a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Friday, January 27, 2012
Dreamscape by Rose Anderson
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.
Okay, this is just... weird. It looks like he is wearing some kind of gossamer/sheer sleeve and she's mounting his arm, getting ready to bite his wrist. The positioning and the discrepancy in sizes between him and her and, it looks like, some vertical stretching, just make this cover look distorted. And there is something really, really odd about his manboobs. He looks more like an underdeveloped woman than a man. Is he a transvestite?
The title typeface is very 70s/hippie. Is that intentional? The author name typeface is good, and it's easy to see. I'm thinking this is erotic romance. But frankly, I'd trash the entire top of the image and redo.
Other than that I'm with Robin on this one. The images are very mixed up and confuse the person looking at the cover. The way that man's arm is mixed with the sheet and the location and position just doesn't work. To make this work the cover needs a major overhaul.
Hello everyone. Wow what interesting comments! I suppose this is a case of cover fits the jacket blurb. She's dreaming, he's a ghost. In her dream he lives again. Really, once the jacket is read, it does work on a cerebral level! lol
To be honest, the above comments are the only negative or confused comments this cover has gotten to date. I've only ever heard favorable opinions since its release.
Thanks for the honest critique though. :) It helps get my book noticed..and the old adage says -- you can't judge a book by its cover, eh? Thanks again!
Rose, keep in mind that if your cover is confusing, nobody is going to read the jacket blurb. Your cover needs to be clear and eye catching all on its own, with no extra help needed.
And I really have to say this; I am not the owner of this blog and I sure don't have any say on input, but I really REALLY dislike the blog being used solely or primarily as a marketing tool to get more book sales.
Several of us try very hard to actually give honest critiques from a professional standpoint. We certainly aren't making any money by writing our reviews; I actually LOSE money by writing critiques/reviews here when I could be billing work hours instead. We are giving of our time and experience (20+ years in my case and I know there are several others similar) to try to help you get a better COVER, not to serve as a marketing tool for your book.
Frankly, it sounds like you didn't really want a review at all; you just wanted to post the book here to get more attention. If true, that's just very disrespectful to me and a waste of MY time. And though you haven't done it, I also really get tired of authors who post a cover then send their friends here to give "fluff" raving reviews, again, just to get sales.
If the blog continues in this vein, then some of us (or at least me) will quit writing reviews. Why should I waste my time trying to help an author who doesn't want to be helped? If you don't care to hear it, I sure as heck don't care to spend my valuable time writing it.
Rose, consider how the AIDA process works with e-books. The first contact the potential readers is the cover during a casual browse. Only if the cover attracts attention and arouses interest will the viewers go and read the blurb.
If the cover doesn't appeal, they'll never get to read the blurb.
A case of 'cover fit the jacket blurb'? Uh?
The purpose of a cover is *not* to illustrate a blurb. The purpose is to attract the eye of the casual browser and get them interested in reading the blurb.
Don't you want your cover to attract readers?
Also please take note:
The purpose of this site is *not* to vote favourably/unfavourably. Its purpose to help people improve their covers. If you're here to collect favourable votes for your cover, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong site.
If you never intended to improve your cover, you've wasted our time. You've also wasted someone else's opportunity. Other authors are waiting for a slot to have their cover critiqued.
I can't say that I "like" this cover, but it did catch my eye. I do like the misty look of the man hovering over the castle, except for the material hanging off his arm. The woman didn't fit. Up until someone else mentioned it I hadn't noticed his "man boobs," but now I can't not see them. :-)
Robin and Rayne et al, of course I'm interested in honest critique for Dreamscape’s cover. This would be doubly true had I actually designed it myself because I believe extra discerning eyes are always good. I find such opinion useful to me (that’s why I returned to read more comments) as I plan to self-publish as well, where I’ll be creating my own cover art.
I'm relatively new to this business, but as an author, I'm also interested in getting my work, (sometimes via the cover), where people can see it, think about it, comment on it and otherwise be interested. And it is interesting for me to see how other people view book covers in general, this only being my second one and me being a romance reader who really doesn’t give them much attention. I think I burned out on Fabio years ago!
I would hope you didn't think you were wasting your time to give your opinion, and I do understand the cover is the face/intro and first impression and yes, I see how a fabulous cover can do that better than a bad or confusing cover might. I wrote the book, my publisher's cover artist made the cover. I hope it does well for me in the long run despite its visual gaffs.
That being said, I've been told that it's one of the artist’s best and that's ok if you or anyone disagree that assessment. I’m merely passing on what was said to me. I have no doubt that for every favorable comment I’ve received on it, there’s a flip side. And of course there would be. Human nature says a whole range of emotion and opinion can be had looking at art – from beautiful to WTF??. I see the things you've all pointed out and appreciate that you'd all take the time to really look at it. This speaks volumes.
Now as to my comment on it fitting the jacket blurb, I'm only guessing here, because like I said, I just wrote the story, but I suppose the artist was given some piece of information to go on when it came to this ghost/dream theme. My blurb fits it. I can't say if it's a perfect fit or not, I can only go by sales and so far they’re fine. But again, this was what I've been given for my story.
A comment above has me confused. Did I erroneously put an industry designed cover on a self-published author cover site? I ask because I don’t see the publisher changing it, and I certainly can't. Not for four more years of my contract anyway.
And no, I was well aware this was not one of those "vote for a cover" sites. That’s not where I wanted to take it. It seemed that a site devoted to discussing cover art would be an interesting stop for a cover many find lovely.
This should make you all smile. Now when I look at it, I see man boobs! lol There’s an image I’d rather not have. Thanks ladies and gents. Thanks Jude. :)
Okay, this is just... weird. It looks like he is wearing some kind of gossamer/sheer sleeve and she's mounting his arm, getting ready to bite his wrist. The positioning and the discrepancy in sizes between him and her and, it looks like, some vertical stretching, just make this cover look distorted. And there is something really, really odd about his manboobs. He looks more like an underdeveloped woman than a man. Is he a transvestite?
ReplyDeleteThe title typeface is very 70s/hippie. Is that intentional? The author name typeface is good, and it's easy to see. I'm thinking this is erotic romance. But frankly, I'd trash the entire top of the image and redo.
I would guess that it's erotica.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I'm with Robin on this one. The images are very mixed up and confuse the person looking at the cover. The way that man's arm is mixed with the sheet and the location and position just doesn't work. To make this work the cover needs a major overhaul.
I get that it's erotica, however, I'm trying to see if she is asleep in the bed and the guy is meant to be a reflection of what she is dreaming????
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, if I ran across this cover, I can not say it would interest me, and I'm a shallow cover lover, genre be darned :-)
I find the images confusing, the two differently sized people seemingly interacting. This doesn't work for me, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteBased on the images, I would have to guess that this is an erotic story about a male ghost and a female dwarf. But this is probably not right.
I like the Art Nouveau style font of the title. It's 'dreamy' yet clear.
Hello everyone. Wow what interesting comments! I suppose this is a case of cover fits the jacket blurb. She's dreaming, he's a ghost. In her dream he lives again. Really, once the jacket is read, it does work on a cerebral level! lol
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, the above comments are the only negative or confused comments this cover has gotten to date. I've only ever heard favorable opinions since its release.
Thanks for the honest critique though. :) It helps get my book noticed..and the old adage says -- you can't judge a book by its cover, eh? Thanks again!
Rose, keep in mind that if your cover is confusing, nobody is going to read the jacket blurb. Your cover needs to be clear and eye catching all on its own, with no extra help needed.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really have to say this; I am not the owner of this blog and I sure don't have any say on input, but I really REALLY dislike the blog being used solely or primarily as a marketing tool to get more book sales.
Several of us try very hard to actually give honest critiques from a professional standpoint. We certainly aren't making any money by writing our reviews; I actually LOSE money by writing critiques/reviews here when I could be billing work hours instead. We are giving of our time and experience (20+ years in my case and I know there are several others similar) to try to help you get a better COVER, not to serve as a marketing tool for your book.
Frankly, it sounds like you didn't really want a review at all; you just wanted to post the book here to get more attention. If true, that's just very disrespectful to me and a waste of MY time. And though you haven't done it, I also really get tired of authors who post a cover then send their friends here to give "fluff" raving reviews, again, just to get sales.
If the blog continues in this vein, then some of us (or at least me) will quit writing reviews. Why should I waste my time trying to help an author who doesn't want to be helped? If you don't care to hear it, I sure as heck don't care to spend my valuable time writing it.
Rose, consider how the AIDA process works with e-books. The first contact the potential readers is the cover during a casual browse. Only if the cover attracts attention and arouses interest will the viewers go and read the blurb.
ReplyDeleteIf the cover doesn't appeal, they'll never get to read the blurb.
A case of 'cover fit the jacket blurb'? Uh?
The purpose of a cover is *not* to illustrate a blurb. The purpose is to attract the eye of the casual browser and get them interested in reading the blurb.
Don't you want your cover to attract readers?
Also please take note:
The purpose of this site is *not* to vote favourably/unfavourably. Its purpose to help people improve their covers. If you're here to collect favourable votes for your cover, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong site.
If you never intended to improve your cover, you've wasted our time. You've also wasted someone else's opportunity. Other authors are waiting for a slot to have their cover critiqued.
I can't say that I "like" this cover, but it did catch my eye. I do like the misty look of the man hovering over the castle, except for the material hanging off his arm. The woman didn't fit. Up until someone else mentioned it I hadn't noticed his "man boobs," but now I can't not see them. :-)
ReplyDeleteRobin and Rayne et al, of course I'm interested in honest critique for Dreamscape’s cover. This would be doubly true had I actually designed it myself because I believe extra discerning eyes are always good. I find such opinion useful to me (that’s why I returned to read more comments) as I plan to self-publish as well, where I’ll be creating my own cover art.
ReplyDeleteI'm relatively new to this business, but as an author, I'm also interested in getting my work, (sometimes via the cover), where people can see it, think about it, comment on it and otherwise be interested. And it is interesting for me to see how other people view book covers in general, this only being my second one and me being a romance reader who really doesn’t give them much attention. I think I burned out on Fabio years ago!
I would hope you didn't think you were wasting your time to give your opinion, and I do understand the cover is the face/intro and first impression and yes, I see how a fabulous cover can do that better than a bad or confusing cover might. I wrote the book, my publisher's cover artist made the cover. I hope it does well for me in the long run despite its visual gaffs.
That being said, I've been told that it's one of the artist’s best and that's ok if you or anyone disagree that assessment. I’m merely passing on what was said to me. I have no doubt that for every favorable comment I’ve received on it, there’s a flip side. And of course there would be. Human nature says a whole range of emotion and opinion can be had looking at art – from beautiful to WTF??. I see the things you've all pointed out and appreciate that you'd all take the time to really look at it. This speaks volumes.
Now as to my comment on it fitting the jacket blurb, I'm only guessing here, because like I said, I just wrote the story, but I suppose the artist was given some piece of information to go on when it came to this ghost/dream theme. My blurb fits it. I can't say if it's a perfect fit or not, I can only go by sales and so far they’re fine. But again, this was what I've been given for my story.
A comment above has me confused. Did I erroneously put an industry designed cover on a self-published author cover site? I ask because I don’t see the publisher changing it, and I certainly can't. Not for four more years of my contract anyway.
And no, I was well aware this was not one of those "vote for a cover" sites. That’s not where I wanted to take it. It seemed that a site devoted to discussing cover art would be an interesting stop for a cover many find lovely.
This should make you all smile. Now when I look at it, I see man boobs! lol There’s an image I’d rather not have. Thanks ladies and gents. Thanks Jude. :)