Book cover review and makeover: Bleedover by Curtis Hox

I got an email from Rose Andrade of Epub World about Curtix Hox’s novel “Bleedover”:

We have a novel out, Bleedover. Bleedover is a dark fantasy novel, with lots of fantasy, sci-fi, horror and thriller elements. We had a professionally designed cover that we liked, but it is very sci-fi, and steer away a lot of customers. Then, we tried a new home-made design. We found a image that we loved and just went for it. It did slightly better than the first one, although is not yet where we want to be for sure. So I am attaching the two covers for your evaluation. Perhaps we just need a facelift? Your expert opinion is greatly appreciated.

Here’s the first cover design:

Pretty awesome. Love the font and colors. Very sci-fi tech… but, no emotion, not plot. What’s this book about? No idea. In that sense, it fails as a cover. Which brings us to.,..

Ebook cover design 2:

This one has more emotion, but looks like a YA paranormal fantasy cover design. Still don’t know what it’s about… plus the top text is too high and flat – the title is stretch long so it makes the author’s name look short. Both are too close to the margins. The title “Bleedover” is hard to read, has an awful bevel+transparency+outerglow…

My fixes: I darkened out the original text, and wrote over it with a new, bolder font and a nice subtle gradient. I like the blue-green text on the red. I also overlayed part of the original cover to get that sci-fi text look in, at least hinting to the plot (I hope).

Altogether, much stronger… but it still needs more: A tagline to let readers know what it’s about, something like “Things started so simply; Jane never would have expected that her new powers would change everything around her… even herself” or “Jane Doe was the FBI’s youngest ever recruit, she had no idea that her first case would unveil sensitive information, putting her life in danger, as well as the man she loved…” (I totally made those parts up, I haven’t read this book yet so I’m not sure the character’s name.) The point is you need some lead in that hints to the plot and builds intrigue…

An awesome blurb from a good source would also help this book sell.