DIY cover again

[Lucas]

Yes, again.
Two covers in a month for a single book (is there a record for this?), and I apologize if I'm becoming annoying with this but what do you prefer? This is YA urban fantasy btw.

 

Don't worry about the image of the second cover, that's my face but edited beyond recognition, I just needed the details of the eye-folds, lips and all the subtleties. The tattoos (but not really tattoos) is also originally from me. I'm reaching for the simplistic version, but the second cover can still be improved imo. And also one of the reasons of why I did this is this thread: https://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,192376.0.html
Thanks artofstu, you have disturbed the calm waters of my designing mind--the result is it spat out the second cover.
Frankly, for me, there's something missing from the first cover... just don't know what...

[KBoards.com]

[meh]

First I really love your style. I know it doesn't really fit the current YA look, but I like that it's unique.

The new cover is more YA than the old one, I agree. I think you need to expand that "fire" in his eyes to cover his whole eye. Having part of his iris there is kind of creepy. Other than that, I like it.

[Ronny K]

Can't read the title on the first one, and I generally like the second one better anyway. In fact, I love it. I'm not sure how well it represents your genre, but it's absolutely striking, and it's simple, and it's lovely.

[Frank Tayell]

.

[Charmaine]

I really love the second one I would just make the colors a little more vibrant, but that's because I like bright colors 

[meh]

You know what it is?  Look at the way his clothing and hair seem to be "blown." The fire isn't matching that angle. I think making it match that angle would work. Just decrease the angle a bit, make it like that line right by his left eye.

[[email protected]]

I have to say I really love the style of these covers. I do. They're kind of awesome, but they don't say YA urban fantasy at all. They look like literary fiction or possibly a historical genre to me.

Take a moment to check out the top sellers in your genre and find out what common elements your target audience is expecting to see. It's those cues that make YA urban fantasy readers stop when they think they've found a YA urban fantasy book. With visibility as difficult as ever, an author really can't afford to have their cover attracting anything but buyers.

Good luck!

[Cheryl M.]

I love both covers, but I do feel like the flame not following the eyeline throws me. If there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it's like that, I will say that it's something I would assume was purposeful, so it wouldn't prevent me from purchasing. I *might* get irritated if I read the book and found out it wasn't purposeful, though. But that's my artsy side coming out, not my reader side.

ETA: I would also like to see it fill the eye on the second one, like they do on the first.

[WordSaladTongs]

Love these, especially the second. My only concern would be the text getting lost once thumbnailed.

[Paul Dale]

I too have trouble focusing on the title of the first book. The lettering gets lost in the lines for me. Good original covers though.

[Douglas Milewski]

The left is the most eye catching but unreadable. The font is not conducive to reading, even on the more readable one.

[legion]

The second one, definitely.
You have great talent.

[Lehane]

I agree with preferring the second one, and also with filling in the eyes with white as you do on the first one.

Ditto what Paul said -- my brain has a lot of trouble with the title. I assume the top and bottom line go together as the book title, and the middle line is the series name? It just jumbles up very quickly for me and I had to make a lot of mental effort to read it even at full size. I think either differentiating the two fonts just a bit more, or separating them more (one above the other, or somesuch) might help. With 'Trinity Nexus', it also might help to reduce the kerning between the letters of each word, so the two words are more distinct. My brain mashed it all into one word.

Nitpicky stuff, though. These are really neat.

[Kylo Ren]

I think that new cover rocks. And I don't know what people mean about it not being YA. I could definitely be YA. Just look at all those covers on that site in the post I made and you linked to. The YA cover is so varied in style and design.

My only thing about this cover is maybe do something with the fire coming out of the eyes, but don't kill yourself over it. I think it's cool.

[psychotick]

Hi,

The first cover is better - but the fire heading out from the eyes sideways is a bit off putting. Also the fire around the hand looks wrong.

It's not YA though. Even though the boy looks of the right age as he stands with his mother(?) the style of art is wrong. It looks either arty (which goes better with literature) or dare I say it, biblical. Like some of the images in old churches. Neither will appeal to your audience in my view. There's also the problem with the lack of expression. These people look unemotional / flat. And because of that there's no story being told to the reader.

Cheers, Greg.

[sunnywriter]

I like the first cover more, but I don't know what's expected for the market in YA. At first glance it looks like a cover you'd be more likely to see in literary fiction. Also, the title is hard to make out visually (could be larger in font, or bolder, or dull the background behind it?).

I see what Greg means by "biblical". It looks influenced by Byzantine art (http://hartgalleries.lsa.umich.edu/course_listings_s11/index.php?num=394.201).

Still, it's quite striking!

[SarahCarter]

I love and prefer the first one, but I agree with some of the others about the title getting kinda lost in the image.

[John Van Stry]

I'd say to increase the font size. You probably should either use a different color than white for your title, or go with a shaded block letter style, to make the title stand out a bit more from the background.

Otherwise the covers are both rather nice, I think I like the one to the left a bit more myself.

[Lucas]

I just woke up. Thanks for all the replies.

Hi,

The first cover is better - but the fire heading out from the eyes sideways is a bit off putting. Also the fire around the hand looks wrong.

It's not YA though. Even though the boy looks of the right age as he stands with his mother(?) the style of art is wrong. It looks either arty (which goes better with literature) or dare I say it, biblical. Like some of the images in old churches. Neither will appeal to your audience in my view. There's also the problem with the lack of expression. These people look unemotional / flat. And because of that there's no story being told to the reader.

Cheers, Greg.

It's actually flooded with symbolism, just like in the past. I have books of it and I was trying to emulate some of the works especially Da Vinci's. The story is "epic" yes and has themes inspired by angels. The flame on the hand is not on the hand, it's intended. And thanks for the comment.

I think that new cover rocks. And I don't know what people mean about it not being YA. I could definitely be YA. Just look at all those covers on that site in the post I made and you linked to. The YA cover is so varied in style and design.

My only thing about this cover is maybe do something with the fire coming out of the eyes, but don't kill yourself over it. I think it's cool.

Oh that link... that... I forced myself to get out of that link.

I love both covers, but I do feel like the flame not following the eyeline throws me. If there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it's like that, I will say that it's something I would assume was purposeful, so it wouldn't prevent me from purchasing. I *might* get irritated if I read the book and found out it wasn't purposeful, though. But that's my artsy side coming out, not my reader side.

ETA: I would also like to see it fill the eye on the second one, like they do on the first.

Yes, I will fill the eyes. Buy yes it's purposeful. But then again in the book his power can be intense sometimes. Thanks for the comment.

[SunshineOnMe]

I remember the second one... as I scroll away. Good job!

[KBoards.com]