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I don't mind that one, but maybe you could try a version without the back-cover text following the contour of the wall. i.e. just left-align it with the bar code. Something about the slanting seems a bit try-hard. But maybe it's just me. The image is eye-catching, though.
I don't like any of the covers, none of them convey the sense of chance and probability that your synopsis does. Reading your synopsis is like standing on the edge of a cliff waiting to launch yourself and wondering if you'll make it: Viable or Abort? None of the covers come remotely close to matching that feeling of exhilarating expectation.
If you go with the first one in pic #11. Try putting a human figure\figures in silhouette, just blacked out like the trees and behind the big tree coming towards it. Maybe change the main text by rotating it back a little, lighten the text reflection.
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Yeah, and he won't get any sells for being too gory on the cover.....the cover is a place to make a good first impression to encourage people to pick it up and read it.
last one is sick.. the bent leg takes it out of the horror movie section maybe change th red to like yellow or something
#47 is a definite improvement on #41. If I saw this cover on a shelf, I'd be interested enough to pick it up and take a look. It's an attention-grabber.
I like #41 better that #47 (which seems a bit subdued, somehow more thriller-esque than sci-fi), but the back cover blurp is a little too short, and reads more like a tag line. It doesn't really convey that much information about the story line.
I don't know: as a sci-fi reader it tweaked my interest. I'd have a glance at it for sure. What training? Why too early? Who the hell are you? I'd want to know. Nice.
Is one of the survivors a psycho because he was awaken too soon, with an interest in cannibalism? That would be nice to read.
I guess so, and there wouldn't be a room for a sequel since the character will probably eat through its fellow cosmonauts pretty soon. Scrap that idea.
Only having half of one's training has unique consequences for each profession. The colony philosopher is stuck in the religious portion of his instruction, so he becomes the raving lunatic. The psychologist (our protagonist) is stuck in late 20th century psychology, which means he was just beginning to learn evolutionary psychology. A colony mine security officer was still having his ego torn down, so he never had it built back up. You can imagine the problems with that kid. What's great is that the abort sequence runs in the same order as the awakening would have. That means the top-level colonists were aborted first, before the colony AI decided to halt the abort sequence. It leaves the dregs in charge of the new planet, the add-on and less necessary professions (like psychologist and philosopher). There's tension from the first page and it never lets up. What was fun about writing this book was that I started with a cool premise and it practically wrote itself from there. It was like the plot was wound up tight and had all this potential energy, and all I had to do was turn it loose. I'm going through the final revision with my editor right now. I should have advance copies within a month or so. We're gonna do everything we can to keep costs down with the book and see if we can keep the retail under $10. I think that's impulse-buy-range for a book. Thanks again for all the help and input, guys. I'll be sure to give those of you that offered feedback a nod in the acknowledgments.
