Fantasy author looking for opinions




Posted by MJH

Hi everyone,

I’m very happy to say that I’ve just had my debut novel published and would love to swap thoughts and opinions on what makes a compelling read. Obviously, some of my motivation is market research, but if I don't ask people who are interested in books who can I ask! With this in mind, what do you think attracts a potential reader? Would it be the front cover (a link to mine can be found in my signature) or is it more likely to be on the strength of the synopsis? Just how important is the cover art and what really determines our decision to invest the time to actually sit down and read a book? As a new author, I feel these questions are very important, so any insights you can give will be greatly appreciated. It may help me not to make the same mistakes if I ever get around to writing another one! :)




Posted by S

If you're looking for art, my honest opinion is to not make it look like something that's cliche. If a book looks like something I don't care for, I typically won't pick it up. Yeah, yeah, don't judge a book by its cover but it's an undeniable truth, that's how the human mind works. I like fantasy but the old elves, dwarves and dragons are all burnt out.

My honest thoughts are that the darker aspect of a book typically draws me into it, so a book cover relaying the atmosphere and possibly combined with symbolism (That everyone understands, not just someone who has read it.) would be a massive aid.

As far as the synopsis goes, I figure that comes after the cover. Not sure what to say about that though.




Posted by MJH

Thanks for replying. I agree with you and having been thinking about it, I feel that while a strong cover may encourage someone to take a closer look at a book, it's really the synopsis that counts. If you get a chance to check it out, I've posted my own synopsis at the link in my signature. It would be great to get some feedback on it.




Posted by Bj Blaskowitz

I bought (http://www.amazon.com/Summoner-Book-One-Chronicles-Necromancer/dp/1844164683) the summoner based off of its cover, and it was garbage. (Someone even mentions the awesome cover and **** writing on the amazon page). They got my money, though! Make sure it's a badass cover.




Posted by MJH

For anyone interested there are a number of mini reviews of The Magic Lands on Amazon.co.uk It would be great to hear from some readers and I'm always happy to answers questions if anyone has one!




Posted by Shade

Synopsis strength is a huuuuuge factor.




Posted by MJH

Hey Shade,

I completely agree with you. If you get a chance to check my synopsis out, let me know what you think.




Posted by maian

This is a really old thread, but I feel like throwing in an opinion. :cookie:

Cover art, in my opinion, is HUGE. People tell you not to judge a book from its cover, and this may be true, but everybody does it to some extent. No matter what, the cover is going to be a huge selling point.

Take Eragon for example. It had such a simple cover. A box with a picture of a Dragon and the fancy word "Eragon" underneath. To me, this was fantastic. It's so simple, yet so intriguing. Something that is very subtle but draws one in will lead to somebody opening it up, and reading the synopsis.

Take Harry Potter. The original cover was very, very interesting. Although Harry kind of looked like a retard, the artistic uniqueness and the cover to cover portrait was compelling to look at, with bold text to match. Another selling point.

But, if you take a book like "THE ELVES CRYSTAL DAWN" or something, and it has a terribe cover, bad things can happen. If it had a bunch of stupid looking elves in some actiony pose, a lot of eyes will label it as another generic fantasy. Intriguing cover art is a must, one that seperates the book from every other run of the mill fantasy out there.