That’s right, I did an UF premade. Took WAY LONGER THAN I WANTED ADKJFLJASIDUOQIUE)()(@#!
Urban Fantasy!
Where fantastical adventures/romances take place in your modern, urban setting.
Unlike high fantasy where the writer can play with a whole new world and the readers are placed in a brand new setting and rules, the readers already know our world.
Usually Urban Fantasy is set in modern times. Percy Jackson or Harry Potter isn’t really Urban Fantasy (imo) because the story mainly takes place in their high fantasy setting/world.
But you already knew that! Ptsh you yell at my innocent blog.
Tis right, does not scream Urban Fantasy
Wait, you cry. your book is an Urban Fantasy and you haven’t followed the Urban Fantasy ‘looks!’
Although my own book can be classed as an Urban Fantasy, it was more a YA, with my main character being 14, I didn’t really think the look of Urban Fantasy Covers would fit.
<- More screams YA, fantasy, fun book. That’s exactly what I wanted.
Urban Fantasy seems to have more protagonists that are 16+.
ANYWAY
I got a request to do an Urban Fantasy! And as you all know, I haven’t done an UF (that’s it, it’s UF now) premade! I didn’t want to use a client’s book cover as a study material, and I also didn’t want her to pick me without knowing what I could produce.
Original Book covers are a bit different. They cost a LOT more, and while having an Original book cover is good, whether hand drawn or not, there are some genres that won’t work. I’ll get onto that more in Fantasy Genre.
So. Many. Leather. Jackets
Observations
Leather jackets. Does every girl have a leather jacket except me? And also girls in school uniforms are a thing? Plaid skirts.
Swirly, fire, water magic with bright colors. Usually 2-3 tones.
There’s a building/landscape faded in the background to a point, where sometimes I wonder what was the point of it there. I saw a cover artist who spent hours perfecting a stormy sky in the background only for it to be obscured by trees. Dayum.
The base of the book cover is usually obscured with trees, effects and swirly things.
Can be human models or rendered models, or both mixed. The models look ‘shiny’ a heavily touched up versions of themselves.
Magic/weapon/jewelry and ribbons. (Ribbons are cool, I’m not debating this)
Usually the model is shown from head to waist, or head to knee.
Just a snapshot of what you can see as UF.
Of course, there are male models, and I’ve spotted a few on the Amazon top UF list. But for some reason, when you look up UF images, it’s dominated with female models! Hmm… But a quick look shows it’s not too different from the above list. Yes. They too, have leather jackets.
My personal preference:
Sure, it’s safe to go with the flow. Surely I’m not the only one who has observed this pattern, and as everyone knows, when we have a pattern, we have assumptions and prejudices.
An important point in book covers are that when someone sees your book, they should know what genre it is. Shirtless dude - Romance. Lady with glowy things around her - UF. However it’s my personal preference that if you have a tasteful book cover, it will make people pick it up and read the back to see what it’s about. (of course within reason. You can’t have a landscape photo based book cover and say it’s erotica.)
So don’t be afraid to step out of the frame!
Happy writing :)