Here it is!
MY AWESOME COVER!
If you missed the creation process, scroll down to yesterday's post. I failed to mention a few important details in that post, so I'll put them here.
1) THINK AHEAD! Thank goodness for my friend Ali Cross who asked a very important question. What about the other covers? Will you use the same model? *panic* I hadn't thought of that. Frantic, I searched the stock photos and luckily found a whole slew of pictures taken of this same model. Whew! I've since purchased three for the same price as this one. Now I'm set for the entire series. I've also saved all four photos in several different places in case my computer crashes.
Also, if this book is the first in a series, make sure you like the style of the first cover because the rest of the books in the series should match. I'll repeat the black at the top and bottom, use the same font and place the title and my name in the same positions. The only real difference will be the photo used, and even that will be similar. The photos I purchased for the other covers are all head shots of this same model. Uniformity is key here. You want your "fans" to recognize your work. (Yes, you're going to have fans.) SQUEEEEE!
2) THINK SMALL! Remember that this cover will be a little tiny thumbnail on Amazon.com or wherever you choose to sell your book. Make sure it rocks TEENY. Is the title visible? How about the author's name?
3) THINK POD! Are you doing a printed version (print on demand)? If so, you'll have to create a back cover as well. For mine I used the same background photo of the forest. I darkened it a little so my cover copy will show up and then added a fun element. The story has a white tiger in it, so I cropped one from a free stock site and placed it in the forest. I still might darken it a little more, but you can at least get the idea here. What do you think?
You'll also need to create the book spine detail, but that should be easy enough. Be sure to leave room at the bottom right for your BAR CODE and ISBN number. And you'll want to leave plenty of room for those endorsement quotes from Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling, right? RIGHT?
That's it. Do you like them? See anything you'd change or tweak?
Oooh, I love it! The cover turned out fantastic!
ReplyDeleteSeeing how small the thumbnail will be, it would be good if the title and your name could be a bit bigger, but I know it can't be too much bigger or the title would hang off her chin. Gorgeous model! Love the contrast!
And for reasons I won't divulge here, LOVE the tiger. ;)
Awesome, Christine! This looks really professional. Great job cropping the tiger--the lighting on that matches your picture so well!! And the hair--technically so well done.
ReplyDeleteIt might just be my computer, but her skin is looking kinda orange. And probably a bigger concern: looking at this, I wouldn't think "YA fantasy" (probably more straight up YA). The tiger on the back cover might help, but I don't have any suggestions :\ .
On the plus side, I shrank the picture as much as the browser would let me and I could still read the title. (Your name was hard to make out.)
You know what amazes me? How you took that photograph and made it look like it's been painted or created using a computer generated paint program. I mean--wow. And aside from the tiger, what made me think fantasy on the cover was the brilliant green shade of her eyes. That is NOT a natural color, so I got the fantasy element. She didn't need wings or a glowing aura to seem fantasy-ish to me, but that's just my take on it. It is incredibly beautiful, Christine. Just can't take my eyes off of it!
ReplyDeleteBright, bold and eye catching! i think it will be irresistible to teens and older ya fans.
ReplyDeletei really like it.
only one thing that feels a little off. The light source in the background conflicts with the light source on the girl's face. Makes your picture feel like it has two focal points. Just tone down the highlighted part of the background. (the brighter patch above her shoulder about the same level as her upper lip.
This should make your cover feel more fluid and less photoshoped.
Thanks everyone. I had fun putting it all together. I'm not sure why it look so orange, the one on photoshop is better. The original shot is a bit that way too, but not as bright. I'll play with it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the light source is tricky. It's coming from behind a tree on the left (which I blocked out when I shaded the edge) so you can't really tell. If I took the shading off, you could see that it comes from the same side, but then the tree looks stupid. I wanted a darker, more mysterious look to the forest behind her. *sigh* I'll play with that too.
Thanks for all the advice, guys. And thanks, Karen, for loving it so much.
HUGS
Nicely done! And you're right that it was good Ali asked that question. So much to learn here.
ReplyDeleteWow! What great advice. You go "Indie" girl!
ReplyDeleteKathi
Looks great, Christine. Loving it. =D
ReplyDeleteWow! love it. Love her eyes.
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome, Christine. Thanks for sharing it with us! Good luck. :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent!!
ReplyDeleteFabulous, Christine!
ReplyDeleteVery cool cover! I would absolutely want to read this book based on the cover alone!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesomeness, Christine! You did an excellent job!!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover. You did an excellent job. It totally looks professional, and I don't get the conflicting light source comment. Maybe my computer image is darker, but to me, the background is perfect. I think the forest gives a hint of the supernatural, as well as naming the series, and your font. The shading on her shoulder ties in nicely with the background, making it look like she's just standing too close to the camera when the photographer was trying to take a picture of the deer that got away. haha.
ReplyDeletei really love it! i know you were going for fantasy, but for some reason i get a very dystopian feel from this. maybe it's just me? though it might be a good thing - you'll draw in readers of both! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the cover! You did a fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteNice book cover. I use stock art, too. I have a friend who makes videos/trailers. Little did I know then I'd be taking the Indie adventure. My video pal also has photoshop, so she'll start making covers for me. She helped me with the story I have coming out soon. She did the type as my program wasn't very good at it. So, now I'll let her do the new ones. I think you did a great job.
ReplyDelete