Depends a lot on whether a cover is meant to grab people's attention, or be a proper accompaniment to the text itself. Ideally it does both, of course.
Talking of BookFunnel promos and their tendency towards being walls of glowy magical women, I recently updated my Tales from the Triverse cover from its original quite sparse style (the 3 rotated planets on a plain background - much more like the old-style Penguin classics) and shifted over to a more photoreal, hyper-coloured eye-catching thing.
Result? I'm getting more downloads now from the promos. I like both covers a lot, but it'll be interesting to see if this pattern continues, or whether it was a coincidence.
Ideally both. And perhaps when everything else is glowy magical women, something different might stand out more?
On the other hand, I don't think there is much doubt that most of the time most readers are seeking more of the same. And since my stuff is not likely to be more of the same for most of them, there is the question of whether it should look the same or different. Looking the same may mean it gains more eyeballs. The question then is, being different, does it turn them on to something different or turn them off for not being something the same.
There is also the question of whether Book Funnel is the right venue for me to find my audience. So far it has done more for newsletter building than for book sales.
In the end, though, I figure I have to look at the covers on my books and if I hate them, I won't be happy.
Indeed! I like both versions of my cover, so I'm OK with either. And Triverse is an odd one, in that it's opening is actually very much like what you might expect from a 'typical' fantasy novel (wizards, spells, towers, portals), before the rug is pulled out (multiple times) and it turns into a 1970s cop drama. In some ways having a more traditional fantasy novel cover helps with that genre twist.
I've only ever used BookFunnel for newsletter growth. How does it work (theoretically) for book sales more directly?
On a related note, something I like about Substack/newsletter publishing is that it's far less reliant on 'book covers' in general. The emphasis is more on the words.
I have only joined one sales promo. That was for The Wistful and the Good and I don't think it sold any books. I'll try again with Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. But I also have a couple of more targeting things in the works that I think might work better for me.
While I would like to get rich and famous as an author (who wouldn't), I think at this point I am looking at my literary career more as a way to provoke or get entry into conversations. Newsletter publications certainly seem to help in that regard. In some sense it matters a lot how big an audience you build. In another it only matters that it be big enough to sustain an interesting conversation.
i'm also partial to simpler covers. and some of those gatsby covers were downright creepy. it's amazing how the 'right' cover can become almost invisible as it seamlessly blends with the aesthetic of the book, while the wrong cover can become a turnoff before i even open it. one pet peeve of mine with covers is when the author's name is in a giant font so i mistake it for the title. i always assume this is compensation for something and pass on the book.
in defense of the fantasy covers (although they're often not to my taste either) they do serve as a nice shorthand for the genre of the book. as do those legions of covers featuring a photo of an anonymous woman walking away. (https://bookriot.com/ww2-era-women-book-covers/ )
it lets the reader know what to expect if they chose that sort of book before they even open it. sometimes i'm intrigued by a historical-sounding title, then i see the shirtless hunk on the cover and realize it's not quite the book i was imagining. nothing wrong with any of these books, but titles are often vague. i think of covers sort of like a genre's 'fashion sense' or style. they signal how a book sees itself and where it 'fits in' with its peers. as a reader, this comes in handy...
i am by no means a cover designer (i still have to design a proper cover for my own book!) but i am a graphic and editorial designer if that means anything... i like the cover! dicksee was always one of my favorites :-) great choice of font. have you considered a color for the line border? i'm wondering what it would look like in the dark 'gold/brass' from the ornament on the horse's reins? (and i would probably use the same color at a 50%-65% tint for the title, etc.) anyway, looks good as is, just a thought... nice job!
Yes, there is definitely that factor of book cover as shorthand for the genre/subgenre. Which means that the point of the thing is not to stand out but to fit in. And then with the range of different Gatsby covers one can see the designers trying to fit it into different genres for different audiences. But then, if I fit in to any of the current genre/subgenre spaces, I wouldn't have to design my own covers. :-(
We do tend to assume that the point is always to stand out. But I think that is often not the case. Rather, the point is to be instantly recognized as conforming to a particular specification. I don't know how else to explain all those women-with-their-backs-to-us covers. And it is not just about the graphics. There is a similar monotony in book blurbs, each with their specific and trite keywords for genre and sub-genre.
Anyway I never have fit in, so I guess there's not a lot of point in my worrying about that aspect of it.
Interesting ideas for the cover. I'll play about with those, as far as my very limited graphic manipulation skills allow.
i sympathize with not fitting in. i'm in a similar situation with my books but, i figure that gives me license to do whatever i want with them. it's nice not having to read from anyone else's script!
Certainly I have read it. Multiple times. Does that blue cover contain elements from the book? Sure. Does it express them in a way that suggests the tone or theme of the book. Not to my eye, anyway.
Cover looks on point to my eyes, Mark. Nice work!
Looks great. I agree with your breakdown on those Gatsby covers, but it is nice to see them all layed out like that. Thanks for sharing this!
Depends a lot on whether a cover is meant to grab people's attention, or be a proper accompaniment to the text itself. Ideally it does both, of course.
Talking of BookFunnel promos and their tendency towards being walls of glowy magical women, I recently updated my Tales from the Triverse cover from its original quite sparse style (the 3 rotated planets on a plain background - much more like the old-style Penguin classics) and shifted over to a more photoreal, hyper-coloured eye-catching thing.
Result? I'm getting more downloads now from the promos. I like both covers a lot, but it'll be interesting to see if this pattern continues, or whether it was a coincidence.
Ideally both. And perhaps when everything else is glowy magical women, something different might stand out more?
On the other hand, I don't think there is much doubt that most of the time most readers are seeking more of the same. And since my stuff is not likely to be more of the same for most of them, there is the question of whether it should look the same or different. Looking the same may mean it gains more eyeballs. The question then is, being different, does it turn them on to something different or turn them off for not being something the same.
There is also the question of whether Book Funnel is the right venue for me to find my audience. So far it has done more for newsletter building than for book sales.
In the end, though, I figure I have to look at the covers on my books and if I hate them, I won't be happy.
Indeed! I like both versions of my cover, so I'm OK with either. And Triverse is an odd one, in that it's opening is actually very much like what you might expect from a 'typical' fantasy novel (wizards, spells, towers, portals), before the rug is pulled out (multiple times) and it turns into a 1970s cop drama. In some ways having a more traditional fantasy novel cover helps with that genre twist.
I've only ever used BookFunnel for newsletter growth. How does it work (theoretically) for book sales more directly?
On a related note, something I like about Substack/newsletter publishing is that it's far less reliant on 'book covers' in general. The emphasis is more on the words.
I have only joined one sales promo. That was for The Wistful and the Good and I don't think it sold any books. I'll try again with Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. But I also have a couple of more targeting things in the works that I think might work better for me.
While I would like to get rich and famous as an author (who wouldn't), I think at this point I am looking at my literary career more as a way to provoke or get entry into conversations. Newsletter publications certainly seem to help in that regard. In some sense it matters a lot how big an audience you build. In another it only matters that it be big enough to sustain an interesting conversation.
i'm also partial to simpler covers. and some of those gatsby covers were downright creepy. it's amazing how the 'right' cover can become almost invisible as it seamlessly blends with the aesthetic of the book, while the wrong cover can become a turnoff before i even open it. one pet peeve of mine with covers is when the author's name is in a giant font so i mistake it for the title. i always assume this is compensation for something and pass on the book.
in defense of the fantasy covers (although they're often not to my taste either) they do serve as a nice shorthand for the genre of the book. as do those legions of covers featuring a photo of an anonymous woman walking away. (https://bookriot.com/ww2-era-women-book-covers/ )
it lets the reader know what to expect if they chose that sort of book before they even open it. sometimes i'm intrigued by a historical-sounding title, then i see the shirtless hunk on the cover and realize it's not quite the book i was imagining. nothing wrong with any of these books, but titles are often vague. i think of covers sort of like a genre's 'fashion sense' or style. they signal how a book sees itself and where it 'fits in' with its peers. as a reader, this comes in handy...
i am by no means a cover designer (i still have to design a proper cover for my own book!) but i am a graphic and editorial designer if that means anything... i like the cover! dicksee was always one of my favorites :-) great choice of font. have you considered a color for the line border? i'm wondering what it would look like in the dark 'gold/brass' from the ornament on the horse's reins? (and i would probably use the same color at a 50%-65% tint for the title, etc.) anyway, looks good as is, just a thought... nice job!
Yes, there is definitely that factor of book cover as shorthand for the genre/subgenre. Which means that the point of the thing is not to stand out but to fit in. And then with the range of different Gatsby covers one can see the designers trying to fit it into different genres for different audiences. But then, if I fit in to any of the current genre/subgenre spaces, I wouldn't have to design my own covers. :-(
We do tend to assume that the point is always to stand out. But I think that is often not the case. Rather, the point is to be instantly recognized as conforming to a particular specification. I don't know how else to explain all those women-with-their-backs-to-us covers. And it is not just about the graphics. There is a similar monotony in book blurbs, each with their specific and trite keywords for genre and sub-genre.
Anyway I never have fit in, so I guess there's not a lot of point in my worrying about that aspect of it.
Interesting ideas for the cover. I'll play about with those, as far as my very limited graphic manipulation skills allow.
i sympathize with not fitting in. i'm in a similar situation with my books but, i figure that gives me license to do whatever i want with them. it's nice not having to read from anyone else's script!
Made the changes you suggested to the cover. Big improvement. Thanks!
Oh good! I'm so glad it worked out :-)
The blue cover for Gatsby has everything to do with the book. Haven’t you read it?
Certainly I have read it. Multiple times. Does that blue cover contain elements from the book? Sure. Does it express them in a way that suggests the tone or theme of the book. Not to my eye, anyway.