a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Pride's Run by Cat Kalen
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.
This cover is stunning. I love the imagery, the composition, the muted warm sepia tones. My only issue is with the model's hair. It appears to be a wig and a badly fitting one because the hair underneath is showing. The tiny werewolf text can't be seen unless this is blown up big. Best to leave it off. Otherwise the model's eyes and the overall design of the cover is extremely compelling. Great job!
Genre would be paranormal something, not sure what. But that's enough for me. :)
Very eye-catching. It drew my attention immediately. If I saw this as as a thumbnail while browsing Amazon, I would halt my casual skimming of pages and click to read the book's blurb.
10 out of 10 for AIDA Stage 1. 10 out of 10 for AIDA Stage 2.
It's dramatic. I expect the story to be paranormal with scary elements and inner conflict. The only aspect which doesn't work for me is the slogan/tagline. It's too small to be read at thumbnail size; it just distracts from the strong picture and title. It's readable if I click to enlarge the picture, but as an interested potential customer, I have the choice to either click to enlarge the picture, or to click to read the book description, and I'm more likely to do the latter. I suggest leaving the slogan out of the cover and putting it in the blurb instead. (Unless you're planning to sell this book exclusively in print through brick&mortar bookshops where the reader views the cover at full size; in this case, it's perfect).
@Rayne, some of us have no clue what AIDA is, so perhaps you could explain?
I have plusses and minuses for this cover. To me her grey eyes are so startling as to look kind of buggy. Especially her left eye.
I also don't care much for the top orange brown swirls. They look like some sort of weird headpiece or addition to her hair. And I agree that the tagline, for the ebook, should go.
For pluses, I like the warm color scheme and the typeface treatments. Very well done.
No clue what AIDA is and probably don't care. I just say whether I like it or not. LOL
What IS that round thing growing out of her neck? Are we supposed to ignore it? Looks weird. The curvy things at the top that reappear at the bottom don't work, imo. No one could possibly read the tag line. It's much too small.
I'd class this as a fairly good cover that could have been better.
I like the basic idea, but I think that too many extras have been added to take away from the strengths. I would suggest getting ride of the scroll work at the top and lose the moon on the poor girls neck. I would also lose the micro text above the author's name, it is totally unreadable.
"I would suggest getting ride of the scroll work at the top"
I might agree, except that the scroll work has become sort of the signature graphic element announcing this sort of novel. (See just about anything by Amanda Hocking.) So, that can't go away. Besides, it almost works as part of her hair. I kind of want to see ALL her hair looking that way.
I also don't mind the moon in her neck, except that it's sticking into it rather severely, with nothing to soften it. On the other side, there's a tree. So either have the moon peeking through a tree, and have its branches lead us to the bottom & the author's name and so on, or get rid of the tree and have the moon peek out of clouds that take us to the bottom. As things stand, this stuff is just slapped into place.
Overall this is not a bad cover at all, IMHO. It has a lot going for it. Very readable type, not cluttered, feels pretty solid. Just could use some finessing to make it better is all.
@Jeff, I disagree that swirls and curls are required for this kind of novel. And if she did want to use some, the bit at the bottom or a different treatment at the top might be better.
This cover is stunning. I love the imagery, the composition, the muted warm sepia tones. My only issue is with the model's hair. It appears to be a wig and a badly fitting one because the hair underneath is showing. The tiny werewolf text can't be seen unless this is blown up big. Best to leave it off. Otherwise the model's eyes and the overall design of the cover is extremely compelling. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGenre would be paranormal something, not sure what. But that's enough for me. :)
Very eye-catching. It drew my attention immediately. If I saw this as as a thumbnail while browsing Amazon, I would halt my casual skimming of pages and click to read the book's blurb.
ReplyDelete10 out of 10 for AIDA Stage 1. 10 out of 10 for AIDA Stage 2.
It's dramatic. I expect the story to be paranormal with scary elements and inner conflict.
The only aspect which doesn't work for me is the slogan/tagline. It's too small to be read at thumbnail size; it just distracts from the strong picture and title.
It's readable if I click to enlarge the picture, but as an interested potential customer, I have the choice to either click to enlarge the picture, or to click to read the book description, and I'm more likely to do the latter.
I suggest leaving the slogan out of the cover and putting it in the blurb instead.
(Unless you're planning to sell this book exclusively in print through brick&mortar bookshops where the reader views the cover at full size; in this case, it's perfect).
I hope this helps.
Rayne
@Rayne, some of us have no clue what AIDA is, so perhaps you could explain?
ReplyDeleteI have plusses and minuses for this cover. To me her grey eyes are so startling as to look kind of buggy. Especially her left eye.
I also don't care much for the top orange brown swirls. They look like some sort of weird headpiece or addition to her hair. And I agree that the tagline, for the ebook, should go.
For pluses, I like the warm color scheme and the typeface treatments. Very well done.
Is nobody else disturbed by the big white round thing protruding from her neck?
ReplyDelete@Jude, maybe she is Frankenstein-in-training?
ReplyDeleteNo clue what AIDA is and probably don't care. I just say whether I like it or not. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat IS that round thing growing out of her neck? Are we supposed to ignore it? Looks weird. The curvy things at the top that reappear at the bottom don't work, imo. No one could possibly read the tag line. It's much too small.
I'd class this as a fairly good cover that could have been better.
genre: Paranormal werewolf would be my guess.
ReplyDeleteI like the basic idea, but I think that too many extras have been added to take away from the strengths. I would suggest getting ride of the scroll work at the top and lose the moon on the poor girls neck. I would also lose the micro text above the author's name, it is totally unreadable.
"I would suggest getting ride of the scroll work at the top"
ReplyDeleteI might agree, except that the scroll work has become sort of the signature graphic element announcing this sort of novel. (See just about anything by Amanda Hocking.) So, that can't go away. Besides, it almost works as part of her hair. I kind of want to see ALL her hair looking that way.
I also don't mind the moon in her neck, except that it's sticking into it rather severely, with nothing to soften it. On the other side, there's a tree. So either have the moon peeking through a tree, and have its branches lead us to the bottom & the author's name and so on, or get rid of the tree and have the moon peek out of clouds that take us to the bottom. As things stand, this stuff is just slapped into place.
Overall this is not a bad cover at all, IMHO. It has a lot going for it. Very readable type, not cluttered, feels pretty solid. Just could use some finessing to make it better is all.
@Jeff, I disagree that swirls and curls are required for this kind of novel. And if she did want to use some, the bit at the bottom or a different treatment at the top might be better.
ReplyDelete