There are times when you love something but must give it up because a) it’s not good for you, b) someone else needs it more, c) it’s broken beyond repair, d) you’ve moved past it, e) when it’s perfectly fine but it simply doesn’t do what it needs to do. In other words, when it’s wrong.
When You Love It
I’m changing the cover of my book, Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire. I’ve adored this cover from day one. I wooed a talented artist (Brumae) into doing it and was happy to pay her fee. She was easy to work with and did a wonderful job. I would hire her for other images in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, the cover came across as more urban fantasy than science fiction. Everyone loved the art — but it didn’t work for the story. One person said, “Something’s wrong but I don’t know what.” It was subtle but it didn’t “click” with the story. She didn’t know exactly what was wrong. She just knew something was.
There were a few other comments as well.
- Too many words
- Large red font was hard to read
- Angle of the title made it hard to read
- Too busy
- Cluttered
Ack. Those were hard to take, but I needed to hear them. Even with these errors people still thought the artwork itself was stunning. But when it doesn’t fit the genre, it’s wrong. Here are the two sets of covers for both books 1 and 2. What do you think? The old covers are on the left.
But It’s Wrong
A good cover sells the book. It entices readers to pick it up and have a closer look. Although this was a gorgeous cover with beautiful artwork, the readers I was trying to reach were passing it right on by. I had to admit I’d chosen the wrong part of the story to accentuate. Time to make a change.
I chose a different image, one of a planet with extensive volcanic activity. The blues harmonized well with the first cover and the reds fit the story’s title, Forged in Fire. It has a sense of movement and life. It’s uncluttered. I removed the line “Sempervian Saga” and its logo. I’ll put that elsewhere, perhaps inside the book during the next update. These books are in the Bringer of Chaos series, which is part of the overall Sempervian Saga. I have other books in that larger saga as well.
I tilted the word “Bringer” 90 degrees clockwise and moved “of” to a different location. Then I resized the entire phrase and put it near the bottom, in much smaller type. I kept the font. It’s called Sabotage, by the way, and you can get it on www.dafont.com for free. That font absolutely fits the man known as the Bringer of Chaos.
So there you have it. Lovely cover. Not working. Changes made. I’ll let you know how this book fares.
The only downside? I made about a hundred banners with the old cover on them. Now I have to decide which ones work best and which ones don’t. Here we go again…
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Oh, you are so right about the cover thing! The reason I changed the cover of my #MFRWHooks book for today is that I was turned down from two different promotions for mystery/thriller/horror titles because my old cover wasn’t “scary” enough! Hopefully this new one is creepier.
And I do love your new covers much better. The artwork still comes through as stunning, but the text is much easier to read. Great decision, Kayelle.
What a coincidence, huh? Both of us with new covers this week! I loved yours, btw.
The revisions make the artwork even more stunning! Great job.
Thank you, Becky!
Oh the joys of being an author. But I do like the new covers.
So true. lol Thank you 🙂
Oh how wonderful to hear! Thank you, Janet. And I agree about readers.
I know that was a tough decision, but the new covers are much better. Clean and eye catching.
So true. Thank you, Linda!
I agree. The revised covers are indeed easier to read and the 2nd gives off much more of a Science Fiction feel that the original one did. Difficult choice, but the right one.
Thank you, Kathryn. It was tough.
The font is much easier to read on your new covers. I usually pass over books when I can’t make out the words. Gotta catch those readers in 3 seconds. This’ll do it!
JQ Rose
Great observation. Thank you so much!