Concept for my Ebook cover - see image draft

[Winston]

I was thinking for my ebook cover, to put a man in chains with a map of the USA behind him, and foreign women around him reaching out to him. What do you think of that? I brought this up to Larry Elterman, and he drew this funny draft of this concept below. What do you think? lol

[dsc]

I think it could work.

Another idea would be something like a pic on the left side showing a typical fat, demanding AW mocking and looking down her nose at a guy. Clip in the middle of the guy holding his head in frustration thinking to himself "There has to be a better way", and then the solution on the right!

I know the drawing was just a very rough draft, but it's Costa Rica (not Rico).

Is Costa Rica a real hotspot for men anyhow? As far as I know, it's one of the hotspots for retirees, but that's already going back a few years ago.

Maybe Colombia would be a better country to use for the graphic? It's known for its beautiful women..

[Winston]

Ok check out what I've put together here. I've added the angry woman in the US too. lol

http://www.happierabroad.com/ebookdraft.htm

[dsc]

Perfecto!

[jamesbond]

Ok check out what I've put together here. I've added the angry woman in the US too. lol

http://www.happierabroad.com/ebookdraft.htm

That's good but you might want to make the woman fat (since in reality a lot of women in the US are overweight).

[wuxi]

I would include a fat american woman with tattoos, swearing and whipping the guy to make it more realistic.

[Winston]

I would include a fat american woman with tattoos, swearing and whipping the guy to make it more realistic.

I couldn't find a fat angry woman clip art that looks decent.

Anyway, I just redid it with new photos. Check out the new version of the ebook cover now:

http://www.happierabroad.com/ebookdraft.htm

Btw, notice the country outline maps that I've lined up in a pyramid form. Conspiracy people will see it and think that I'm part of the Illuminati. Hahaha

Also, I've removed my photos from the home page header and just put pics of girls and scenery. Was that a good move?

http://www.happierabroad.com

[Jackal]

I would move the map of Europe farther away from the map of the US. By having Europe close to the US, it's as if you're suggesting that Europe is also a bad place which needs to be escaped from. Maybe you should put Europe on the bottom in line with the other foreign maps.

And maybe you should find a map of Europe with lighter colors which will go better with the colors of your other two foreign maps, since they bth have light blue and pastel colors

Another idea you might want to play around with is having the map of the US with all the unhappy stuff at the bottom and then having the pics of chicks and the maps of foreign countries above it. In many religious paintings, hell is often depicted at the bottom of the painting and heaven is at the top. People subconsciously understand that layout.

The layout should show that happiness abroad is the central concept, not simply describing the misery at home.

Maybe you could have the US at the bottom. The guy breaking the chains above it. Then the chick pics above that. Then the foreign maps above that.

Larry's original concept is also good if you can make a nice-looking version of that. In Larry's drawing, the US is at the bottom, too.

Anyway, you could play around and post several different versions and then we could tell you what we think.

[Winston]

That's an interesting take Jackal. I like the analogy to heaven and hell. But when people look at this, they will glance from top down, and it would be kind of awkward to see heaven first, and then hell below that. I mean, a chart should show the change, going from negative to positive, not the other way around, right?

Maybe I should just put the US map in the middle and the rest around it in a circle?

[Jackal]

That's an interesting take Jackal. I like the analogy to heaven and hell. But when people look at this, they will glance from top down, and it would be kind of awkward to see heaven first, and then hell below that. I mean, a chart should show the change, going from negative to positive, not the other way around, right?

Maybe I should just put the US map in the middle and the rest around it in a circle?

Oh, I didn't realize that people won't see the whole cover at once. I thought it was going to be a pdf file or something.

Then maybe your draft of the cover would be okay if you just move Europe to the bottom and maybe find a map of Europe whose colors match the others.

I don't know about putting the other countries around the US in a circle unless you can imply some sort of motion away from the US with the graphics (arrows, planes, running or leaping man, etc.). I think it's easier to have the cover tell a linear story of escape either vertically or horizontally.

[Winston]

No they will see the cover all at once. But what I mean is that naturally, people glance at a cover or page from TOP to BOTTOM, so they will see the misery in America first before the freedom and fun abroad.

But if you went the reverse, it would be awkward.

Comparisons of anything usually show the change from worse to better, not the other way. For instance, a before and after ad of a weight loss program is going to show the fat (undesirable) photo first, and then the positive change into skinny next to it, from left to right. It's not going to show the after result first and then the before photo.

See what I mean?

You usually show the negative first and then the change into positive. So if they glance from top down, you should put the negative part at the top first, shouldn't you?

Btw, what about the header photos on the home page? Was it a wise idea to remove my photos from there?

[Jackal]

No they will see the cover all at once. But what I mean is that naturally, people glance at a cover or page from TOP to BOTTOM, so they will see the misery in America first before the freedom and fun abroad.

I see what you mean. In classical paintings, there wasn't any text so people took in the image as whole. Yeah, the text changes things. I haven't studied advertising, so I don't know how people perceive things in ads. It's also possible that they could perceive the image as a whole after they read the title.

Another thing that I think is wrong with your draft of the cover is that pictures of hot chicks are close to the US on the sides. This confuses the message. You should make the map of the US full of unpleasant stuff and isolated. The only thing near it should be the guy breaking the chains. Then there should be the foreign chicks and the foreign maps. Right now, you have everything jumbled together. The sequence should be clear: pain, escape, pleasure. And the word as an oyster image shouldn't be next to the US either.

Anyway, I think Larry's original concept is the best and the least problematic. He shows an evolution horizontally, so he avoids all these issues of sequence of perception.

Btw, what about the header photos on the home page? Was it a wise idea to remove my photos from there?

I can't decide. It looked good before, and it looks good now, too. I guess it looked more humorous before with your pictures in there with the girls. Now it looks more generic. I guess it depends on what kind of impression you want to make.

[LarryElterman]

I think it could work.

Another idea would be something like a pic on the left side showing a typical fat, demanding AW mocking and looking down her nose at a guy. Clip in the middle of the guy holding his head in frustration thinking to himself "There has to be a better way", and then the solution on the right!

I know the drawing was just a very rough draft, but it's Costa Rica (not Rico).

Is Costa Rica a real hotspot for men anyhow? As far as I know, it's one of the hotspots for retirees, but that's already going back a few years ago.

Maybe Colombia would be a better country to use for the graphic? It's known for its beautiful women..

Ya, for the record i also spelled Thailand wrong, lol. Reminds me of many many years ago i had a job interview and i accidentally left behind a list of reminders with many words spelled wrong. The list was only for myself, but the guy told me he didn't want to hire someone who couldn't even spell. I didn't know my concept would be posted.

I have heard CUSTA RACO is a hot spot with many expats but i have no personal experience and don't know that much about it.

[LarryElterman]

Although I think Winston’s cover is interesting and fun to look at, the problem for me is it’s too busy and detailed. If he ever wants to sell his book on other sites a lot of times they show the book cover as a thumbnail or reduced size pic, and his concept would not work at all in that situation.

I had one more idea I will throw out for the fun of it.

The man is in jail. The floor of the jail and the jail cell itself is in the shape of the united states. The man is at the edge of the jail cell, hands on bars, face between the bars looking forlornly out.

Inside the jail cell is his boss and wife both yelling at him. In the distance is the rest of the world with hot women waiting for him. Something like that.

The title of the book should be large so it can be seen easily even in thumbnail size.

[Winston]

Good ideas.

What about the pics? Should I have pics of myself in the cover? Or pics of other men with foreign women? Or not?

Btw, Jackal emailed me a copy of his idea for the cover, with everything in reverse. It looks good. Check it out below and let me know what you think.

http://www.happierabroad.com/Jackaldraft.htm

If the cover is too crowded, another way to do it is just to have 1 to 3 images, for example the clip art of the guy breaking the chains and the two drawings of the women next to him, with the world oyster image above it?

That way the images could be enlarged and more visible and the whole thing kept simple.

Or I could have just one big clip art of a woman on the whole page?