Tickety Boo Covers Feedback Forum...

[Brian G Turner]

I'd just suggest to keep the fonts simple. Remember, any wording should ideally be legible on thumbnails and preview images on Amazon, without the potential buyer having to strain to distinguish individual letters in the reduced size image. Aside from that, it's a good image. That's just my 2c, though.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Also I think the pure white isn't 100% working

I agree. There are very light greys you can use against a colored background and the eye reads them as white and the contrast is there but the effect is more subtle. Also, I am not fond of the black speckly stuff on the new title font. It looks busy.

And if you are going to use different fonts for the name and title, then I think you should at least decide on either serif or sans serif for both of them instead of mixing them.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

What Teresa said! ^^

 

[Gary Compton]

You Grimbsy trawler, Palmer.

 

[Gary Compton]

Paul Kane's fantastic Nailbiters collection which comes out in the spring has a draft cover.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Droflet]

Simple, but spooky,

 

[ratsy]

I don't mind it Gary, but if I can be honest, it feels like a screen shot from a horror video game.

 

[Gary Compton]

Is that a bad thing - it's a scene from one of the stories?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'm sort of with Ratsy - I think it's a bit obviously horror and wonder if it stands out then?

 

[Gary Compton]

It is horror!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It is horror!

Yes, I know - and there a million horror covers like it. That's what I meant.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

At first glance I found it shocking, which is probably what you are aiming for, Gary. But even if that's a scene from one of the stories does that image represent the whole book fairly? Do all the stories rely on gore and body parts to be effective, or is there more subtlety and artistry to some of them than that?

 

[ratsy]

Teresa just beat me to it, but personally I like something more subtle to draw me in. I am not a gore horror fan, so take my comments with a grain of salt. What does Paul think of it?

 

[Gary Compton]

Just like there is a million space opera covers with a planet, a ship(s) and some stars.

I don't get your point to be honest but no worries.

 

[ratsy]

I am just throwing it out there what might be a really cool idea for a book with that title. Keep in mind I haven't read any of it, but this is what I mean by a little more subtle. Something like this, maybe with some blood around the fingertips...

edit: and yes, every SF book has a ship and planet...we give them what they want!!! haha

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Just like there is a million space opera covers with a planet, a ship(s) and some stars.

I don't get your point to be honest but no worries.

I think Teresa put it best (and three posters have all made a similar point.) Space opera , as a genre, does tend towards similar-ish covers and if Abendau hadn't taken so much of its influences from classic space opera a different cover might have fitted. Who knows? But when a book apes a genre and looks to draw in classic fans, then it works.

Is Paul's gore-horror? I didn't think it was, but might be wrong. If it is pure gore (in the Ian Woodhead sort of feel) then this might be exactly what fits. But, for me, I'd look at it and wonder what was different between it and other slasher-style books. (And I do read some horror.)

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I don't read much horror, so I dont know what modern horror covers look like, but it didn't worry me from a gore sense. Having said that, I'm a retired vet so blood and guts wouldn't, unless they're my own!

I did think the disembowelled trunk and the head with the two brains, all on the back shelf, looked a bit 1970s film special effects. Something wasn't quite right about them. Hands are good, though.

I second Teresa's point though. If this represents one of the stories, does it detract from all the others?

 

[Gary Compton]

Yes, I know - and there a million horror covers like it. That's what I meant.

I am just throwing it out there what might be a really cool idea for a book with that title. Keep in mind I haven't read any of it, but this is what I mean by a little more subtle. Something like this, maybe with some blood around the fingertips...

edit: and yes, every SF book has a ship and planet...we give them what they want!!! haha

IMO, unimaginative, boring, says nothing to me apart from a hand. The cover artist must have spent all of 10 minutes on that one! Sorry but I would rather stick pins in my eyes than use something like that.

I have my own style.

I am asking for feedback on the cover not ideas for one.

Paul Kane is a bigshot in horror, he is part of the clique of horror writers and this collection is gory but thanks again.

 

[ratsy]

Ha, okay fair enough. Don't have to apologize for wanting to stick pins in your eyes. I didn't make it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If he's a bigshot in horror (and congratulations for signing him -- or were you hired to design the cover? -- congratulations either way) then it's his name that will do the most to sell the book. And there is so much going on on that cover, I didn't even register the name, although now that I look at it it's quite clearly displayed.

Something simpler in the way of cover art might be better. Not as simple as what ratsy showed you. Somewhere in between his suggestion and what you have already.