Support for Indie Authors discussion

I'd appreciate some feedback about how well the title stands out on my cover. Is it bold enough to grab your attention? I'm wondering if I should have used a bolder font, or a more vivid colour. Opinions about the image also welcome.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01G5P9TWS

You definitely shouldn't use a vivid colour. It would ruin the current mood of the cover.

It might be a little lighter though. With the Amazon picture size you can read it well, but with an icon you have included in your post, it's a bit difficult to read.

I think you should make it a little lighter and if you can, add a silver shine effect to the colouring.

Looks cool and clear even as a thumbnail on the cell phone.

Zoltán wrote: "You definitely shouldn't use a vivid colour. It would ruin the current mood of the cover.

It might be a little lighter though. With the Amazon picture size you can read it well, but with an icon y..."

Thanks, I think I'll have a go at making it lighter. Not sure how to do a silver shine though, so I'll have to figure that out!

Ann wrote: "Zoltán wrote: "You definitely shouldn't use a vivid colour. It would ruin the current mood of the cover.

It might be a little lighter though. With the Amazon picture size you can read it well, but..."

The silver part would just be a bonus. Do not spend too much energy on it.

I don't know what software you are using for the cover. Some online cover makers have similar built-in functions. If you use a graphical program on your own (PS, Gimp, etc.) you can create a slight silver effect if you have a little darker shade of grey on one of the edges. Side depends on the direction if the light.

You can create such effect in various ways depending on the tool used. A few ideas: emboss or edge detect (cleaned up) and use it for bump mapping.
Less effective, but with such narrow fonts might work: Duplicate your title, fill the letters with a grey gradient. Put the result above the title and play with transparency.

I've got Photoshop Elements 11, so there are probably some things I can't do, but I'll have a go at your ideas, Zoltan. Thanks very much for your suggestions!

I think it looks fantastic!

Thanks for your comment Nik. All opinions are useful!

Thanks Lyra, that's great to know. Think I'm going to have a go at brightening the font a bit though.

It looks fine to me. Even the thumbnail is readable :-)

Ann wrote: "Thanks Lyra, that's great to know. Think I'm going to have a go at brightening the font a bit though."

Adding the slightest touch of a yellow from the moon colours to the brighter areas near the tops of the letters would make it "pop" more. I experimented on your cover and rgb: 254,246,221 seems to work. Airbrush at about 4 pixels with soft edges. Again just a tiny amount!

I like it! Well done!

John - I really appreciate you experimenting on making the letters stand out more. I still have a lot to learn about Photoshop. It looks like I've got some experimenting to do tomorrow...

It's great to be getting advice and positive comments on here. It's so hard to decide when a cover is as good as it's going to get.

Ann wrote: "John - I really appreciate you experimenting on making the letters stand out more. I still have a lot to learn about Photoshop. It looks like I've got some experimenting to do tomorrow...

Have fun! Do a number of them varying the amount and the colour a bit and then view them actual size and down to thumbnail before choosing.

The thumbnail here was a little hard to read, but honestly so are most books viewed that size. IMO the cover on Amazon looks great.

I should also clarify about the 4 pixel brush size, I was doing that on the Amazon cover at its maximum view size. The original file, of course, is going to be much larger so enlarge the brush size accordingly.

I've dabbled with the silver effect but I think I need more experience with photoshop. In the end I've followed John's advice and airbrushed in a touch of yellow then blended the layers. It's brightened it up subtly, so does stand out a bit better which should help on a small image.
Thanks all!

It looks great and sets the mood.

Looks good, readable and says a lot as is! Nice

Looks great :)

I think it looks great. The font is excellent and easy to read even in thumbnail view, and the cover as a whole definitely makes me want to read the story.

That's so great to know, thank you. :)

Nik wrote: "Looks cool and clear even as a thumbnail on the cell phone."

I'm with Nik and Sarah!

I love it, and I'm definitely a cover snob lol. :)

*raises hand*

Another cover snob here haha. I love it too! Mysterious, intriguing, and looks pretty darn amazeballs as a tiny thumbnail :)

Hugs,
Ann

Ann wrote: "I'd appreciate some feedback about how well the title stands out on my cover. Is it bold enough to grab your attention? I'm wondering if I should have used a bolder font, or a more vivid colour. Op..."

Looks good!
My only advice would be to go that bit further with levels and try changing the text around.

For an example:
- Move the main title up slightly so 'The' is in line with the pinkie knuckle
- Put the author's name where "A Short Story" is
- Put 'A Short Story' below the author name
Also make it slightly smaller-- and I believe there is an added space between Short and Story which really throws the balance out.
- Put a little tagline up the top (for balance, but it below where the current author name is)

That might help add some dimension to your cover :)

Thanks for your suggestions Emily. I'll have a go and see how it looks.
How did I not see that extra space between Short and Story???
Well spotted! It just shows how helpful it is to have other people take a critical look and give an honest opinion.