When we weren’t sure about our cover design, we thought it came down to the overall amount of yellow in the cover. But our heads were stuck inside some box and losing sight of the forest through the trees — thinking that a tint or hue or tiny tweak to color was going to impact visibility, reader interest, or sales.

It took two posters in the Scribophile forums (I’m a member) to help us see the real issue.

This is what we thought was such a big deal — the amount of orange-yellow tint in the two cover options.

“If the choices are just those two …the yellower version is more evocative. But I would suggest taking it even further. If your story includes murder — how about doing the image in red — or parts? or making it darker to appear more sinister … something that is more evocative of the story. Just a thought.”

This was from E.M Hale and he was so right, so true!

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Self-publishing is the epitome of freedom. Self-published authors have so much of it — their story, their pub date, their channel, their price, their marketing plan, their plot twists, etc., etc. But all that freedom comes with a hefty amount of responsibility. The choice may be ours, but which choice is the better?

‘Nuff said about freedom, though.

We’re in the middle of some decision-making as it pertains to our cover and we need your help.

Of the two covers above, which do you prefer?

Hint, hint: the only difference is to the color palate. On the left, a golden-yellow tint. On the right, less golden. Lighter, brighter and leaning toward white.

If you had to pick between the two, which would it be?