Suspense thriller cover feedback?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But they do call Foster Aussie's national beer.

Not by any Australians.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But they do call Foster Aussie's national beer.

Originally Posted by davidfor

Not by any Australians.

The only way Aussies managed to willingly export a beer was to make it undrinkable.


Got to laugh. Here I am speaking, apparently knowledgeably, about beer, when the truth is that I can't stand the stuff - it all tastes like Foster's to me. But I trust no one here will give away my secret or I might get thrown out of the country.

[JSWolf]

Did you try without the yellow and without the sun and having a redish sunrise in the title instead of the face?

[sun surfer]

The cover with the bloody guy on the bed, because it's dark yet vividly coloured, reminds me of pulp fiction or film noir. The similar version without any blood makes it seem like there'll be more sex or romance in the book since it's a presumably naked good-looking man in bed with no blood to make one think anything is amiss. The cover with only the sun and title reminds me of the 1970's, and also would make me think it's a horror book. Both versions look nice and professional though. The only questionable thing to me was the typography of the tagline when it was in the middle but the version with the tagline on top looks good.

I do like the guy in the bed but if you add it back in, I'd add a touch of blood or else something to give that idea of prior violence without making him seem dead.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

That would catch my eye.
I kind of like it.
Still way bright but in a good way.

Thanks Cin. I'm really leaning toward going with this.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Now I like it. For me, the balance is correct.

Thanks Doctor. I'm thinking this is it.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by theducks

Yup!
Much Better

Thanks ducks

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

Did you try having the sun lower? (It's always hard to guess the effect without playing.) One of the things I liked about the previous version was the way the title text (and face) rose up from the sun (to put it dramatically: like she was screaming up out of the sun). In this new version I don't really like the way the sun sort of splits her face into two parts.

P.S. Otherwise I'm liking it.

Thanks gmw. I hear you. I liked the way she was centered over the sun too but I think the overall symmetry and feng shui, if you will, on this one is better.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Did you try without the yellow and without the sun and having a redish sunrise in the title instead of the face?

I thought of going with a red-ish sun but the screaming face has always been the cornerstone of this design.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

The cover with the bloody guy on the bed, because it's dark yet vividly coloured, reminds me of pulp fiction or film noir. The similar version without any blood makes it seem like there'll be more sex or romance in the book since it's a presumably naked good-looking man in bed with no blood to make one think anything is amiss. The cover with only the sun and title reminds me of the 1970's, and also would make me think it's a horror book. Both versions look nice and professional though. The only questionable thing to me was the typography of the tagline when it was in the middle but the version with the tagline on top looks good.

I do like the guy in the bed but if you add it back in, I'd add a touch of blood or else something to give that idea of prior violence without making him seem dead.

Thanks sun surfer. You're right. This cover has been a delicate balance. Yeah, too much blood and he looks dead. No blood and he looks asleep. And the woman screaming does say 'horror' but she won't be visible as a thumbnail and also the yellow moderates the 'horror' vibe. I don't know, there's always something that could be better, but I'm pretty satisfied with the latest.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

I thought of going with a red-ish sun but the screaming face has always been the cornerstone of this design.

Even still, trying a different design can't hurt as you can always go back. When the cover is reduced to a small enough size, the face gets lost. That's why trying the sun as I suggested might work better. When designing a cove, you should be checking it out as roughly the sizes it may be seen to see if it works.

[BookCat]

If I were perusing books on Amazon, I'd skip this. The brightness hurts my eyes.
All along in these designs you've ignored the rule of thirds (the golden rule) and the title has taken up almost half of the length of the cover, instead of a third.
Personally, I would have like to see a sepia version of the original picture of the guy in bed, with some way of making him look alive (maybe his eyes are open and his face is expressive). The title background should have been a much more subtle, paler yellow, like a pale morning sun made even more mellow to blend with the sepia; this should take only one third of the length of the image. I like the tag line and would have placed that either just below the title, or just above the author name.
This would have looked more menacing imho. The current version is too cheerful for the genre.