Over the past few months, I’ve been toying with the cover for my next book: Scattered Stones. I’m usually not an indecisive person but with covers, I’m starting to flip flop.
A cover is vital to a book’s success. Almost everyone at some point in their life has judged a book by its cover. It doesn’t matter if the story is awesome or cruddy; the cover alone can sell a book. The goal, however, is to catch the readers’ attention long enough that they give you a second look to see if they want to buy your book.
I’ve learned a lot about how to make covers, but I know there is a large room for improvement. I also don’t have the programs designers use, so I use what I can. And I keep my ears and eyes open for tips.
Saturday, while attending the online Indie Author Fringe Fair, I watched Derek Murphy’s podcast. I came away determined to apply some of his techniques to the covers I’ve been playing with. You can watch the video here: Designing Book Covers that sell – the 7 Must-Haves: Derek Murphy. I encourage everyone who makes their own covers to watch.
Today, I am asking for your opinion of the covers I’ve created. There’s a poll below to vote for your favourite. Click on the image to get a better view of the cover.
Please Vote for Your Favourite
Updated (added Sunday morning 7:59 Atlantic Standard Time): In the comments below, Darlene mentioned the similarities between one of the covers and the first book in the series, Shadows in the Stone. A series of books often maintain the same theme to tell readers in an instant they are ‘related’. Here is the cover of Shadows in the Stone in case this influences your choice.
Thank you for participating in this poll. I appreciate the time you’ve taken to offer your opinion.
I agree with Debby’s comment. The colors and image seem to work well with the Book One cover, and your name stands out better. Good luck with the decision, Diane. I know its not easy!
Number 2 stays with the series theme Di. Also, The title and your name stand out best, and out of all of them, you can still make out the subtitle which gives us a bit more of what the book is about. Hope this helps. 🙂
I personally like the idea of keeping series books similar. It does definitely help and 99% of series I’ve read do that with their covers. I do personally like cover #5 the best. Keeping the SAME fonts are really the most important things when it comes to series book cover consistency. The photos and backgrounds are always different and even the colors are different. But the fonts are 99% always the same from what I can remember.
Thank you for visiting, Sara Beth, and for leaving a comment. I agree, keeping those fonts the same is vital. I learned that when I released “Shadows in the Stone”, so I knew I had to create something I’d be happy with because I was going to be stuck with it for several books. Perhaps when the series is complete, all covers will be revamped but for now, this is what I’m going with.
Thank you for your vote.
I have seen a lot of authors do that too where they revamp their covers 🙂 good luck!
Your covers have a lot of variety for image and color choice but the type design layout doesn’t change and you should really consider some variations there. The type dominates the image with no assymmetry and your name and title are equally balanced, competing for the readers attention. Try setting your name in a smaller typesize and moving it off center. This will allow the single gemstone to catch the reader’s eye. The four-color cover will always be better and the colors in this image really sell.
Phillip, thank you for your constructive comments. The layout and font type remained the same because I wanted to keep the brand of the first book in the series to connect them. All books in the series will have this same font type, size and placement.
I created the title and name large, so it can be seen in thumbnail size. This is recommended by many who create covers. My name is the most important element on the cover since it connects all my books to me. It is small compared to some names I see on covers.
The text does need lining up. I had forgotten to tweak the text to get the ends to form the box.
My son really likes the stones in all their colour too, and he keeps reminding me every time he walks by and sees it.
I would go with either 6 or 2 since the art matches the style of the first book. I would also change the font and coloring to match the first book. The subtitles on 6 was difficult for me to read, so you might want to do some tweaking there. Best of luck, Dee
Thank you for your thoughts, Deidra. I kept the fonts the same (except for the tagline, which I switched to the author’s name font), but they have been altered slightly. I’m not worried about the subtitles being read in the thumbnail. It’s not meant to be.
I haven’t read any comments yet but chose number 6. It has a scene like the first book and the colours are strong enough to entice my interest. Good luck with settling on the cover. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to make a selection. I’m now realising that my goal should have been to better match the first book.
Diane, I voted for 8. Hope that helps. In the end, go with your gut.
You did a fabulous job on all of them. 😊👌
Thank you, Tracy. In the end, that’s what I always do. Many times, the gut is right.
Thank you for your kind words.
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
Please help Diane, to choose a cover. from dianetibert.com
Adele, thank you for sharing.
No 6 just grabbed my attention immediately. It has the same feeling as the cover of Shadows in the Stone as well.
You make a good point, Darlene. I’m exercising the new things I’ve learnt, but I know from what the experts have said, series should have the same basic design. It’s the brand, and readers instantly connect with all books because of it.
I’ll add the cover to Shadows in the Stone at the bottom of the post to share it with others.
Thank you for voting, and thank you for adding the comment. This is an important factor to consider.