I am finally getting to the “almost done” stage of my new flash fiction collection, and I realize I haven’t mentioned it much here.
It’s mostly based on the stories I wrote in April for the AtoZ Challenge, but everything has been edited and cleaned up, and a few of those stories have been tossed out entirely. The title I finally landed on is Flashes of Splashes, referencing the water theme running throughout the book.
Here’s where I need your help… I’ve been messing with cover designs for about 3 weeks, and I almost can’t think anymore. So, here are 6 covers currently in the running (5 that I like, one I’m less thrilled with). Please indicate which ones you love and/or which ones you hate. What would make you pick up the book? What would make you avoid it entirely and why? Feel free to give your opinions in the comments, or shoot me a private message if you don’t want to leave one publicly. Image names are beneath the images. And I just realized I didn’t update the title style on the Dancer image, so consider the two different title/subtitle styles as options on any of these, if you wish.
To inspire you, I’ll post the final-ish versions of the re-covers for New Skin and Flashes of Magic in another post.
Dancer
Mermaid
Rain Girl
Umbrella Man
Umbrella Bricks
Umbrella Yellow
The Mermaid or Dancer covers would make me pick it up. While the Umbrella Man is striking, it would probably make me pass, because I would think it was about spies or crime or con men or something like that. (Having the Rene Russo version of the Thomas Crown Affair firmly associated with that type of image.)
I like the girl in the rain best. It also has the best color contrast. You might want to try them all out in black and white though, too.
Love Dancer, very eye catching. I would pick it up because the artistry of the cover pulls me in. I love freedom and this one makes me feel free and abandoned when I look at it.