People judge books by their covers
As a Librarian, I stare at hundreds of book covers a day, not only in our collection but in book review journals, online reviews, book stores, Goodreads and Pinterest. I know that a great book won’t get checked out by browsers if it has an ugly cover. A cover has to do many things, including conveying genre, target audience and tone.
An ebook cover has to do even more. I started working on ideas for my work in progress, Name Quest. At first I tried sketching out a scene from the book, but realized that when it was rendered down to a thumbnail, it would be hard to see clearly. An ebook cover should be readable at thumbnail size. Many great print book covers would become too busy or unreadable when rendered down. I decided to convey the tone (lighthearted fantasy) with a doodle background and the three main characters’ faces. This is my first sketch, it’s not quite right yet. I especially want to redo the character on the right. I’m trying to decide if the final cover should be painted, done as computer art, or kept as colored pencils.
I suggest either painting or CG. Pencils seem a little less professional and you want a polished look.
Mike
I dunno, I think the penciling makes it unusual, which could draw attention. However, I do have a quibble: from the cover alone, I can’t tell that this is fantasy,
Hmm. Any suggestions on how to make it more clearly fantasy?
I didn’t know you’re an artist too!
MM