Feedback on new cover please

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Black enough?

The author name should fit the space better. At the moment it looks odd - too close to the sides and too far from the top and bottom.

The small text of the title is odd. It looks like the title is "Rise" with an odd subtitle. At the least I'd put each of the last three words on its own line.

[Dr. Drib]

OK, I guess I'm in the minority:

For me, it looks like those awful READS that involve paranormal romance.* I stay away from reading that type of genre like I avoid rectal suppositories!

On my screen, the small words to the right are not clear at all; in fact, I can't even read them. This may be my computer screen, however, since I'm using a "late" 2010 MacBook Pro.








* = Not that there's anything wrong with paranormal romance. If anyone here likes and/or writes that type of genre, then I'm very happy for you. Very happy, indeed.

[JSWolf]

I too cannot read the small words. Also, I don't like the author name. It the way the author name is formatted.

Make the cover larger so there is less space at the end. Put the author name in with the same font and same color as the title. That's how it was done for Fire and Fury.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Black enough?

This looks like a werewolf paranormal.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by meeera

This looks like a werewolf paranormal.

YES! It does, doesn't it.

[BookCat]

Unlike the others, I didn't get "paranormal" from the new design, but "Noir" as in Film Noir. You've certainly conveyed the violence with her headless outline holding a gun. Maybe the moon, though not full, is what makes it look like a paranormal.

I agree with the others about the small font: it's unreadable, the title does now seem to be Rise, which might be an interesting change, but you're losing the reference to animal activism.

I don't read YA, so that didn't hit me till others mentioned it.

[JSWolf]

The only thing you need to do is replace the person on the roof with Batman you you have it.

[JSWolf]

Have you tried this cover with eInk? It looks like it might not have enough contrast.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The only thing you need to do is replace the person on the roof with Batman you you have it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Unlike the others, I didn't get "paranormal" from the new design, but "Noir" as in Film Noir. You've certainly conveyed the violence with her headless outline holding a gun. Maybe the moon, though not full, is what makes it look like a paranormal.

I agree with the others about the small font: it's unreadable, the title does now seem to be Rise, which might be an interesting change, but you're losing the reference to animal activism.

I don't read YA, so that didn't hit me till others mentioned it.

I do have another comment--not mine, Amazon's--and as stupid a policy as I think it is, you could very well run into issues, if you try to use AMS with that cover, because they will NOT allow visible guns on the images used in AMS. I think it's dumber than dumb, but: their sandbox, their rules.

Hitch

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Black enough?

I like that cover

[Dr. Drib]

There are too many 'G's in 'Gregg'.

[GrannyGrump]

Am I off the mark in thinking that the tone of this book might be similar to (old movies) Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill or the *wonderful!!!* Grindhouse or many of Tarantino's ouvre? (sorry, I have only been skimming the thread). Possibly a look at some of those movie posters might give inspiration...

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

I like the new cover (though it looks VERY much like many of the YA fantasy stuff), but I'm not convinced it's a good fit (even to my revised understanding the content), and I suspect you need a new title. Given what we now see is the "action" rather "comic" styling of the work, I think the whole blurb/title/cover concept needs to be reworked together (you can't change one so dramatically without changing the others).

I agree. This cover is action and it's not accurately reflecting the kind of wild cartoonish action in the book.

I feel I need something in between what I had with the superhero with the cape and this.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Mmmmmmmmm...I don't know. The extract we all read was pretty damned dark, and, truthfully, not so funny. I don't know if the whole book is like that, or not. I mean, I didn't miss the silly references to her training at a finishing school versus being whatever she was (special forces, spy, whatever), but overall it's dark-ish.

I still think that the fonts need a bit of work--not as much as before, maybe. Despite Gregg's diffidence, I'd STILL try Adventure for that title. If I did that, I'd then probably use a plain serif or even a sans, for the byline.

Gregg, if I were you, I think I'd ask my writing group for THEIR take on the book. Presumably, they've heard all or most of it, for critique sessions, right? So, they'll have a better take on the reality of it. You clearly thought it was "wacky comedy" when we started this thread, and now, I'm not sure what it is, and this new cover seems to scream "Dark YA Fantasy!," which it isn't.

Try what we call The Miller Test (h/t Ron Miller): Change the text of the title and byline to some other language. Doesn't matter what--but it needs to be something that isn't easily read. Then ask yourself--if I cannot read the title, byline or tagline, can I tell what genre this book is? Or, ask anyone in your writing/critique group that isn't familiar with the book or its set-up.

When I view this newer cover, I can't tell what genre that is. It could be mystery, sci-fi, YA Fantasy; Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Urban Fantasy, and so on. THAT isn't good. (Freely admit--a "batsignal" might change that entirely. Still love that idea. Might be too busy for the cover, but still, LURVE that idea.)

Can you think of any books that are LIKE what you're writing? Authors that write like you, or vice-versa? I don't mean the same plot, of course, but...for example, do you think that you're like Elmore Leonard? Carl Hiaasen? Spider Robinson? (If anyone else here is old enough to remember his Callahan's series...) Or...??? Perhaps winnowing your options down that way, and viewing THEIR covers, might help you envision a way to convey genre and prospective audience in the visuals.

See what I mean?

Hitch

Yes, Hitch. I figured out whose books are closest to mine. Tim Dorsey

https://www.amazon.com/Tim-Dorsey/e/B001IGV64Y

But I think his covers don't really convey his stories really well either. There is a lot of killing in them. They seem too light to me for the action inside. And yet, they work for him.