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Cover Help - Nonfiction / Things I've Learned As An Indie Author
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Dwayne, Head of Lettuce
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Jan 17, 2019 10:22AM
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I like it, the colors, the font; the guy is totally focused in the midst of everything else. I would definitely do a look inside. :)
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Thank you, M.L. I looked over hundreds of photos of writers, typewriters, computers, and the like and wasn't getting a vibe from any of them. The instant I finally found this one, I knew if I bleached out the background it would make that writer pop.
LOL, I like it. It definitely has impact, and the more you look at it, the more interesting it gets.
Same here. it's intriguing and a little funny. There is also a hint of mystery (well for me).I would definitively take it to, at least, read the blurb.
I really like it, that's a brilliant image and looks great against that background.
I echo the comments of the others. This is an especially good cover, top grade, even the type face sends a message.
I love it with the old fashioned type font. Puts me in mind of my days of waiting on my ride at Starbucks in Safeway with my laptop, working away, not aware of what else was going on around me. Great cover. I'd pick it up to read the blurb.
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I've been using the font in my draft, now. I love it.
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yeah, great job. Couldn't fault it if I tried
Dwayne wrote: ""It's an unusual and interesting cover ! Like ML has commented - the guy is totally focussed . Also , apart from his work material , the provision for his next meal is also right there beside him , so there'll be no disturbance / interruption from that quarter either !
Other than illustrating his focused mind , the hazy background could also represent ideas in the author's mind which are yet to come into full focus , and gain colours ! Or again , considering the title , could the indistinct background suggest the long journey from the manuscript to the market / reader ?
Would like to read the blurb , certainly !
Hi Dwayne - you definitely hit the mark on this. Great comments from everyone, agreed with all. Graphically though I have a few suggestions. Because the guy is dead center, I would shift the top 4 lines to the left so that “author” is perfectly centered over his head. That would tie the image and the title together. Then shift your name slightly to the right so that the indentations of your lines all are the same (I like the lines moving in as they go down the page by the way). This way the entire lettering (title and name) are perfectly centered together. As is the guy. See what you think. Also, the image looks archival - almost historic but not quite. Maybe its the lamp post. I like it but is that intentional? The deep perspective works great against the flatter foreground.
Love the cover. The blurry background to me says he's focusing on what he's doing. Just like you lose yourself in a good book.
Late arriving semi-dissenting voice. Yes it is striking and the concept of all the greyed out people which could be what is in the book, is good. But - what is the book about?Is it how I learned to be a independent author and put out professionally finished books?
Or is it my years of struggle?
What audience are you targeting - people who want to self publish themselves and want how-to texts, or autobiography readers?
Because if you are talking about how you learnt to really polish books and you too can do it, having smudged typewriter font for the title is sending the wrong message - makes me think of the hand-outs we used to get at school. For an autobiography it is amusing.
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It's tough to put into a few words exactly what the book is. The blurb will be a monster to tackle, when I get that far. (Right now the book is set aside until our beloved Supreme Overlord has a chance to look it over for me).
There is a little bit of autobiography in it, but probably less than five percent.
It is meant primarily for anyone who is thinking of self-publishing or who has just started to do so. Part of it is about putting out quality, polished work, but at the same time I'm encouraging writers to have fun with it and not take the hundreds of "rules" we encounter too seriously.
Most of what I learned about writing was learned many years ago, before Amazon existed. Hell, before the Internet existed. The font is meant to reflect this - an "old school" mind tackling this newfangled writing thing we call Indie. I'll dink around and see if I can find a font that is more fitting, though I'll admit I love this one.
I love the font! Many of the great writers used typewriters.
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Yes. Most of my literary heroes used typewriters or ink and pen. At one time, I did too, swearing I'd never get a computer.
Just wondering whether it would work to have a succession of fonts - as in start with blotted typewriter and each word is in a more polished looking font - show the progress over the years. Probably wouldn't work, but......
Carro wrote: "Just wondering whether it would work to have a succession of fonts - as in start with blotted typewriter and each word is in a more polished looking font - show the progress over the years. Probabl..."That may be a little tricky, though I do agree it needs variation with the text. 'Character fonts' can look unprofessional if they aren't balanced with a strict font such as Arial.
Would reccomend playing around with balancing the text/font.
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How's this?
Yes! Much better. I like the cover with the blue font. It looks more like a title, and has gravitas that the first cover did no have.
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I liked the old title better but having your name in a different font works. Maybe just have the words Indie Author in the old font.
D. wrote: "I liked the old title better but having your name in a different font works. Maybe just have the words Indie Author in the old font."Yeah, definitely try that - I'm not keen on the alternating layers of font.
Like your name in the new font.
I like the first cover. The title is self-explanatory.
I think in the title, I'd prefer the typewritten bit to be How I Became An - and then go for big smooth ta-da on Indie Author. (Because still having an objection to Indie Author being associated with smudged typewriter face.)
I like the original cover and font, except change the font of the author name. That's my vote!
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I did do some checking around and many books similar to this one do have two fonts in the title and often two colors.
AND / OR I might do away with Mom's Typewriter on this book. I love it, but it might be better suited to another book I already have out that is in dire need of a better cover.
Dwayne wrote: "I do like it all in the Mom's Typewriter (name of that font) but the blue Ariel really pops. When I get time later tonight I'll try Carro's suggestion of "Indie Author" in Ariel. I did do some ch..."
Not sure how I feel about mixing fonts and colours for the main title BUT the author name looks 1000x better.
That could also work. Maybe also try "things I've learned" in blue and "Indie Author in the typewriter font.
It does punt across the message that Dwayne Fry is an Indie Author - I like it the best.Incidentally, behind your author name there is a rather hard edged darker grey band, not sure it is a good idea.
Emily wrote: "Character fonts' can look unprofessional if they aren't balanced with a strict font such as Arial..."
Regarding this, I've been looking at big house published book covers on my shelf and on Amazon and it is quite variable as to how they handle fancier fonts. Quite a few do have the same fancy font for title and author's name. Most of what is on my shelf is fantasy, sf and urban fantasy, so maybe it is more used in the genres, but it doesn't seem to be an absolute rule.
If you want to use too colors, I could see the Things I learned in the blue and Indie Author in the Mom's typewriter front (Love that font btw) and keep your name in the blue as it looks great. To me, the typewriter font used on indie author shows how far we've come from our roots from pen and ink to typewriters to self pub on a computer.
It's about the content of the book and the message or vibe you want to convey. The first version looks personal, everything about it, and has irony and understated humor. The wry humor that, yeah, the guy learned a lot but he's so focused he hasn't updated his equipment. In the second version the blue font is nice and clear, modern, but almost (to me) says the guy in the image is really outdated, so how much did he really learn as an indie author, i.e., that his typewriter is way out of date but he still hasn't addressed the issue. It's leaning more toward a marketing approach but the image is holding it back. Also, the image doesn't pop as much (that red). It's a teeny bit (just a little) Dwight Swain-ish (a how-to) but not completely. (That oft-referred-to-in-the-past expert.)
If you do go with the blue, it's a good idea to try to all blue in the same font. The mixed fonts in this case seem to be at odds.
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Yeah, we don't want that.
After looking over my various versions, I'll be going with the typewriter font for the title and the blue for my name. I think, overall, that does the best at getting across the nature of the book.
Thanks for your help everyone!
I agree with your decision, Dwayne! Good luck with the book!
