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Post by mlhearing on Feb 16, 2014 19:06:31 GMT -5
What are your thoughts on this cover? I like it, but my cover opinions haven't proven to be worth much.  |
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Post by whdean on Feb 16, 2014 20:53:01 GMT -5
I'd like to help ML, but it's a little out of my comfort zone. I've been known to read western stuff, but I've never even been to a rodeo (I've been on an electric bull before, but...).
I'd be inclined to look in and "around" the genre (i.e., at similar genres), but you've probably already done it.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 16, 2014 22:54:15 GMT -5
I don't feel like I'm familiar with western covers either, so this is just a general reaction: it looks okay, but not professional. I'm not sure if the central images will be clear at thumbnail size. The spurs, rope, and bull/rider might become just a jumble of shapes and colors. Let me see ... okay, here it is at about the size of an Amazon also-bought on my laptop (I'm attaching, so you might need to click on it to get the real size). I think my impulse would be to simplify that central image as much as you can, so that the book's genre leaps out at the browser. I see bull-riding, I'm thinking rodeo. I see those kinds of spurs, I'm thinking cowboy. You could pick an image and enlarge it, rather than trying to squeeze several into that small space. ETA: The old-west font isn't so readable, either. I'm not sure the book's title needs to be legible at thumbnail, so long as there's a powerful image instead. But to have neither the title nor the image legible isn't a good I idea, I don't think. Attachments:
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Post by mlhearing on Feb 17, 2014 7:25:38 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I'll see if I can improve it.
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Post by vrabinec on Feb 17, 2014 10:22:15 GMT -5
I'm not a reader of the genre, but I remember looking at the best sellers in Western not long ago in case something popped up that intrigued me (I'm more a fan of indians than cowboys, and almost nobooks feature THEM as the protag Iin Westerns) Anyway, none of the covers I saw in the best sellers was that busy. I saw plenty with the wood framing top and bottom like you've got it, but they kept thatcenter Iimage simple. Either it was a picture like you've got there of the bull rider (which I think is a really cool picture with a great color scheme I think would do well) Or it had the image of the spurs like you've got behind the rider. I'd pick one (the bull rider IMO) and stick with that.
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 17, 2014 11:08:13 GMT -5
Here's an idea I had. Not outstanding, I know. I did it in powerpoint, and I'm glad to email the file to you if you want. There are a lot of fonts out there that could work (this is one I got from dafont I think). There are also a lot of images for free or inexpensive that you can drop in (this image isn't great, but I didn't look for a long time). No pride in authorship. Attachments:
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 17, 2014 11:42:21 GMT -5
I like the font, CB -- that's got to be more readable. I wonder if a silhouette of a bull and rider would work in the center.
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 17, 2014 11:54:07 GMT -5
Yeah, I thought there could be a lot of images that would work.
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Post by Suzy on Feb 17, 2014 11:56:13 GMT -5
I like it too. The brown and the font really gives me a feeling of Rodeos and cowboys. Easier to read too. But a bull and rider or a saddle might work better.
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 17, 2014 12:03:27 GMT -5
I have a hard time getting a transparent background. Attachments:
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Post by Suzy on Feb 17, 2014 12:07:29 GMT -5
How about something like this?  |
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 17, 2014 12:19:15 GMT -5
Much more than what I did is above my level of ability. There are a lot of great images I saw when I was digging around.
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Post by Suzy on Feb 17, 2014 12:27:30 GMT -5
I haven't a clue myself, so I'm impressed with what you did.
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 17, 2014 12:36:06 GMT -5
You'd have to find an image you can get rights to. Attachments:
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Post by Suzy on Feb 17, 2014 12:37:54 GMT -5
I like that one!
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 17, 2014 12:50:21 GMT -5
You'd have to find an image you can get rights to. I like this, too! I also like the bull-rider silhouette, but I think this one might be stronger. |
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Post by Alan Petersen on Feb 17, 2014 15:07:25 GMT -5
You'd have to find an image you can get rights to. I like that cover better. The font and image used pops more to me. I took a look at the western best sellers and the images are more generic than an actual photograph, so I think you would better off going with something like CB's example than the original.  |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 17, 2014 16:27:16 GMT -5
I'm partial to the bull and rider silhouette. CB's is nice too, although the guys sitting on the fence doesn't necessarily say rodeo to me. I couldn't make out any of the imagery in the first iteration, even at the posted size.
FYI, I'm going to my first rodeo at the end of this month in Tucson. Should be interesting.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 17, 2014 18:21:33 GMT -5
I'm partial to the bull and rider silhouette. CB's is nice too, although the guys sitting on the fence doesn't necessarily say rodeo to me. I couldn't make out any of the imagery in the first iteration, even at the posted size. FYI, I'm going to my first rodeo at the end of this month in Tucson. Should be interesting. I've been to exactly one. A bronc suffered a compound fracture. Now, injuries like that do happen in equestrian sports, and it happens a lot less in rodeo than in thoroughbred racing (the rate of "breakdowns" in thoroughbred racing is unbelievable ... the sport shouldn't exist in its American form, IMO). Domesticated horses are much larger and heavier than their wild forebears, but they don't have much more bone in their legs. Not a great recipe. And then we use them ways that apply a lot of compresion and twisting forces to the legs. Sometimes they're going to break. It can happen just out in the pasture. The unconscionable thing is that it took 10 minutes to get a vet in the ring. Then he shows up without anything on hand, bends over, and looks at the leg, and is like, "Yup, that's broken!" Disappears for another 5 minutes. Finally comes back puts the horse down. Understand that this is an injury where the leg is flapping around in all directions from the knee, the bone is visible, blood is gushing everywhere. There wasn't a person in the arena who couldn't tell what had happened. And that animal had to suffer for 15 minutes that way. It was awful. The incompetence of it turned me off entirely. Hopefully most rodeos are better run than that one was. It was a traveling outfit. Might've been put together largely to show off the bull Bodacious. Actually, I am sort of glad I got to see him. What an extraordinary animal. If you look up "badass" in the dictionary, it isn't Samuel Jackson in the margin. It's that bull. You know, I miss the days of paper dictionaries with pictures in the margins. I had one that had Simone de Beauvoir and a beaver together in the marginal illustrations. I always got a kick out of that. Sorry, I'm rambling big time -- six hours of trying to keep two widgets occupied while also grading papers ... my brain is short-circuiting. Enjoy the rodeo, Daniel.  Michael, I do still like the guys-on-the-fence, one. It's classy. ETA: Here's Bodacious being ridden (don't worry ... no one gets hurt): www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ_khp5oxRM#t |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 17, 2014 19:08:53 GMT -5
My wife and I are both a little nervous about going. Being vegetarian, tree-hugging, animal lovers, our first experience may be our last.
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