So, because I love my shiny new covers, I went around and asked what other people thought. Since the usual reply to my earlier covers was “the font looks off, but I like it” I assumed, with the font fixed, it would be “oh, awesome!”
It.. wasn’t.
Mostly I was told they weren’t right for the genre. That it was neither romance-y, or fantasy-like, enough. That I needed people, a face. Maybe I should have been more clear that I meant gothic?
Now I’m bummed. I don’t know what to think. I could certainly change the covers to a London-y background with a guy in a top-hat and a woman with a parasol.. but that isn’t what I think Larkspur is. I like the flower-paintings with the red so strong that it reminds you of blood. Larkspur has it spattered on the wall, Delphinium’s table looks soaked in it, and if you look closely the vase in Consolida is filled with blood and not water. It’s the frail loveliness of a flower contrasted with blood– and the realization that the flower itself is toxic and just as likely to do you harm as any blade.
Maybe I’m reaching too far. I know the meaning, but that doesn’t mean a lot of other people do.