In learning all I can about self publishing, one of the rules of thumb you must abide by is that you have to have awesome covers. Now, as someone who is barely making enough on his writing to buy a tank of gas every month, I can’t afford to drop hundreds of dollars on overly professional covers.
However, I do have two years of visual arts under my belt. And I make covers and graphics for my 9-5 from time to time. So I have tried to tackle covers myself. Some I like, some I don’t.
One thing about covers: many believe that the image must be gripping and the title must be large so it can be read as a thumbnail picture. heeding this advice, I have recently updated the cover for Everything Theory: Cold Compass.
The original is below. At the risk of maybe ruining a minor facet of the story for those that have not read the book, I will tell you now that the “compass” from the title is not an actual, physical compass. In the book, the term is used to relate to a supernatural sort of instinct. That’s why the compass in the cover is pale and spectral. And since there are elements of sci-fi to the story (quite a few, actually) I tried to find a font that was both science fiction-y and unique. The result:
Now, see below. Basically, it’s the same approach, only I chose a much larger font. This font, I believe, leaves the genre of the book open to interpretation. Is it horror? Is it action? Also, notice that I swapped the importance of the title and subtitle. I like this change and will keep it in this format from here on out for the next four books in the series.
What say you, potential buyers and lovers of cover art? Is the second an improvement? Or does it even matter because the cover is to vague and weak?
Note that I do have the super talented artist that did the cover for The Bleeding Room working on a new version of the covers, so this change could be all for nothing.
Opinion appreciated. Honest ones at that.






