Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Secrets in the Shadows by T.L. Haddix

This cover was created by Glendon Haddix at Streetlight Graphics (www.streetlightgraphics.com).

What's the genre? What is it you like or don't like about this cover? Does it make you want to know more about the book? Does it make you want to BUY the book? Discuss.

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11 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 9, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    Interesting. I like the font style used on this cover. The black and red gives the book a dark tone. Makes me think the story inside involves something sinister.

    The size of the title and the author's name could be switched, and the tag line under the title is a bit small, if you ask me. Beyond those, I have no other issues.

    As for genre, I'm thinking Mystery.

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  2. Tara MayaMarch 9, 2011 at 11:06 PM

    I like this. It looks professional. It has a simple, unified theme and color scheme. I think the genre is mystery or romantic suspense.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 3:12 AM

    I like the look - it's clean and professional and the text sets itself apart nicely. It reduces to a thumbnail nicely as well. It's an interesting looking image: dark, mysterious and cryptic, but I would be hard pressed to say whether it's a mystery, suspense or horror. When you're looking to grab a specific audience that can be an issue,(it's something I've wondered about with my own cover; we'll see when my day arrives.) Perhaps a tag line that gives a hint would help draw readers to look closer, though tag lines are lost in thumbnails. But the cover intrigues me and makes me want to see what the book is about... so I'm off to look now!

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  4. AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 7:10 AM

    I really like it. Professional, eye-catching and a great combo of light and dark.

    Just from the cover, I'd say mystery or suspense. Actually, I'm gonna go with suspense.

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  5. UnknownMarch 10, 2011 at 12:13 PM

    Ghost story?

    The cover is vague and . . . red. I don't know who T.L. Haddix is, but by setting the author's name in the largest font, it implies that I should. In fact, the whole cover implies the only thing I need to know to make my buying decision is that it is written by T.L. Haddix.

    This isn't a bad thing. If the author has a strong enough following to sell books by reputation only, then there's not reason to clutter the message. If the author doesn't yet have such a reputation, then this cover has a level of audacity that I respect. It's saying, "You may not know me know, but you will."

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  6. AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 1:41 PM

    Great use of color and I love the tree in the foreground. Maybe a little more image and less author name would be good. Ghost story? Hoping for DuMaurier-ish, but I see it's a series so probably a lot bloodier.

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  7. Merrill HeathMarch 10, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    I like this cover. It's clean, interesting, and professional. The only thing I'd change is make the print at the top larger than at the bottom. Either move your name to the top or reduce the size of the font on your name and make the title larger.

    There is some debate as to whether it's good to put the series number in the blurb. In this case, since it's the first book, I don't think that's a problem. But if the book can stand alone, and doesn't have to be read in order, then I'd suggest just stating it's a novel in the series without giving a number. Put that in the description but not on the book cover.

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  8. Alessandra KelleyMarch 10, 2011 at 6:27 PM

    It's a little hard to tell what it's about. It suggests ... badness, but rather vaguely. It's also hard to determine what's in the picture, apart from the tree.

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  9. EricMarch 10, 2011 at 8:30 PM

    This book points out how simple can work. I think that it also that the the title (text) can be used to push the concept or idea.

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  10. Sibel HodgeMarch 11, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    Great cover. Definitely thrilling and sinister!

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  11. T. L. HaddixMarch 11, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    Thanks, everyone. The name larger than the title wasn't actually a conscious thing. The title is so long, making the name smaller actually didn't work as well visually. I may have to look at it, though. We actually did a redesign of the cover, and will probably update when the third one comes out. I'll keep the name size in mind.

    As to the genre, it's romantic suspense, with a very dark side.

    Thanks again!

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