Somewhere along the learning curve...

[sleigh]

Well, my second attempt at creating a cover for THE WOODS was mocked and derided by Jim Hines' minions.  OK, I knew that going in -- I liked the second cover much better than the first, but still wasn't satisfied with it, and hey, we writers like workshopping stuff, right? So when Jim said he was going to do a post on covers for ebooks and asked if he could throw mine up, I said sure.  

It was interesting to read all the comments.  As I tell my students when we're workshopping: "There will be people who like your work, and others who won't..." Covers strike some people wonderfully and others not so much; I've noticed that with draft covers floated around on various writers' lists, also:  the same cover will get everything from "fantastic" to "horrible."

And I don't claim to be an accomplished cover artist; I was doing what I could with what I had on the computer...

However, the fabulously talented photographer Kyle Cassidy (kylecassidy here on LJ) sent me a sheaf of photos he'd taken with a model featuring a woods background, and gave me permission to use them if I could use 'em.  Hey, professional work!  Cool!  So I started fiddling...

In the interest of continuing the workshopping of an eventual cover, here are four new draft covers I've put together.  Now -- what I don't want is for this to be -- as so many blogs and journals are -- an echo chamber of agreement.  Workshops need honesty.  If you really like one or more of these (and I'm hoping you do), please say so, but don't say that if you don't actually feel it.  If you have criticism, give it.  If you have feedback, give it.  You're not going to hurt my feelings. I'm trying to put together the best cover I can for the book.  Everything can be changed:  type can be altered or deleted entirely.  Components of one cover can be moved to another.  None of this is final.  In fact, saying that none of them work for you is also fine if that the way you really feel.

So here we go. Here are the four contenders...

Version #4:



Version #5



Version #6



Version #7 (using Kyle's entire shot)



The floor is now yours.  Let me know what you think.

Comments

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Definitely better than the earlier ones, but still not hooking me. The photo is good, but the image is still just a girl in front of woods, without enough context.

The words "A dark fantasy" help, but I need the woman to be doing something other than standing there staring at me. Is she afraid of the woods, or is she the "terrible and beautiful magic"? She doesn't look afraid; neither does she look threatening. She looks like a model selling a dress, not like a model acting a role. (Or as Tyra Banks would say, "It's too catalog, not editorial.")

That's the problem with "found art"--even when it's good, it's harder to get it to match the book contents than something commissioned.

Suggestions:

1. Use the basic arrangement and colors of the first one. I prefer the brown as "threatening" and "dark"; the greens are a little too pastoral. The white in the 4th one is also fine.

2. Enlarge the image even closer on the model. I think cutting out a little more of her "posing" body language may minimize the catalog feel and put more attention on the woman and prompt questions about who/what she is.