Which cover is better?

[Gregg Bell]

My novel is called Jamie's Gamble. It's Nicholas Spark-ish (without the sale).

Here's the blurb:
Jamie Thompson is the perfect person. Her CEO father has made sure of that. She has the perfect manners, a perfect tennis backhand and a perfect life. Jamie has a silver spoon in her mouth—and she's gagging on it.

She has to get away.

She's come up with the perfect plan. A friend in a west Texas border town has lined up an accounting job for her, but when Jamie gets there the job has fallen through. But there's a waitress position open at a bar and grill. The one thing Jamie knows is she isn't going back to her father, and so, broke, sixteen hundred miles from home and alone for the first time in her life, she goes for it.

What she finds is a world of gun-toting cowboys, Mexican drug gangs, the occult and a string of brutal rapes and murders. And Ricky Benson, a flame-throwing baseball pitcher, fallen from grace, who she falls head over heels in love with.

But the violence escalates. A fellow waitress is murdered, and Jamie feels like she might be next. Then Ricky Benson is accused of murder.

Jamie can make one phone call and her father will send the company jet for her—or she can stay and face the life that confronts her and fight for the man she loves.





Here are the links. (since the images aren't showing up--which is another post in the making)

http://www.mediafire.com/view/dl2ja1...typetwoxcf.JPG

http://www.mediafire.com/view/cw7ozg...oxcfRUSSIA.JPG

Thanks!

[storax]

I prefer the grey-grey color balance of the first, though I'd put the darker image (the couple) on the bottom.

With the darker at the top, the image seems to float up and draw the eyes *away* from the title and the rest of the design. Perhaps you could test lightening the darker image somewhat, aiming at a overall value more-or-less equal to that of the other.

Anyway, that *my* 2¢

[Hitch]

I think that the sun-glaring image is problematic. I mean, yes, it's eye-catching, which is precisely what it should do, but it does, as @Storax posted, draw your eyes then away from everything else, like real glare does. I'm not a cover designer, so unfortunately, I can't say the "how" of how to fix it, but both need tweakage, in my opinion, to really work.

Were it me, I might consider putting the image in the center (the kiss image) with the title above, author below. Go for increased contrast on the banding.

Those are my thoughts, FWTAW (For What They Are Worth).

EDITED/ADDED: I do like the kissing image--it's dramatic and bright in a good way. The trick is to use it just right.

Hitch

[theducks]

Photoshop the Glare into a dramatic Red/Orange Sunset

[JSWolf]

To be honest, get rid of the sun/glare. It catcvhes the eyes and you don;t pay attention to the rest of the cover. Also, the glare is kind of in the way.

I like the bottom that says shutterstock better as it doesn't have that watermarked camera.

You'll need to find images that don't have a watermark like the two you've chosen. They don't work at all.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by storax

I prefer the grey-grey color balance of the first, though I'd put the darker image (the couple) on the bottom.

With the darker at the top, the image seems to float up and draw the eyes *away* from the title and the rest of the design. Perhaps you could test lightening the darker image somewhat, aiming at a overall value more-or-less equal to that of the other.

Anyway, that *my* 2¢

Thanks storax. Yeah, agree the grey-grey color balance of the first is better. Will have to play with switching the images.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I think that the sun-glaring image is problematic. I mean, yes, it's eye-catching, which is precisely what it should do, but it does, as @Storax posted, draw your eyes then away from everything else, like real glare does. I'm not a cover designer, so unfortunately, I can't say the "how" of how to fix it, but both need tweakage, in my opinion, to really work.

Were it me, I might consider putting the image in the center (the kiss image) with the title above, author below. Go for increased contrast on the banding.

Those are my thoughts, FWTAW (For What They Are Worth).

EDITED/ADDED: I do like the kissing image--it's dramatic and bright in a good way. The trick is to use it just right.

Hitch

Thanks Hitch. Yeah, it needs some tweakage. I'll experiment with the kissers in the middle. And the glare. Have to think about that.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by theducks

Photoshop the Glare into a dramatic Red/Orange Sunset

Ducks! What, do you think I know what I'm doing! (I don't know how to do that. LOL But I can learn.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To be honest, get rid of the sun/glare. It catcvhes the eyes and you don;t pay attention to the rest of the cover. Also, the glare is kind of in the way.

I like the bottom that says shutterstock better as it doesn't have that watermarked camera.

You'll need to find images that don't have a watermark like the two you've chosen. They don't work at all.

Thanks JS. But I thought the watermarked camera was a nice touch. It made it clear that it was a photo.

[meeera]

A red-orange sunset, or a redder colour in the title banner background, would also give add pop by giving a good complementary colour contrast with the blue sky/water. I confess my first thought with the glare image was "Two lovers share their last kiss while a nuclear explosion lights the sky".

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks JS. But I thought the watermarked camera was a nice touch. It made it clear that it was a photo.

I assume that's a joke?

Hitch

[ApK]

I'm with the majority on the choice between the two, but I find the kissing picture TOO bright (aside from the sun glare) and over saturated.
Might I suggest you try desaturating and softening the top pic a bit, perhaps washing it out to more closely match the stark landscape of the photo below?
I think it needs to look more like a book cover, and less like a photograph, with half a book cover below it, which is how it looks to me now.

[GMcG]

I don't like two (very) different types of photos on a cover. I have combined them to one with the landscape still visible in the background. You could use the complete kiss photo including the elbows, so you get more picture on the cover. But the sun glare is still a problem.
BTW: Aren't photos with watermarks copyrighted?

George

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by meeera

A red-orange sunset, or a redder colour in the title banner background, would also give add pop by giving a good complementary colour contrast with the blue sky/water. I confess my first thought with the glare image was "Two lovers share their last kiss while a nuclear explosion lights the sky".

Thanks meera. Yeah, it definitely needs pop. Maybe the red in the banner or maybe orange graphics. I'll experiment. (And no nukes!)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I assume that's a joke?

Hitch

Yes, Hitch. Joke.