Today, America, it is your duty and honor to make what will be perhaps the most important choice of our lifetimes.
No, not that political race. Most of you, being upright citizens, have probably cast your votes in that one already.
No, I’m talking about the solemn and portentous decision as to what the cover of my next novel will be like.
As you know if you’ve been around here, I’ve gone to e-publishing, with the generous assistance of our friend Ori Pomerantz, who does the technical publishing stuff, and Phil Wade of this blog, who designs the covers. (You can see my previous masterwork, Troll Valley, here.)
The new book is another Erling Skjalgsson novel, and I call it Hailstone Mountain. It’s a sort of H. Rider Haggard-esque story, centering on a lost civilization high in the mountains of Norway. We’ve been brainstorming it and have gone through a few versions. Here’s one. The background is a photo I took during my last trip to Norway. It’s a famous place in Romsdal called Trollveggen (Troll Wall). The people in front are members of my Viking group, the Viking Age Club and Society of the Sons of Norway.
I like it, but it seems kind of bare in the middle. So Phil tried this:
This one seems more exciting, but you lose the misty effect around the mountain peaks, which seems to me the best part of the photo.
Maybe we should just find a fulsome blurb about what a great writer I am, and paste that across the front of the mountain instead.
What do you think? All friendly suggestions welcome.
Personally, I’d go for the first one. (Maybe if you painted the small white section in the middle there orange, if you want to have a volcano effect.)
I like the misty mtns, but the people there look more like their pic was taken indoors. I think if you misted them up a little bit, it’d help.
Personally I prefer a drawing as opposed to a photo.
Jerri, that takes a completely different set of skills.
I like the bottom one with the face on top but perhaps you can continue that theme and make the cover more mysterious by making the folks on the bottom half somewhat translucent? Then the bottom and top would fit together better.
I’m kind of with Jerri on this one.
Lars,
Congratulations on your new novel. However, from what I’ve read on self-publishing, having the cover professionally done is a *must*. There are sites you can go to where artists offer their services for cover design for a range of prices (you get what you pay for). Cutting costs here could seriously cut your sales. Please consider spending the money to give your novel that extra boost in professional appeal.
Phil’s not exactly an amateur. And I like this.
Too busy. Much of the detail will be lost when these are shrunk down to thumbnail size. I suggest cropping the group shot down to two or three individuals and moving the overlay up so that there is less mountain between their heads and the peak. I also wonder if something can be done about focal point. The group is looking at something above my head that I can’t see. It distracts me from the impressive mountain behind them.
I agree with those who prefer drawings on book covers. In a drawing, certain features can be exaggerated to highlight specific characteristics and emotions to make the book more inviting. Is there a photoshop action that can render the image more cartoonish?
These are good observations. I can’t make an illustration or convert the photo into a cartoon, but I can work on some new ideas.
Looking at it again, I think I’m with Greybeard.
I agree with you about the misty mountains.
No offense to anyone; but I’d lose the people entirely.
First, let me thank you for brightening my day with news that the next Erling novel is one step closer to my Kindle for PC account.
I like the font and color of the text. I like the knotwork around the edge.
What feeling are you going for with the cover might help. If you want to emphasize there is danger up on the mountain, the ghostly, fiery eyes of the second one conveys that to me. If you want to emphasize the mystery of the mountain, I like the first one.
Unfortunately, I think the people detract from scene. I say “unfortunately” because I usually want people on the cover.
I like the first picture. I do wonder if you could find an illustrator, but I’m not sure how much that matters for e-books.
I asked my wife to look at this. She does graphic design as a hobby. She likes the first one but without the people. She also said that Photoshop (and GIMP and Paint.NET) can make a picture more like an illustration. In Paint.NET, those options are under effects, artistic. I ran the first cover through ink sketch under there, and I liked it. You can also select just portions of the image to render the effect on.
I don’t see how this would work without the people, but Lars and I will work on it more. Perhaps you’ll see another post with alternate covers.
Yeah, we can’t do it without the people. Especially since it’s the wrong mountain. People who know Norway will recognize this mountain, and it’s not the one I write about in the book.