I know I’m not the only one. I started by trying to sell my novels the traditional route. Got some absolutely fantastic feedback from agents, but no takers. Wrote a couple more novels. Discovered Dean Wesley Smith and JA Konrath.
And decided why not. Gonna self-pub.
There’s a lot to learn, so I took the time-honored “bite at a time” approach to eating this particular elephant, and one of the decisions I finessed a bit was whether to hire a designer for my covers. Money’s pretty tight for me; I decided I’d design my own covers for the time being.
But now I’m re-thinking that decision. I’m getting some amazing feedback from people who are reading my books — the sort of feedback that leads me to think I can actually do this.
I don’t want amateurish covers to get in my way.
So I’m looking for feedback. This is the cover of my novel Can Job, and I’m looking for some honest feedback. Poll below, or please feel free to leave a comment (moderated if you haven’t commented before but I’ll be watching the queue).
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I like minimalism and so the cover works pretty well, I think it needs some kind of border or something to give it some depth. I’m not much of the designer type, so I’m not sure what it specifically needs — but with a tweak or two I think it would work well.
Thank you, Bosley . . . I hear you on not being a designer type . . .
Hmm… I’m not sure I like the border along the edge. What you might try is looking through some graphic design books at the library. I picked up a couple when I was doing resume writing and found it very helpful.
Thanks, D.D. . . . the problem is I don’t know as I can trust myself to master enough design to come up with a winning cover . . . but it’s a good suggestion for sure.
The question you got to ask yourself more than us is does this cover convey what it holds inside?
I don’t know what the novel is all about, so if its okay please share a synopsis and we might relate with the cover. On the look of it, its okay. Maybe I want to see some more color on a comedy. I wish you remove the word ‘a comedy’ from the cover. It gives a little bit too much from a cover perspective.
Well, it’s about people who work at a company that makes can openers :-)
And it’s a comic novel . . .
Thanks for your comments . . . what perplexes me about the whole “cover” thing is what are the elements of cover design that trigger people to take the next step — i.e. download a sample or buy the book?
I like the basic design, although I did read it as COAN JOB at first. But it looks too flat, like a blank piece of paper is behind it. Some kind of layering in the background to give it depth might be in order.
Thank you, Patrick — appreciate the input very much.