[SBJones]

I am on the verge of uploading my first eBook to Amazon and Barnes and Noble and Would like opinions both positive and negative on the cover art and presentation. The covers can be found here on my blog that I updated today as well as below.

Thank you.

http://theeternalgateway.blogspot.com/2011/06/final-review-before-it-is-go-time.html

 

[Will Write for Gruel]

1) We really need to see it in a thumbnail.
2) The author's name is very hard to see.
3) The sideways text is hard to read also.

It's visually striking, though.

 

[Debbie Bennett]

Nice, but you'll lose what little contrast there is when it's at thumbnail size. As it is I can barely read the author name.

Actually I think your back cover image would make a better front cover...

 

[Ripley]

That seems like a lot of rear views, but it is eye-catching and fits the genre.

I agree with Asher's comment. The author name is nearly invisible and the sideways text is probably going to be harder to read in thumbnail.

 

[Monique]

Actually I think your back cover image would make a better front cover...

Agreed. I'm afraid I don't like the cover at all (image, font, font placement, color, etc.). But, the back cover image is great. That's a cover that would get attention. For the ebook, lose all of the text, and work with an artist on the titling and you've really got something!

 

[41352]

I also think the back cover is better. I don't like so much the posture of the woman in the first one, to be quite honest. Otherwise it looks nice.

 

[PMartelly]

Definitely agree that the back cover should be the front cover. :]

 

[shel]

Yes, I completely agree with what others have said.  The back cover image is amazing and would be a really eye-catching front cover.  As for the author's name, contrasting text, instead of the see-through version, maybe?   

 

[JodyWallace]

If the character on the front and back is supposed to be the same person, I'd expect her to be wearing the same pants. The weapon and other details are similar, but not the pants fabric. That being said, I think the back cover is a more eye-catching image. Does your book have a kind of urban-fantasy-except-not-set-in-the-now feel? That is what it evokes for me (the back cover) -- a more fantasy world set fantasy novel with an edgy urban fantasy feel.

I wonder, however, with a man being first in the blurb, why the book cover features the woman character instead?

 

[RonnellDPorter]

She has no business in those pants... 

 

[Monique]

So you used a model and shot those on your own? It's odd because she looks computer generated in the cover photo. Maybe it's just the addition of the cg background that makes her look that way.

Sounds like it was an expensive endeavor.

 

[valeriec80]

Kudos:
-There's a clear mood to the image
-I like the font for the title
-It's simple and striking

Suggestions:
-I would put the title in a different color. That yellow does not match. Possibly something reddish--maybe echo the girl's hair?
-Try a little blurring around the edges of the girl. She looks cut out.
-Make your subtitle and your author name look the same. Both all caps. Same color. Same font. (The see-through thing isn't exactly working for me either.)
-I'm not crazy about the chick's backside, either, but, the image does convey action and danger.

 

[Maryann Christine]

I wasn't going to comment on this, because I wouldn't be in your target audience, but when I looked at it out of curiosity, I noticed you have a small error on the back cover.

It should read: aunt and uncle's farm. (add an apostrophe before the s)

Maybe you already fixed that but thought I should mention it in case you didn't.

 

[SBJones]

Yes, we used a model with a green screen and those were a couple of the shots we used. One of the intentions is to use the same model for book 2 and 3. So by not showing a face, I can get away with that by changing the outfit and hair with a wig. The Jungle ruin is a stock photo that I purchased rights too.

In photoshop when reduced to a thumbnail, the yellow Requiem stands out a lot, The Eternal Gateway and the author title pretty much disappear.

The outfit is different from the front and back options as we ended up with over 170 shots and about 15 of them were singled out to choose from.

I haven't seen any back covers for eBooks when I browsed Amazon's web site. I intend to have a print version as well.

The posture was hard to get. When we had her pose it looked awful. So we had her walk a path and then spin and stab/slice a target to her right to get a more natural movement look and shot. It worked out quite well actually compared to some of the other shots.

Here is a re-sized 120 pixel thumbnail

 

[SBJones]

Yes Maryann.  The apostrophe has been corrected and we found that error a day after the cover was put together,  I just have not received a corrected image yet is all. 

 

[Ripley]

Definitely agree that the back cover should be the front cover. :]

I like this idea too! It would make a clean but dramatic cover.

I wonder, however, with a man being first in the blurb, why the book cover features the woman character instead?

Good question.

 

[SBJones]

The red head that can fly with two war blades is easily identifiable.  And I am hoping that the old saying "sex sells" works as well.

Thank you for the feedback so far, I appreciate it.

 

[Les Turner]

The text on the back cover hurt my eyes and I couldn't read it. Lose the drop shadow.

And are her pants all wrinkly or patterned? Just curious.

 

[Ilyria Moon]

I like it, but it's too busy. Maybe you could lose the drop shadow from the blurb, too. I agree with what other people said about making the back cover the front cover, too.

 

[SBJones]

The text on the back cover hurt my eyes and I couldn't read it. Lose the drop shadow.

And are her pants all wrinkly or patterned? Just curious.

They were textured that way.