I’m not an artiste but my husband is, so I called him in to have a look. I’ll share his comments with you if you’d like, depending on how thickish your skin is. He had strong opinions.
Okay. Keeping in mind that this if from my hubby. He has a BFA in sculpture and almost an MA in sculpture that he didn’t finish because he never completed the final project…long story…sorta. He’s also a high school art teacher, or was before the economy tanked. His comments:
There are too many things going on.
Lose the font. It’s too fancy and hard to read.
The title gets lost, it’s not prominent enough.
It’s too grainy.
So, I asked, “What would you do to remedy all that?” He said,
Choose a different font.
Lighten up the background to bring the man to the front and add depth.
I suggested the following, to which he nodded:
Or you could darken the background.
Choose the parts of the image that are most important and add focus to those while toning the rest down.
Last thing (and this is from me): I’m learning to think about how the cover looks as a thumbnail, and I think when this image is reduced to that size, it’s probably difficult to read the title and your name…which are really the most important elements of the cover.
Hot Space Station Justice 
I’m not an artiste but my husband is, so I called him in to have a look. I’ll share his comments with you if you’d like, depending on how thickish your skin is. He had strong opinions.
Hey… Thanks for even taking the time to comment. And no, I don’t mind strong opinions so long as they’re informed ones.
Okay. Keeping in mind that this if from my hubby. He has a BFA in sculpture and almost an MA in sculpture that he didn’t finish because he never completed the final project…long story…sorta. He’s also a high school art teacher, or was before the economy tanked. His comments:
There are too many things going on.
Lose the font. It’s too fancy and hard to read.
The title gets lost, it’s not prominent enough.
It’s too grainy.
So, I asked, “What would you do to remedy all that?” He said,
Choose a different font.
Lighten up the background to bring the man to the front and add depth.
I suggested the following, to which he nodded:
Or you could darken the background.
Choose the parts of the image that are most important and add focus to those while toning the rest down.
Last thing (and this is from me): I’m learning to think about how the cover looks as a thumbnail, and I think when this image is reduced to that size, it’s probably difficult to read the title and your name…which are really the most important elements of the cover.