Gives it more of a traditional / epic fantasy feel? Travis Bagwell pulls off different covers really well. If I'd change anything, it would be the lion/tree in the middle ...not sure what to change tho...Good luck!
The "tree" look was completely unintended. If you zoom in close, you'll see that's Matrix-style code making up the lion. I think I've abandoned that for a different, look, though. I've also changed the font (and font color) and repositioned the lighting on the blade.
You had me at Roguelike game. I love those sorts of games. I need to get back into Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. --- Since I'm not sure how a double post would be taken, I'll just drop my cover here. This was done by a friend of mine on Wattpad. Note that this isn't the LitRPG, but the prequel to the LitRPG with a different caste, that may or may not show up in the rewrite to Purgatory Road: Note that the E emblem is there because I'll be releasing the book under a Copyleft license.
Looking for honest critiques of this cover I made. Here is the working blurb for reference: Death was always something I thought of as a distant possibility until recently. Time had taken nearly everything from me but I was not ready to die. I’m not sure I ever will be. That’s why when the Everlast Corporation announced they would be accepting beta testers for their eternal life program I jumped at the chance to sign up. Becoming one of the first humans to be digitized and placed inside of an online video game was easy. Learning to live and survive in a hostile world that I knew almost nothing about was a different story. In my new world, I’ve learned that there are worse things than death and if I’m to avoid a terrible fate I must adapt quickly to the strange new mechanics governing my life. This book is rated M for Mature. It contains: fantasy violence, strong language, strong sexual content, mature humor, and is most likely offensive to everyone.
Got your armor on? It's a clean design, but... doesn't fit with most of the genre. There are exceptions to the rule like Travis Bagwell and Michael Chatfield to an extent. However, you want to look like the books that are similar to yours. Covers count. If you decide to stick with this design, I would work on the main title font. It's hard to read at thumbnail size - the color I think? Have you thought about buying a premade cover from a designer? @Viergacht has a ton of great stuff. I can dig up the link if you want. Like I said, clean, but it's not right for the genre. HTH!
Looks unclear and difficult to read, especially the title font. I would zoom in on the characters a bit more too? HTH!
@David M Zahn You should reconsider the cover. It doesn't match the blurb and the fireball in the middle is really bad and I do mean to an extreme here. (sorry) The digital part in the middle is fine and I get where you were going with it however the torn part should have been an element from the book not a simple beige fill. As Paul mentioned the colour in (Beta Life) is too close to the beige fill causing it to blend in instead of stand out.
Appreciate the honesty. I've actually worried myself that it didn't fit completely with the gene, but then I wanted to stand out from the crowd a bit, but it might be too different. That's a tricky balancing act. I've been debating on paying for a cover or making one myself. That's me figuring out how to use the basics of gimp after a few hours. Do you typically make your own covers or buy them?
appreciate the honesty. No need to apologize. I'm just trying to make sure I've give my book the best chance when I publish it and I know the cover is an important part of that.
Yeah, without the audience (or timing advantage Bagwell had in the beginning - ie no real competition), it's hard to "be different" and still sell. I do both to be honest. I took graphic design in college, so I have a bit of skills, but @Viergacht is the real pro. If you don't have a graphics background (rule of thirds, etc) and are trying to learn gimp, I would shell out the money for a pro cover. SelfPubBookCovers: One-of-a-kind premade book covers where Authors can instantly customize and download their covers, and where Artists can post a cover and name their own price. For Tower of Gates, I'm using @Viergacht, and I've been super happy with the results. He might even be able to do something custom for you. I'm not sure. But, yeah, being brutally honest, I would pay for a cover. Concentrate on your skills (writing) and get help presenting the best package available. We have a thread for tearing apart blurbs too. That's the second most important selling point a lot of times, so you want to make it great. I suck so bad at blurbs. Heh. Hope all this helps!
Appreciate it, and sweet I'll throw my blurb out there and see what criticisms I get on that too. I know it will likely need to be improved upon.
