Zombie cover reveal and blurb

Thank you all, this is really helpful! I have learnt my lesson with previous books that getting feedback here first can make a massive difference.

It seems people broadly like the cover. I'm glad. I may need to do something with the font, but I'm not sure what. Can anyone suggest how to roughen up the edges? I can do gradient and add a scruffy overlay, but don't know how to alter the edges scruffily. That would be great knowledge.

To the blurb.

Monique said:

"Robinson Crusoe fights the zombie apocalypse."

I read that and thought, okay, that's interesting. But then the book wasn't about that and had a sad.

I would also lose the "similar works" bit.

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I get this. I may take out the Robinson Crusoe bit. I may have it as- "The last man alive fights the zombie apocalypse." I was using Robinson as short-hand, but yeah, don't want it to be taken literally. Similar works, yeah, I thought adding those might help with SEO or something, of people searching for similar titles? That's the only reason I put it there, really, kind of a guess. Is there any benefit to that?

dmsinclair said:

I think it also renders the "A zombie novel" at the bottom kind of redundant.

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I suppose keeping the "A zombie novel" at the bottom is a kind of light tongue-in-cheek humor. The book has a little of that. It's not a comedy, just a light touch at times. Did having that turn anybody off?

CEMartin2 said:

well, I have to agree with the other posters here... doesn't sound very original, but peeps like zombies so much that shouldn't be too much a problem. Like litereray porn, sorry, romance novels, there's a huge market for zombie fiction.

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I'm glad this was pointed out, as I hadn't really made the connection, and my phrasing doesn't actually show it. Amo was actually in a coma a year before the apocalypse. He came out of it. A year passed. Then the apocalypse happened. It's very relevant to the story, but yeah, no way to put it quickly that isn't confusing, so I'll substitute something else.

Rhayn said:

I wasn't even thinking of that, I was thinking that it immediately conveys the threat of the zombies, the overwhelming numbers, the mc getting into the thick of it with them.

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Glad of this, thank you!

Rhayn said:

Possibly lose the bold "He will survive." kinda feels like you're telling me he isn't going to die and removes a lot of the tension.

Lose the "zombie apocalypse like you've never seen it before" because I've already seen recovering coma guy so many times. Unless your book is choc full of differences then I would leave that out.

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I understand about losing the 'He will survive'- not sure what to put to replace it though. I intend 'He will survive' to mean 'He really intends to survive', like, he's got the willpower to push through. but yeah I don't want it to read like an authorial assertion. Would remove the need to read the book. I hope it works with the cover- overwhelming odds, but he's going to fight damn hard to get through. I also think it kind of upends a stereotype we might have- he's an artist, foursquare-like mayor, kind of weak, so we don't expect him to survive. But I hope that line expresses he has the determination with a fun contrast.

Maybe- 'He means to survive'? He intends to survive?

As for 'like you've never seen it before', I do believe it is chock full of differences. Things happen that I haven't seen before in the zombie field, and I'm quite a fan. I don't want to spoil those here though. I suppose readers can judge this for themselves- and if they agree/disagree, I may learn about it in the comments. That's fair enough, really.

FAUSGA said:

Nice work. I just think the author name is quite small and maybe I would use a different font type.

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Thank you! I would love to hear a suggestion on font, if you have one. I've sampled plenty, I know where to get them.

REVISED VERSION-

The last man alive battles the zombie apocalypse.

When the zombie apocalypse hits America, not a soul is left alive.

Except Amo. He's a comic book artist. He's a video game world-builder. He's mayor of his local coffee shop in New York.

He will survive.


Get ready for the zombie apocalypse like you've never seen it before...

A little better? Thank you all again!

RBradyFrost said:

I have to agree with several points. It does really seem like there is a lot of commonality with the blurb and other works, so I totally wouldn't expect something unique. Everything seems to point to things that have already been done. I will say that I had a good Chuckle when I glanced at the cover. I had to take a closer look. (Did anyone else take the MC as being a very close likeness of Chuck Norris?

I'm not trying to rag on you. It's easy to sit on this side of the Internet and have a good laugh. And I do know it really sucks when someone pulls the cork and lets out all your air. I think most people here are just trying to provide honest thoughts, thoughts that your potential readers will also have. At the end of the day, it's your book and your cover. Take all of these opinions with a grain of salt, but I wouldn't be too quick to discount them.

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I don't discount anything, I take it all in, and say 'thank you sir may I have another'. It's how to learn, I think. As for chuckling at my cover, don't worry, it's fine. I suppose he does look a bit like Chuck Norris? I can't imagine that will negatively impact sales, but if it somehow does, well...

The blurb doesn't really suggest what's to come- I know. I suppose I'm hoping people will come for the zombies, and stay when it gets a bit crazy. Even more- I hope people will hint at the twists in their reviews. I've got beta readers digging it now. I could say something about 'twists' in the blurb, but it seems perhaps too authorial. I could even give more on the twists, but I don't think that's the point of a blurb. As for air getting let out- no problem at all, and thanks for trying to let me down gently . I post here hoping to get different viewpoints- if it's what readers might think, I really want to know it before launch- hence the changes already made. I may not change it hugely, but I think even the minor changes already made can make a big difference.

RBradyFrost said:

Is Amo still any of these things once he wakes up, or do they define what he used to be?

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Yeah, those things continue to shape him, and impact everything he does. How those traits develop, in light of him being solitary in the apocalypse, really shape the book.

SawyerPentecost said:

I actually think the cover can work to his advantage. The zombie genre is wide and deep. Something different is going to get noticed. Just keep refining that blurb. Maybe let it get a little crazy. The cover is crazy -- the Octagon meets Dead Alive.

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Thanks, and get crazy in the blurb? Hmm. I will think on...

Saul Tanpepper said:

FWIW, zombies are my bread and butter. That said, I love the cover. Awesome artwork. A bit dark, though, so difficult to make out in thumbnail. Not a fan of the font, and I'd drop the zombie novel reference as unnecessary. Agree with others regarding the blurb. Make your story standout somehow by pointing out its differences. You allude to some of this in the humor.

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Thank you on the art! I could lighten it. I may drop the 'zombie novel' bit. Any suggestions on font? Maybe if it was a bit smaller, bit less bright?

joyceharmon said:

Okay, this is just me and I haven't read widely in the zombie genre, so take it for what it's worth. I've read a few zombie novels, not a lot, but if I read this tag line and was genuinely convinced that your hero is the last man alive, I think I'd pass this up. Because however interesting and harrowing the hero's struggle might be, in the end, it's essentially pointless and humanity is doomed. Maybe this isn't a deal-breaker for the real genre fans, but it is for me. I want to feel like there's some faint hope of a positive resolution.

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Thanks Joyce. I want to say something reassuring about where the story goes, but I don't want to give any spoilers. I don't know how to do that in the blurb without giving away too much. Suffice it to say- you won't be bummed out after reading the book. I need to think how to convey that. But again, I'm kind of hoping the reviews will do this bit for me.

As always, thanks all!

EB Mazza said:

Is anyone else getting a weird Jesus vibe from the cover? Or is it just me?

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IDK about "Jesus" but my first association was some old religious painting - to me it's kind of reminiscent of one of those paintings of a saint being tormented by daemons or something... I thought it definitely had some Dante's Inferno allusions to it but after reading the Chuck Norris posts I'm kinda seeing that now as well...

Since you're still playing around with it, why not try having a lone figure in silhouette highlighted maybe by a sunset or yellow sunlight. Around the edges you could have trees to add color and depth but around the brightness surrounding the figure you could have the tree branches in silhouette drawn like zombie hands/arms reaching out for the runner... That detail might be too subtle for a cover thumbnail graphic but if they 'read' as tree branches in the smaller sizes it still conveys that he's alone and on his own running for his life. As a bonus, the branches as zombie arms will look great on social media and any print editions to sell offline.

Also about the blurb: I think you should play up the fun angle but because it's a light part of the book, be coy with it... perhaps something like - He was the mayor of his local coffee shop in New York until one day he came in for coffee and found zombies! To level up this real life game of survival he will need x,y,z and at least one more cup of coffee... [I realize this might place undue emphasis on the coffee shop/coffee but it's the first thing that jumped out at me from your post and haven't read the book obviously]

Also, some kind of rhetorical question might be a good way to temper his inevitable survival. [He's a survivor, but for how long? or His first night was rough but how many more can he survive on his own?] Obviously if he's the last one he has to survive to tell the tale or he's not the last one - play with that a bit more. If you brainstorm some options and try to get crazy and have fun with it, I think you'll fall into something punchy that works well.