a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Monday, January 30, 2012
Circles Interlocked by Victoria Adams
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.
I like a lot about this cover. I like the typography and the color scheme I like the couple and their pose. However, the ballet slippers, especially in thumbnail view, look like some sort of weird fleshy animal. Even when I opened the cover to full size, they were still yucky; they look old and dirty.
I think if you just totally dropped the ballet slippers it would be a very nice cover.
Old yucky ballet shoes means they've been worn and are actual shoes - I love the honesty of the shoes. Shows she's a dancer and hints the author might know something about dance.
I can definitely see this is a romane. The ballet shoes tip potential readers to a dance theme or dance background for at one of the characters and the cover itself is centered and proportioned. This would catch my attention.
Good cover, but I have to agree with everyone else, Why the ballet slipper? They don't add to the cover and they are a bit hard to see. They take away from a nice cover.
I agree with Robin on the slippers. When I first saw them, I thought, Ew. What is that? They look like a skinned rat in a kayak. Everything else about the cover is sexy. I would ditch the shoes.
Well, this shows what I hate about most straight romance covers--the passive, submissively-posed woman thing, but I will take other people's word that they don't find it creepy.
Her nose looks weird, like he's forcing it to the side. What's with that?
Although I don't mind worn ballet slippers, in fact it's a nice touch, it's too hard to tell what they are. I couldn't at first.
This is lovely except for the globby thing on the bottom right, which I now know are ballet slippers. I never would have guessed if I hadn't read that here. At first I thought it might be a bandaged finger. A different pair of slippers in a different color, muted and possibly screened against the background would be a better fit, but it's hard to say without seeing how that would look. The way they are now just doesn't work. I really like the couple in the subtle gray tones, very classy. Romance is my guess for genre.
Victoria, the picture you posted on your blog is very cool. THAT would make a great book cover. The shoes on Circles Interlocked, though, simply don't work. It's not that they're well-worn. That really isn't the issue. The color doesn't blend well, and it's hard to even tell what they are.
As a couple of other commenters noted in a previous post, if you don't want feedback then don't submit a cover. Don't waste our time.
Also posted on her blog since she invited us there:
Well since you invited us here, let's get a bit of clarification.
First, if you wanted your cover to receive all glowing reviews, Cover Art Review was not the place to post it. It's a site to REVIEW your COVER and its effectiveness as a COVER.
As for ballet, as the writer of the "yucky ballet shoes" I a) know exactly what pointe shoes are, b) understand what dancers do to pointe shoes and c) still think they look distracting and unattractive on this cover. Please don't condescend to think that those of us who are trying to help you get your most attractive and effective cover are somehow totally ignorant of culture, dance, and ballet.
The facts are these. Many of us couldn't even tell they WERE ballet shoes in the size posted. That's a big warning flag, since many of your customers will be viewing your cover first in a size even smaller than shown in Cover Art Review. Of those of us who couldn't tell what those fleshy pink blobs were, some of us had an innate reaction of "eeeuuwww." Now you can hate that we had that reaction, but it was an honest one, and it was meant to give you feedback; that perhaps the piece of art you placed there is not getting the reaction you thought it would.
Our job over on Cover Art Review is to try our best to give you honest, constructive advice that you can use to improve your cover. Some of us have decades of graphic design experience. And sure, we disagree at times. But there is a core group you are well advised to listen to. Take the time to read through several reviews. Note the names you see popping up on post after post.
We are giving our very hard earned knowledge and expertise for FREE to try to help you. Certainly it's up to you whether or not you want to change your cover. But if you had no intention of even contemplating a cover change, why did you post on the site? It's a busy site, I know I am a very busy person, and I sure don't want to waste my time trying to help someone who doesn't want to be helped.
let me second what Robin has said. This site is about reviewing covers which covers Artwork, photographs, graphics and text. It is not about stroking egos and selling books.
This site was started because several people could not figure out why their books were not selling. A good number of people pointed out that they did not have very strong covers for several reasons.
As the old saying going you only get to make a first impression once and your cover is that first impression. You may not like that but that is the truth. If the majority of the reviewers have a problem with an element of a cover I think that is a broad enough demographic that the author should at lease think about maybe doing something else. However, that is the author's choice to not take our advice.
But to ask for our advice but then to turn around and cry because we were being honest.... what do you think that says?
I really do find it disheartening that authors are posting covers here yet are defensive and resistant to critique. How sad that this site is not being used or appreciated for its purpose. More comments are on the author's blog.
Robin - I think that some authors have been told or make the mistake in thinking this is a place to "sell" their book rather than a site to make their book look better.
FYI - My book cover for my fist book is now in the the queue (don't know when it will show up) even though I am not done with the book yet. I want to feed back so that I can fix it before the book comes out.
@Eric, it's a subtle but very important difference. The fact is, that authors can use this site to get valuable input which can help them improve their covers; thus they WILL sell more books. Yet this site IMO, is not a marketing site. It's just what it says it is; a place to get honest opinions on cover design. It is just too bad that authors send books here either for other purposes or thinking they will only get accolades and affirmation.
I like a lot about this cover. I like the typography and the color scheme I like the couple and their pose. However, the ballet slippers, especially in thumbnail view, look like some sort of weird fleshy animal. Even when I opened the cover to full size, they were still yucky; they look old and dirty.
ReplyDeleteI think if you just totally dropped the ballet slippers it would be a very nice cover.
Love it!!!!
ReplyDeleteOld yucky ballet shoes means they've been worn and are actual shoes - I love the honesty of the shoes. Shows she's a dancer and hints the author might know something about dance.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see this is a romane. The ballet shoes tip potential readers to a dance theme or dance background for at one of the characters and the cover itself is centered and proportioned. This would catch my attention.
ReplyDeletegenre: Romance.
ReplyDeleteGood cover, but I have to agree with everyone else, Why the ballet slipper? They don't add to the cover and they are a bit hard to see. They take away from a nice cover.
I agree with Robin on the slippers. When I first saw them, I thought, Ew. What is that? They look like a skinned rat in a kayak. Everything else about the cover is sexy. I would ditch the shoes.
ReplyDeleteWell, this shows what I hate about most straight romance covers--the passive, submissively-posed woman thing, but I will take other people's word that they don't find it creepy.
ReplyDeleteHer nose looks weird, like he's forcing it to the side. What's with that?
Although I don't mind worn ballet slippers, in fact it's a nice touch, it's too hard to tell what they are. I couldn't at first.
This is lovely except for the globby thing on the bottom right, which I now know are ballet slippers. I never would have guessed if I hadn't read that here. At first I thought it might be a bandaged finger. A different pair of slippers in a different color, muted and possibly screened against the background would be a better fit, but it's hard to say without seeing how that would look. The way they are now just doesn't work. I really like the couple in the subtle gray tones, very classy. Romance is my guess for genre.
ReplyDeletehttp://victoriaadams.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteVictoria, the picture you posted on your blog is very cool. THAT would make a great book cover. The shoes on Circles Interlocked, though, simply don't work. It's not that they're well-worn. That really isn't the issue. The color doesn't blend well, and it's hard to even tell what they are.
ReplyDeleteAs a couple of other commenters noted in a previous post, if you don't want feedback then don't submit a cover. Don't waste our time.
Also posted on her blog since she invited us there:
ReplyDeleteWell since you invited us here, let's get a bit of clarification.
First, if you wanted your cover to receive all glowing reviews, Cover Art Review was not the place to post it. It's a site to REVIEW your COVER and its effectiveness as a COVER.
As for ballet, as the writer of the "yucky ballet shoes" I a) know exactly what pointe shoes are, b) understand what dancers do to pointe shoes and c) still think they look distracting and unattractive on this cover. Please don't condescend to think that those of us who are trying to help you get your most attractive and effective cover are somehow totally ignorant of culture, dance, and ballet.
The facts are these. Many of us couldn't even tell they WERE ballet shoes in the size posted. That's a big warning flag, since many of your customers will be viewing your cover first in a size even smaller than shown in Cover Art Review. Of those of us who couldn't tell what those fleshy pink blobs were, some of us had an innate reaction of "eeeuuwww." Now you can hate that we had that reaction, but it was an honest one, and it was meant to give you feedback; that perhaps the piece of art you placed there is not getting the reaction you thought it would.
Our job over on Cover Art Review is to try our best to give you honest, constructive advice that you can use to improve your cover. Some of us have decades of graphic design experience. And sure, we disagree at times. But there is a core group you are well advised to listen to. Take the time to read through several reviews. Note the names you see popping up on post after post.
We are giving our very hard earned knowledge and expertise for FREE to try to help you. Certainly it's up to you whether or not you want to change your cover. But if you had no intention of even contemplating a cover change, why did you post on the site? It's a busy site, I know I am a very busy person, and I sure don't want to waste my time trying to help someone who doesn't want to be helped.
let me second what Robin has said. This site is about reviewing covers which covers Artwork, photographs, graphics and text. It is not about stroking egos and selling books.
ReplyDeleteThis site was started because several people could not figure out why their books were not selling. A good number of people pointed out that they did not have very strong covers for several reasons.
As the old saying going you only get to make a first impression once and your cover is that first impression. You may not like that but that is the truth. If the majority of the reviewers have a problem with an element of a cover I think that is a broad enough demographic that the author should at lease think about maybe doing something else. However, that is the author's choice to not take our advice.
But to ask for our advice but then to turn around and cry because we were being honest.... what do you think that says?
I really do find it disheartening that authors are posting covers here yet are defensive and resistant to critique. How sad that this site is not being used or appreciated for its purpose. More comments are on the author's blog.
ReplyDeleteRobin - I think that some authors have been told or make the mistake in thinking this is a place to "sell" their book rather than a site to make their book look better.
ReplyDeleteFYI - My book cover for my fist book is now in the the queue (don't know when it will show up) even though I am not done with the book yet. I want to feed back so that I can fix it before the book comes out.
@Eric, it's a subtle but very important difference. The fact is, that authors can use this site to get valuable input which can help them improve their covers; thus they WILL sell more books. Yet this site IMO, is not a marketing site. It's just what it says it is; a place to get honest opinions on cover design. It is just too bad that authors send books here either for other purposes or thinking they will only get accolades and affirmation.
ReplyDelete