[Lynn McNamee]

The big eye cover is a vast improvement, but feel as though I've seen that image on tons of books.

I like this one:

Sent you a message on an image I saw on BigStock that may be of help.

Fred, please don't think I'm trying to insult you, but as long as we're talking covers...

I read No Limit and absolutely loved it. However, I bought it because it was on sale... and in spite of the cover.

The book description was right up my alley, so I possibly would have picked it up sooner if not for the cover.

I'm now off to purchase The Convert.

 

[Fredster]

I need to make my official author tagline "Good writing. Bad covers."

Been playing this morning:

(pay no attention to that rogue eyebrow hair; that gets fixed in whatever version I settle on)

ETA: Lynn, I hope you enjoy the book as much as the last one!

 

[Justawriter]

I need to make my official author tagline "Good writing. Bad covers."

Been playing this morning:

(pay no attention to that rogue eyebrow hair; that gets fixed in whatever version I settle on)

ETA: Lynn, I hope you enjoy the book as much as the last one!

This looks so much better! Can you possibly change the author font at the bottom to match the title font? Am not crazy about the two different fonts, that gives it a homemade look.

I really like the eye though....no worries that it's overdone, it obviously works.

 

[Carradee]

I must be odd, because I actually prefer the title and byline bars. *shrug* And I must disagree about the differing fonts giving it a homemade look-using a different font for the title and byline is actually pretty normal, even from major publishers.

However-I am not in your target audience. Ergo, I am not the type of reader you want to appeal to.

 

[Fredster]

Okay, this is what I'm going with for now. All this cover play is keeping me from my procrastinating. I have a book to not write, and I don't want to spend this valuable time cursing at Gimp.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions!

 

[harrisonbooth]

Holy image-size Batman!

Not that I'm an expert, but it's heading in the right direction.  The first looked like a mid-nineties Nintendo game, which isn't a bad thing but probably not what you're going for.  The new one might not necessarily jump of the shelf at me, but it does look professional enough and I might not be the target audience anyway.

 

[Klip]

I think you need more drama...maybe play with it some more. Something like this (hope you don't mind me messing with your image)

 

[Carry Lada]

I think you need more drama...maybe play with it some more. Something like this (hope you don't mind me messing with your image)

I like this one.

 

[Honeybun]

Okay, this is what I'm going with for now. All this cover play is keeping me from my procrastinating. I have a book to not write, and I don't want to spend this valuable time cursing at Gimp.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions!

I very much like this new cover. Best of your versions so far, IMO.

 

[Honeybun]

A childhood accident put Dan Mackenzie in a wheelchair, but he hasn't let that slow him down. He's made a good life for himself in the Florida panhandle, working as a computer geek and playing basketball with his buddies on the weekends. That's where he notices the pretty woman with eyes as green as the Gulf of Mexico watching him. He works up the nerve to introduce himself, and the two hit it off.

On the way to their first date someone tries to kill her, and Dan's heroic effort to save her profoundly changes his life. The two have become separated, and now Dan is fast learning that people are not at all what they seem. There are powers at work he never dreamed existed.

Worst of all, they really want him dead.

Okay... I just took a look at your blurb and I gotta say I didn't like it at all. So sorry to be that blunt but it pushed me to try my hand at it. Here we go:

When the laws of reality become torn... you do or die. With the exception of being in a wheelchair, Dan Mackenzie's a pretty normal guy. He's a good guy. He's not used to women with eyes of liquid green wanting to go out with him. Nor is he used to people wanting his date dead -- very, very dead. But when Dan tries to save her, he realizes that the world is not the "normal" place he thought it was -- himself included.

Sooo.. that's just my take on it. Totally understand if you like what you have better.

(This is an add on via Modify) I just took a look at your Look Inside section. Wow... you are a beautiful writer! I don't see that conveyed at all in your original cover. Your original cover has the feel of a hatchet job in comparison to your writing style. And your blub feels just clumsy and again is not representative at all of your beautiful writing inside the book! I definitely recommend taking another go at the blurb.

 

[Amanda Brice]

After reading the blurb, I like BJ Whittington's stab at the cover the best. Hands down the best for that blurb.

 

[Fredster]

(This is an add on via Modify) I just took a look at your Look Inside section. Wow... you are a beautiful writer! I don't see that conveyed at all in your original cover. Your original cover has the feel of a hatchet job in comparison to your writing style. And your blub feels just clumsy and again is not representative at all of your beautiful writing inside the book! I definitely recommend taking another go at the blurb.

Oh, Ada, flattery will get you everywhere. (and thank you for the compliment and suggestions!)

I'm not beholden to the blurb; writing them has always been painful for me. I'm not known for my patience, and I think by the time I finish writing a book, I'm just ready to get it up on Amazon, possibly to my detriment.

I've been messing around with it, and this is what I've got right now. Suggestions are welcome from anyone.


When the laws of reality are torn, you do or die.

An accident two days before his sixteenth birthday put Dan Mackenzie in a wheelchair, but he hasn't let that slow him down. He's made a good life for himself in the Florida panhandle since then, working as a computer geek and playing basketball with his buddies on the weekends. A normal life.

During a pickup game one September morning he meets a pretty woman with eyes as green as the Gulf of Mexico and finds himself irresistibly drawn to her. What he doesn't know is that someone wants her dead. Very dead.

When a lunatic tries to kill her, Dan's effort to save her profoundly changes his life, and he discovers that his notion of "normal" is nothing like he thought. Now the two have become separated, and he is fast learning that people are not at all what they seem. There are powers at work he never dreamed existed.

And they want him dead, too.


Happy butchering!

 

[Honeybun]

Hi Fredster,

I like your new blurb much better. Much, much better.

When you write a novel, you are engrossed in the trees and it's really hard to stand back and describe the forest in an inviting way that doesn't get caught up in the details of the trees. I think the new blurb does a better job of painting an enticing picture of the forest.

When a lunatic tries to kill her, Dan's effort to save her profoundly changes his life, and he discovers that his notion of "normal" is nothing like he thought. Now the two have become separated, and he is fast learning that people are not at all what they seem. There are powers at work he never dreamed existed.

I think I would tweak the part above. I feel like it gets caught in the specifics of the trees a bit too much. Do the readers need to know that the two become separated? Possibly it is enough for the reader to know that people want his would-be girl dead, something to which he has some pretty strong objections. For some reason I don't like the statement that they become "separated."

What about:

When a lunatic tries to kill her, Dan's effort to save her profoundly changes his life. People are not what they seem, and there are powers at work he never dreamed existed.