Last Time: Cover for the World Companion

I put together a few with blue-toned backgrounds. I’ve basically decided to go with one of the following, which includes versions close to those you have seen before plus the blue versions. I know which of those I like least, but I will be interested to see whether you all have the same opinion. Judging from prior cover posts, you will not have the same opinions as me or as each other! Opinions are ALL over the map here. This does at least mean that whichever cover I go with, probably it will appeal to some people and probably almost no one will really detest it with a passion, and honestly, that may be as good as it gets for something like this.

So, here. Please disregard all previous numbers that might have been applied to one or another cover. I’ll label the covers here and these are the official numbers.

^{Version 1}

This cover remains one I like personally. I will remind you again that against a pure white background, the cover shows up a bit better than it does here. However, obviously it shows up the least well of any of these versions. Note that one commenter on Goodreads preferred the cover without “The” in the title. That is something that is easy to change, so the above is a version that doesn’t have “The.” I think I might agree that this is better, but I’m not sure.

^{Version 2}

I get what some of you mean about the color of this cover not really matching the colors of the image. But to me, this actually does look fine. The contrast in colors doesn’t strike my eye as problematic. I like the texture. I don’t mind suggestions to find other colors with a similar texture, but those comments are not in line with Canva’s offerings. If I had seen other colors with a similar texture, I would have tried them. I scrolled past plenty of covers, I assure you.

^{Version 3}

I rather like this color, but I don’t think I prefer it to the two above. Note that the heavier black border on the top and bottom is VERY STUBBORN on this particular cover. I can’t get it to change to the lighter double bar as on the two version above. Taking off “The,” yes, no problem. Changing the borders and frames, no.

^{Version 4}

This very dark blue is the ONLY plain blue cover I could fine after a considerable amount of time scrolling. Maybe I like this. The pale lettering pick up the bluish snow color almost as though deliberately colored to match.

^{Version 5}

This is one of two backgrounds I used that offered an image rather than a plain background. Stars are not inappropriate, obviously. A coniferous forest is not wrong either, given that we are thinking of the winter country. Also, the bluish tones of this background do, to me, match the bluish tones of the central image. I am going back and forth with whether I like this. In some ways, I feel the background image detracts from the overall cover. But I like the colors.

^{Version 6}

I’m not crazy about the way this cover shades to white at the bottom. Obviously I shifted the image down to reduce the white space. I like the Moon, but that does, perhaps unfairly, emphasize the Moon over the Sun. I mean, this World Companion isn’t just about the winter country, obviously. On the other hand, the Moon is important and we are, after all, looking through the eyes of an Ugaro during the primary trilogy. What do you think?

Here’s a second try at Version 6, this time with a smoky border at the bottom to help define the lower edge of the cover:

^{Version 6b}

I like it better with some kind of border, any kind of border, at the bottom. But the gray doesn’t exactly match the blue above, and there’s no likelihood I could match that blue. What do you all think? Also, I can’t seem to get rid of the thin line above the bottom frame of the image. Not that I couldn’t try harder. But it’s not wanting to go away.

ONE MORE, LAST ONE

^{Version 7}

Every time I go looking for a frame, I’m unable to find the kind I used last time. Often, the frame can’t be copied from one version to the next because trying screws up the rest of the cover — I could try to explain what goes wrong, but suffice it to say that this turns out to be more difficult than one might expect, and let’s leave it at that. But I found this smoky black bar, which I rather like. However, I don’t think I like this color of green as well as the green of version 3

Items on which I would like your opinion:

A) “The” in the title, yes or no?

B) Do you prefer all the text above the image, as shown in versions 6 and 7?

C) And of course, which version(s) do you prefer? Feel free to rank all six. For me, it’s tough, it really is. I would tend to go:

1, 6, 2 or 5, 4, 3, 7 — yes, that is a tie for third place for me.

Even though I personally like Version 1, I do think this pale color is probably not as sensible a choice as something that will stand out better on a white background.

This is the LAST cover post for this book unless something very different occurs to me. After this, I will stop vacillating and pick one and stick to it.

Meanwhile, someone here … I don’t recall who and don’t think I’ll take time to look it up … but someone suggested that a neat thing to include in the World Companion would be an Ugaro story told the way men tell it and then told the way women tell it. That’s a great idea, and though I may or may not do it, I’m turning over ideas for that. In TARASHANA, Ryo tells the story of how the Little Knife was created, do you remember that? That might be a good choice.

However, I do have to think of a good story about that. Definitely a neat idea, though.