The main objection here seems to be that half the image is an old American map (with state borders that aren’t quite modern but which I suspect aren’t period-accurate — look carefully at east Idaho). I’m wondering if the author couldn’t get a properly “tall” image and so chose to fill up the bottom half with something else. Would’ve been better to delete the map, put the family scene in the bottom, and fade the sky into a solid color to make room for the title.
Besides that, it bothers me that the line “An American Saga” is placed right under a horizontal line yet isn’t aligned with it.
The logical thing to do, for anyone who’s seen a book before, is to use the map are as a background for the title. Swap the title text with the author byline, center them both and increase the size and you’d have a passable cover.
The main objection here seems to be that half the image is an old American map (with state borders that aren’t quite modern but which I suspect aren’t period-accurate — look carefully at east Idaho). I’m wondering if the author couldn’t get a properly “tall” image and so chose to fill up the bottom half with something else. Would’ve been better to delete the map, put the family scene in the bottom, and fade the sky into a solid color to make room for the title.
Besides that, it bothers me that the line “An American Saga” is placed right under a horizontal line yet isn’t aligned with it.
Overall it’s not terrible but could use revision.
The logical thing to do, for anyone who’s seen a book before, is to use the map are as a background for the title. Swap the title text with the author byline, center them both and increase the size and you’d have a passable cover.