Suspense thriller cover feedback?

[Gregg Bell]

#1)



2)



Thanks!

[JSWolf]

I don't like the coloring of the second cover. Also the Yellow background for the title doesn't work. And then there is the issue of the dead body being too violent looking. Overall, I'd call it a wash and to start over.

[Cinisajoy]

Omg. I hate to say this. It is killing me. Jon is right.
That is a horrible cover. Start over.
Better yet, go make a tequila sunrise and look at those colors. Then add a bloody Mary to it.

[Dr. Drib]

Dear Gregg Bell and his readers and friends:

I made a mistake when I deleted Gregg's images. They were absolutely fine. They were NOT oversized at all. I somehow confused the Writers' Forum with the Self-Promotions Forum.

For my error, I apologize to Gregg and to everyone interested in his thread.


Don
(Moderator)

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Dear Gregg Bell and his readers and friends:

I made a mistake when I deleted Gregg's images. They were absolutely fine. They were NOT oversized at all. I somehow confused the Writers' Forum with the Self-Promotions Forum.

For my error, I apologize to Gregg and to everyone interested in his thread.


Don
(Moderator)

Dear Don,
While they may not have violated image guidelines, you did save some eyes. Those covers should have never been made in the first place.
Love,
The one that actually saw them.

[gmw]

They're back! Or so it seems, I didn't see what they looked like first time around, so I'm just assuming the images now showing are the same.

I don't hate them. I don't think they're horrible. For the right sort of story I think they might even be good covers, but perhaps they a little too bloody for a "Suspense thriller". I'm also not sure how they might go in full size, perhaps that would be too much.

Of the two I prefer the second, with it's yellowing of the background lighting, as if we're in a cheap motel with old incandescent lights (don't you just love it when the critics have directly opposing views ). Given the nature of the covers as they are, I would consider changing the title background into a sort of sunrise gradient (not too extreme, but some). The face screaming through the title text is almost lost in these smaller images, this might be a good thing.

But given the two other reactions you've had so far, changing to something that produces less violent reactions might be a good idea. Even just removing (or greatly reducing) the blood on the pillow behind the head would help - it is very stark and there are practical considerations (see below). The blood on the shoulders and arm seem a little strange in the small image, it's hard to work out how these came to be there.

From a purely practical perspective the blood would appear to be from a murder that has just happened: it's still bright red and has not yet pooled or soaked back around the front of the face. Also, for the spatter to be out behind the head like that I would expect a small hole in the front somewhere - assuming a gunshot because the body does not look to be disturbed enough to have been beaten, and the head wound seems unlikely for a knife. ... Just sayin'.


For a suspense thriller you might consider the same image but with only subtle indications of violence. A single dribble of blood; the aforementioned sunset gradient behind the title. I would be inclined to remove the screaming face and just have it as a rising sun ... maybe.

I also pulled up your other covers - this one, as it is, is going to stand out quite starkly from the others. Perhaps that's what you want? If not, then you need to consider starting over.

[theducks]

I think GMW hit the errors in the image.

Incandescent lamps run 3200-3500 K. If it was a retrofit (circleline) fluorescent, close to 6000K with a greenish-blue hue on the lighted surface

The pillow major blood stain seems too far (higher) from the head position. I would expect the blood to run down, under the head, towards the face

(are we wannabe CSI's )

[JSWolf]

The covers are a bloody mess.

[Dr. Drib]

For me, it's the whole image of the man.

I wonder what it would be like if the only a simple graphic could replace the man, bottle and blood - everything in that small rectangular box - with something very simple, but very graphic.

Less would be best.

Just an opinion.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

They're back! Or so it seems, I didn't see what they looked like first time around, so I'm just assuming the images now showing are the same.

I don't hate them. I don't think they're horrible. For the right sort of story I think they might even be good covers, but perhaps they a little too bloody for a "Suspense thriller". I'm also not sure how they might go in full size, perhaps that would be too much.

Of the two I prefer the second, with it's yellowing of the background lighting, as if we're in a cheap motel with old incandescent lights (don't you just love it when the critics have directly opposing views ). Given the nature of the covers as they are, I would consider changing the title background into a sort of sunrise gradient (not too extreme, but some). The face screaming through the title text is almost lost in these smaller images, this might be a good thing.

But given the two other reactions you've had so far, changing to something that produces less violent reactions might be a good idea. Even just removing (or greatly reducing) the blood on the pillow behind the head would help - it is very stark and there are practical considerations (see below). The blood on the shoulders and arm seem a little strange in the small image, it's hard to work out how these came to be there.

From a purely practical perspective the blood would appear to be from a murder that has just happened: it's still bright red and has not yet pooled or soaked back around the front of the face. Also, for the spatter to be out behind the head like that I would expect a small hole in the front somewhere - assuming a gunshot because the body does not look to be disturbed enough to have been beaten, and the head wound seems unlikely for a knife. ... Just sayin'.


For a suspense thriller you might consider the same image but with only subtle indications of violence. A single dribble of blood; the aforementioned sunset gradient behind the title. I would be inclined to remove the screaming face and just have it as a rising sun ... maybe.

I also pulled up your other covers - this one, as it is, is going to stand out quite starkly from the others. Perhaps that's what you want? If not, then you need to consider starting over.

Thanks GMW.

I figured the idea was to make this as dramatic as possible. Hence the copious blood. I need to scale back on that. And yeah, I'm figuring the face in the text being ambiguous is a good thing. Agree the blood on the back is awkward. And this guy isn't dead. If you look you'll see he has his hand on a wineglass. He got whacked on the back of the head after a night of heavy drinking.

And yeah, the cover is going to be miles different than my other covers. I'm okay with that.

Being genre appropriate has never been my strong suit. I'll take your suggestion regarding subtle indications of violence. Not that subtle but more subtle anyway.

And I think with "Bloody" in the title, I'm not going to need that much blood on the cover.

Appreciate the feedback.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by theducks

I think GMW hit the errors in the image.

Incandescent lamps run 3200-3500 K. If it was a retrofit (circleline) fluorescent, close to 6000K with a greenish-blue hue on the lighted surface

The pillow major blood stain seems too far (higher) from the head position. I would expect the blood to run down, under the head, towards the face

(are we wannabe CSI's )

Thanks ducks. Your CSI skills are right on. I've gotta scale back the blood in general, though. Everybody thinks this guy is dead. He's not. He just got hit in the back of the head after a night of heavy drinking. (See his hand on the wine glass.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The covers are a bloody mess.

Way too much blood!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

For me, it's the whole image of the man.

I wonder what it would be like if the only a simple graphic could replace the man, bottle and blood - everything in that small rectangular box - with something very simple, but very graphic.

Less would be best.

Just an opinion.

Thanks Dr. What's interesting to me is you're one of the few to even see the bottle. Most people think this guy is a murder victim.

[theducks]

I saw the bottle and the glass, so I guessed he had been drinking .
Other than still gripping the Glass, I did not see a clue he was still alive.

The phase "Death Grip" comes to mind

[JSWolf]

The yellow around the title doesn't work. I cannot say about the face in the title as the image is not large enough and without the yellow and a different cover pictures, it may or may not work.

The US J. D. Robb covers use the words (in this case it's the author name) in a background like your yellow and it too is awful. I prefer the UK covers that don't do that.