Advice on creating a book cover

[Max]

Hi guys, I want to change my book cover, this is it currently but I think I want to create something completely different.

Advice and opinions greatly appreciated.

[Rebecca]

Hmm. That's not a bad cover for what the book sounds like. What kind of completely different thing were you thinking of? Certainly, something cartoonish seems like the way to go.

[CartoonistAndre]

I'd say the structuring of the cartoon is too cramped. Maybe a more simplified composition. Where she is stepping into the pudding is all cramped, she looks like she's dancing or kneeling. It's hard to tell what's going on there and the gag should be quick and simple. Even a black and white line drawing, as long as it gets the point across. Maybe have her looking at her heel rather than swimming in the mire. But remember- Less is more, and I think that would apply in this book genre. At least have your artist redo the woman and dog and give the image more breathing space. Good luck.

[Max]

excellent advice guys. It's a tough one to conceptualise.

[Will]

I'm not very good at covers. I'm more into the wordish side of the equation. I couldn't help notice that your blurb says this:

"This short fictitious book is full of insane ideas, vulgar humor and often pokes fun at topical issues all at the same time, leaving you with a lasting impression so much that you may find it difficult to not laugh if you happen to find yourself in any of these situations in real life."

How does that make me feel as a reader? It's all one long sentence with lots of ideas crammed into it. I am tempted to say "TL;DR". Some of the parts of the sentence don't seem to be needed ("all at the same time", "fictitious"). It feels like a first draft which needs a bit of editing to polish it up.

And how does the cover make me feel? Probably the same. I get the park bench, but I'm not quite sure why we're in an arctic forest. Who is doing the seducing - the man, the woman or the dog? Why is she doing that weird dance?

It feels a bit like the blurb - a first draft in need of an edit. Then I looked at the first page of your book in the "look inside" on Amazon and I came across the section on "Van Gough" instead of "Van Gogh".

Sorry if this comes across as harsh. But getting little details like this right is a part of what elevates self published books into commercial successes. And I speak as someone with some very amateurish covers when I first started out!