More Cover advice

[gary compton]

Hello everybody, I thought I would take advantage of Scarfy's thread about his book cover by showing three of the candidates for mine.

Your opinions and criticism will be gratefully received.

I can't make my mind up on Demon or Demons, what do you think?

[chopper]

definitely not the third one - unless you are the psychic detective....

[John Jarrold]

Personally, I'd go for a more stark title lettering, less rounded. Don't use too many different fonts.

[gary compton]

Originally Posted by chopper

definitely not the third one - unless you are the psychic detective....

If I was I would have known you were going to say that

Which picture did you like...if any

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

Personally, I'd go for a more stark title lettering, less rounded. Don't use too many different fonts.

I'll mess about with it, see what I come up with. Did you prefer any of the pictures or am I on the wrong track?

[Mouse]

I prefer 'demon' to 'demons' and the third picture I think. But not the lettering.

[gary compton]

Originally Posted by Mouse

I prefer 'demon' to 'demons' and the third picture I think. But not the lettering.

Hi Mouse,

Is it the mix of fonts as John has said or any particular one of the three used?

Thanks for your comment.

[Mouse]

I think the best font is the one that says 'The Psychic Detective.' As John said, the others are too rounded.

[Troo]

Hi Gary,

The fonts you're using are casual, relaxed fonts, and as such clash with the violence and danger inherent in the cover image of lightning. You want stark, bold, CONFIDENT fonts, preferably sans-serif (that's fancy talk for "without the curly bits").

Also, never use more than two fonts on a cover. For preference, stick to one. A mishmash of fonts screams confusion, and suggests that the contens may be just as confused.

In fact, can you email me the background image for this cover:


and I'll give it a quick play?

Cheers!

[Troo]

Oh, and "Demon" or "Demons" depends on how many demons are in the book. And if the title is "Demon: The Psychic Detective", or "The Psychic Detective: Demon(s)". If the demon IS the psychic detective, then clearly he's a singular, not a plural. If the book is the first in a series about The Psychic Detective, then you're free to use either, but if you call it "DEMON" and there are three demons in it, readers will go "Duh, there's more than one demon."

[JDP]

Originally Posted by gary compton

Is it the mix of fonts as John has said or any particular one of the three used?

I'd agree that you'd want to stick to one or two fonts, at most. You might be best off having 'Demon' in the Copperplate Gothic bold which is (I think) what your tagline is in. That would be a nice, bold font for a title, then perhaps something like Centaur (neat, but with a nice, almost archaic touch) for the tagline and your name. Might also be best to have the title & tagline at the top, until your name becomes a bigger selling point than the title.

In terms of the image, I think that if you're doing your cover yourself, you'd be better off sticking to something more simple (symbolic or abstract) rather than having a photo. If you're dead set on the photo, I'd definitely say one of the lightning ones, they're quite moody.

I don't know what your book's about, but for some reason thinking about this I saw stark black lettering on white.

[gary compton]

Originally Posted by Troo

Oh, and "Demon" or "Demons" depends on how many demons are in the book. And if the title is "Demon: The Psychic Detective", or "The Psychic Detective: Demon(s)". If the demon IS the psychic detective, then clearly he's a singular, not a plural. If the book is the first in a series about The Psychic Detective, then you're free to use either, but if you call it "DEMON" and there are three demons in it, readers will go "Duh, there's more than one demon."

Hi there is only one Demon in the book and its not the Psychic Detective and this is the first book (god willing) in a series that would include my protaganist

I hope that makes sense!

[gary compton]

Originally Posted by JDP

I don't know what your book's about, but for some reason thinking about this I saw stark black lettering on white.

I would call it a supernatural thriller, hopefully dark and intimadating but with a good side to it also.

[Troo]

Originally Posted by gary compton

Hi there is only one Demon in the book and its not the Psychic Detective and this is the first book (god willing) in a series that would include my protaganist

I hope that makes sense!

Gotcha! I'll see what I can do

[BookStop]

Well, I like the first picture. the colors are rich and the lightning gives it a dark kind of look. I agree with what everyone else says about fonts. I also agree with jdp about the title being bigger and more noticable than your name. The title is still confusing to me; the psychic detective is detecting the demon or its doings, right? Is it that this is A Psychic Detective Novel, the individual title being Demon?

[Scarfy]

Originally Posted by gary compton

Hi there is only one Demon in the book and its not the Psychic Detective and this is the first book (god willing) in a series that would include my protaganist

How about,

Your name at the top
"Demons" at the bottom
and then, just under that, have "A Psychic Detective Novel"

With "Psychic Detective" in a slightly larger font size than "A" and "Novel", if you get my meaning.

It will sort of emphasise the series name more..?