the layout.
Anyone else think back cover blurbs should be central justified or full justified or am I the only one who hates that jagged right text edge??
