Too corny for a book cover?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

[...]I also thought of having 2 pairs of boot soles in a shagging position, but that would probably give the wrong impression.

Is that the wrong impression?

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by gmw

Is that the wrong impression?

Probably, it's more kissy-kissy holding hands than anything else. The only shagging scene in the entire book is about 3 paragraphs long, whereas the fight scene that leads up to it is about 5 pages worth.

[QuantumIguana]

I don't think the yellow works, I would extend the brick all the way to the edge of the page. I think the boots clash with the bricks, the boots look like they were cut from a sepia-toned picture. I'd put the boots in the same look as the wall, whether you change the boots or the wall.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I don't think the yellow works, I would extend the brick all the way to the edge of the page. I think the boots clash with the bricks, the boots look like they were cut from a sepia-toned picture. I'd put the boots in the same look as the wall, whether you change the boots or the wall.

The yellow is part of my house style, but fair point it probably won't work for everything. I'm going to scrap this one for something else, not sure what yet though.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

You've been watching skinhead porn again haven't you?

Not me... that's just what I've heard.

Hey, let's face it: Skinheads are generally considered to be rough, crude, aggressive, intolerant and anti-establishment. Not exactly personality traits that get linked to romantic behavior. To break through that barrier, you might need to be much more blatant about it: Tying both boots' shoelaces together to form a heart; placing a rose upon the toe of one boot; that kind of thing.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Not me... that's just what I've heard.

Hey, let's face it: Skinheads are generally considered to be rough, crude, aggressive, intolerant and anti-establishment. Not exactly personality traits that get linked to romantic behavior. To break through that barrier, you might need to be much more blatant about it: Tying both boots' shoelaces together to form a heart; placing a rose upon the toe of one boot; that kind of thing.

Skinbyrds aren't exactly all hearts and flowers either. Give one a bunch of flowers and she'd smack you over the head with them. Different societies have different cultures.

[mr ploppy]

Does this one work any better?

http://i49.tinypic.com/jpvfa0.jpg

[ATDrake]

The spray paint effect for the title is nice, but the lettering looks too tidy and like it should be more casually scrawled. The guy looks a bit too photoshopped (his arms are weirdly foreshortened relative to the wall so the entire thing looks entirely out of perspective), and your author name is kind of unfortunately positioned across his bottom.

It is nice how the red of his suspenders picks up the red of the heart, although it's a bit too bright. Maybe go back to the boots for the foreground element?

ETA: Instead of having photographic elements on the cover, why not have the entire thing done as faux-graffiti against the brick background, and have a spray-paint doodle of the red boots amidst a mix of violence and romance motifs (hearts and stabbings, or whatever)? Or perhaps that would look too cartoony for the presumed target audience.

[gmw]

I liked the boots better. It may seem like an odd thing to say, considering the from-the-back perspective of the image, but the skin-head doesn't look like a skin-head to me, just a man with not-much hair; his stance doesn't project the right feeling or something. (Of course I'm no expert on skin-heads, so it could be just me.)

[mr ploppy]

This one?

http://i47.tinypic.com/qns7c4.jpg

[gmw]

Better ... but I'm not seeing much romance in it, despite the heart. I noticed the red logo on the shirt and at first thought it might have been lipstick ... perhaps it should be?

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by gmw

Better ... but I'm not seeing much romance in it, despite the heart. I noticed the red logo on the shirt and at first thought it might have been lipstick ... perhaps it should be?

Blood would fit the story better.

[teh603]

The title's still off the Fibonacci spiral, somehow.

[BookCat]

Obviously I haven't read the book, but is it supposed to be set in the 1970's skinhead era or some later revival? If in the 1970's, you've got the fashion wrong. For example, the boots in the first image are "new rocks" whereas skinheads wore Doc Martens. Where are his safety pins? Skinheads decorated themselves with these before punks did.
In the other images, the guy looks altogether too modern. The white tee-shirt is too immaculate (clean, ironed etc) and he looks too much like a model. Skins were rough looking and took pride in being scruffy. Google some images from the period. Then get your model dressed more like those images.
One other thing to remember, if this is the cover image for the ebook, is that most eink readers will transpose it to black and white, so keep the contrast strong. In image software (Gimp, or whatever) drain the colour: can you still see all the important elements clearly?

Article about Doc Martens boots:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...-martens-at-50

[mr ploppy]

It's set in 1982, there was a bit more of a splintering of the look that time around. Probably because a lot of them were on the dole, but also because of the split in musical taste. I wouldn't say they were scruffy, they had a lot of pride in their appearance. If anything got ripped or damaged it was thrown away and replaced.