I’m not a  cover designer, not by a long shot. And yet, like any DIY author, I tend to believe I know what’s best for my books. I did study design somewhat extensively before unleashing my creativity, and I understand the cover is the first thing readers see, and it has to wow them immediately and make them want to read the back of the book, or they’re going to move on. Also, the artwork and typeface need to clearly identify the appropriate genre.

Whether I end up self publishing with these covers, or submitting them to a publisher’s cover artist so he or she can get the feel for what my books are about, this is what I conjured in my head when I imagined my books displayed online and at book stores.

The Kelly Reed Series

I branded the Kelly Reed series with my author’s name in yellow League Gothic, and the book titles in white Trajan Pro, and with the same text placement. Both typefaces are common for the thriller genre.

The Samogon Affair

For book one, I dropped the opacity on the female model’s layer, intending to create a window-reflection vibe because in the prologue the protagonist is staring out a window at the Scioto River from a courthouse in downtown Columbus, and sees her reflection. The artwork is the Columbus, Ohio skyline and Scioto River. The crime-scene tape was the element needed to identify the book as a crime thriller. Without it, I feared the title “Affair” combined with the female model would mislead readers into thinking the book was a romance novel.

Playing for Blood

I kept to the cityscape because the book starts out in a downtown scene with my protagonist hooded, standing next to a bus-stop pavilion. To give some contrast between the night-time cityscape and the hooded model, I added a red filter to the cityscape layer to go along with the title “Blood”.  But then I began to worry readers might think this was a vampire book and not a crime thriller. So I added another layer to the female model: a gun sticking out of her jeans, intending for this element to clarify the book as a crime novel.

Whispers That Kill

Since the story is about a missing woman that no one knows if she is alive or dead, the cover concept had to avoid answering that question. The title “Whispers” and the back-of-the-book description gave me the idea for a female model whispering. For the “she’s alive,” I added a layer of ripples around her to make it seem she was emerging from hiding (sorta like King Arthur’s the Lady of the Lake reaching out with the sword Excalibur). For the “she’s not alive,” I added a duplicate layer of the riverbank and landscape, and then dropped the layer’s opacity, intending to make the woman appear ghost like.

Tainted Justice

A very simple design here. The girl in my book’s opening paragraph is in a dark place mentally, traumatized, staring up at the spinning blades of a ceiling fan. I enlarged the model’s image immensely to make just her face the cover art, and then moved her halfway off canvas then blacked out everything else.

Why just half a face? There was something captivating about the model’s right eye when you are staring at the entire photo of her. I felt a single eye with a partially opened mouth and the black background would jump off the canvas more than if I had included her entire face. Unlike the other books’ centered text placement, the artwork positioning required the title be left justified to keep it off the model’s lips for better appeal.

The DeShawn Mills Novellas

All three of my DeShawn Mills covers are in mock up. There’s still a bit of work to do, but I wanted to share them with you anyway — let you see my initial thoughts. Because it’s a different series, I’m free to differentiate from the series branding for my Kelly Reed novels (text placement), although I’m wanting to stay with the League Gothic typeface for author branding. For now, I’ve kept to the Trajan Pro typeface for the title and supplemental text.

Deception’s Game

The chess board artwork plays with the title because chess is a game of deception, and my book is a conspiracy of pawns being sacrificed for misdirection.  Also, early in the story my protagonist meets with a friend to ask for help with the case, and they’re playing a game of chess.

Left as is, the artwork and title could easily mislead readers into thinking this is a “how to” book about playing chess, and not a crime thriller. To avoid this, I’m thinking of having blood flow down the front-right side of the gold queen piece and puddle onto the board next to her. Blood screams murder, which screams thriller, which identifies the correct genre. Nothing gory, just subtle and sweet. But the blood must have that metallic chrome shine like the board and pieces, otherwise it will look like it doesn’t belong.

Race to Judgment

The title and book description decided the artwork: DeShawn is racing to solve the case before a town burns down. And since he is the protagonist, of course he is racing into the flames like a hero. And yes, I know my PI is a black man and my cover model is white. I haven’t found a good stock photo of a sharp-dressed, bald headed, black man running that I like just yet.

The color of the artwork (the flames) demanded that I add a shadow effect to my title and subtitle so the text would stand out more. Text placement was lowered from the previous book because of where I placed the model. I don’t particularly like where I have placed the supplemental text (“A DeShawn Mills Novella”).

My one concern is genre Identification. Does the artwork suggest Action Thriller more than Crime Thriller? I’m still working on it. Still working on all the DeShawn Mills covers for that matter.

Honor Thy Father

This cover design is giving me a hard time. It’s proving to be quite problematic. Needless to say, I’m stuck on what to do. HELP!!

Well, what do you think? Do these covers resonate with you? Are they something that would lead you to read the back of the book and even read the sneak peek? Are they enough to get a professional cover artist rolling with ideas for more impressive and captivating designs? Should I enter them into the BookDesigner website’s monthly ebook cover contest?