UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for sharing your cover. I'm new here - this is my first post - so for the moment I'm unfamiliar with both you and your book. But I hope the following might be useful.

Your cover certainly has an interesting mix of elements! Definitely intriguing enough for me to take a closer look at what your book might be about.

From a practical point of view, I'm assuming your book is published digitally, so most people who view your cover do so on a Kindle type device, which means when they see it, it will probably be very small, just a thumbnail.

You have four elements to the design, typography, hook shadow, map, and sky/space flare. At the moment, I would suggest each element is competing for space, so as a viewer I'm not sure what should be grabbing my attention first. When viewed very small on a Kindle, I might struggle to identify the elements.

My advice would be to try and direct the viewer's attention to one, or maybe two elements. So maybe focus on the title and the hook (I think the hook is the most visually striking element, and the most likely to make an impact when viewed small).

So some things you could try - loose the holes in the map, as they compete with the hook shadow, increase the density of the hook shadow so it's a little darker, maybe dial down the brightness of the flare in the top right, so it's not quite so distracting, tighten the leading and tracking on the title, and then increase the overall point size... just small adjustments, but they might help make it more punchy.

Of course, without knowing anything about your story at the moment, perhaps the hook is the least important element. But consider the balance of the elements that make up the design, and consider what will have the most impact when viewed as a thumbnail.

Not sure if that's useful to you, but I hope it helps. Best wishes,

David.

I would agree that the font will be hard to read at thumbnail size. I rather like the way it follows the map contours but it's not going to be clear when it's a small picture. Maybe a simpler, larger font would be better?

Hi Elizabeth,

Font's are always tricky - there's so much choice!! In this case, it is legibility vs tone. Old world style fonts are always a little more complicated, which make them harder to read at smaller point sizes. The trick is finding one that is legible when small, but still suggestive. My advice would be to try out loads, test the image small, and see what works for you.

I often use www.urbanfonts.com - click on 'free fonts' and you should find categories for Old English, Old Fashioned, Handwritten, Brush, etc. You may find some good ones there.

Best wishes,

David.

I like the cover tho I think your name is a bit lost on it - maybe should be bigger, and, excuse the pun, but there is space on there for a bit of a hook... or strapline, just to reinforce the 'what it's about' message

Hi Elizabeth
I think you haven't got the name and title big enough.

If you go to http://jandbvwebster.wordpress.com/ab... you'll see the bookcovers Andrews UK did for my books. Whilst the books are what they are, the covers have won a lot of praise from all sorts of people, so you might get some hints

I guessed Peter Pan right away (but then it is based on a very well known quote)

The problem I see is that the map is quite a weak image. The star field, the hook and even the holes and folds on the paper are much stronger. The hook tends to lead your focus, but it goes to... nothing. So your eyes wander about and settle on the star, top right, giving a confused feeling.

Go big with the text, definitely. And don't use red - it doesn't scale well. When you chose a font, check the licence conditions - if it's "free for personal use only" you'll need to pay a licence fee if you want to use it on your book cover - make sure it includes commercial use in the licence.

It looks to me that the 'map' is a Pawnee star chart. The problem is that I'd never seen one before and had to google star charts and scroll through the images.

This might be just my ignorance and it may be that in the US it would be a widely recognised image, but personally I'd be worried that it would be too esoteric.

But I do think the cover is coming along

Yep, it's getting there.
Plenty of room for that 'hook' still...

Not sure the text stands out so well in white against the pale background. I like the design.

I like the star map.

One option might be to style the title as if it's part of the map itself. I'd go for a font with a more broken style to it - the one you've chosen looks too clean and classical.

Lots of examples of that type of title on Amazon - take a look and try to duplicate one.