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| A. |
It's now three weeks into the new year and I haven't been a part of it yet! My absence from Twitter has been noted, my blog is gathering dust and I'm losing ground on selling my product - brand Diem!
My writings haven't been as neglected though, I did force myself to do two sittings and managed to push out 3000 words.
I have also been playing around with - and agonising over - my first ebook cover design. Now this is a totally new area for me. I love doing it - I just don't know my way around the programs and end up just hitting buttons to see what happens.
The cover is for a true-life short, about an horrific accident on a deserted road late at night, resulting in some deep soul-searching and an unexpected decision to later become a cop.
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| B. |
Cover B was my first pleasing result, I liked the image and the car lights but wasn't completely happy with it. I do like the sense of foreboding, of danger. What's just over the rise ahead? Where is that car going and what's going to happen to it? Something's not right though. I've been getting some helpful feedback through Twitter and need to do some amendments to it (see first attempt at C below, although I don't like the lower font, and prefer the red/grain effect of B).
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| C. |
Tonight I tried something completely different - cover A. It is much more simpler, has a nice combination of colours and less clutter. It is also easy to read as a thumbnail. The more I look at it, the more I like it. I have just enthusiastically showed it to my nearest and dearest who proclaimed, 'Yeah, it's alright...' Now there's a positive sign if ever there was one! In fact, I am beginning to feel that it doesn't convey the same feelings as B does. It might actually be more suited to my first full novel - Filthy Gorgeous/Filthy. In that book a guy takes a road trip which has a hidden surprise which lands him in jail, and in the sights of the local drug cartel. Had been worried about how to come up with an idea for that one...
Now, you might advise me to pay a pro to do this but I can't! My idea is that this little series of five short cop stories will cost absolutely nothing to produce, so one sale is a profit! Any profits that do come from it will go to the editing (and possibly pro cover) for Filthy.
And just for comparison, I've added the original pic!
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(This is the original image for A - amazing to see what
an amateur can achieve with nearly nothing!) |
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| D. |
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| E. |
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| F. (I really like this for rmy novel!) |
Original Image: Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Please compare its evolution with the two images on the previous post, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI like the graphic, it's attention-grabbing and intriguing. I like the look of text above, but too wordy below. Or maybe just too big and distracting. But overall, a good attempt!
ReplyDeleteThnaks Abby, but which one are you talking about? A or B?
DeleteCover B is my choice. I just don't like the blue you use as a background for the font, and the font itself isn't too readable. How about a slightly plainer font, the same image, but with the text on the actual image as opposed to a plain background?
ReplyDeleteHi Vanessa, there is probably too much text on cover B to make it readable - that will all go. I will probably just run with the title, and (by) Diem Burden on the cover.
DeleteI did block the bottom of the picture out because the background was too light and distracted from / hid the text, but I've since found out how to grade the colour out to black, as in cover A.
Picnik.com has now given me full usage of all its fonts since I made that one up, so I will have to have another go at it.
Thanks for the feedback and I'll re-do it as soon as I get the time!
I'm talking about cover "B". Out of all of the above, I like "E" the most.
ReplyDelete