Anyone using "serious" cover instead of anime girl?

[Hanne]

Horizon of War [Strategy, Empire Building] Stub Soon

The thousand-year-old Imperium is crumbling, and war looms on the horizon, bringing with it both brutalities and splendor. Caught in the midst of this chaos is Lansius, an office grunt and veteran MMO player who has been transformed into a medieval peasant. With no wealth, status, or magical...

www.scribblehub.com

I have one reader that advised me to change my cover into a "more serious" one; apparently, my current cover (above) is too anime-ish for Historical- Warfare genre. He said a lot of "serious" readers won't be interested in such cover.

Now, I'm not sure at all. Does anyone have experience using a "serious" cover instead of an anime girl?

 

[doravg]

What? But it is an isekai. And it is very pretty. What more can someone want? Not to mention that you are posting it on SH. Here, the anime girls are Queens. If anything, it will bring you more views.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Anime cover will attract ten, "serious"(whatever that means) cover will attract like two.
It's not like people who like anime can't enjoy "serious"(whatever that means) stories.

 

[Theirl]

lol there is a reason most of youtube clickbait videos are anime girls using skimpy clothes

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Yes and no. It depends on what story it is that I'm writing.

 

[Succubiome]

Feels like it might be good advice for a different site? If someone really doesn't like anime / anime girl covers, I think odds are they're not actively finding series on SH.

You have a good cover that, while anime girl, looks different enough in ways that I imagine are useful given what I can see of your themes, plus you have 701 readers-- I wouldn't worry about it.

Actually, if I was gonna make a nitpicky visual complaint, it's that you'd benefit from a wider signature advertisement, so that "Kingdom Building" could fit on one line-- you want Kingdom Building fans to immediately notice the phrase, I imagine, and I don't think the way it's formatted leads to immediate recognition, and thus more attention on sight. This is a nitpick, though, and probably not a huge deal.

 

[Deleted member 113259]

I digitally draw my covers. I'm not good at digital art.

 

[HelloHound]

I chose to not have an anime cover (though it would be a lot cheaper lol) because my protagonist looks like a different type of girl

 

[Benson]

I don't think an anime girl cover is bound to be "not serious". Looking at the cover of your story, I think it is perfectly fine. I agree that barely clothed, big-breasted, legs spread can be a turn down for some, but for your story, that is not the case at all.
Personally, the most important thing about a cover for me is that it grabs my attention and yours certainly does. "Serious" is always very subjective. Also, scribblehub is not a site that hates anime, as far as I know.

So yeah, I guess what I want to say is, your cover is cool and perfectly fine. Caused me to start reading your story actually. So yeah, do not make changes based on a single comment, I mean, the cover certainly didn't stop them from giving it a read, did it?

 

[ChocolateLover030]

I agree with that reader. The cover needs to be more "serious". So give the girl in your cover more "ballistics". That will definitely attract more potential readers.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

Horizon of War [Strategy, Empire Building] Stub Soon

The thousand-year-old Imperium is crumbling, and war looms on the horizon, bringing with it both brutalities and splendor. Caught in the midst of this chaos is Lansius, an office grunt and veteran MMO player who has been transformed into a medieval peasant. With no wealth, status, or magical...

www.scribblehub.com

I have one reader that advised me to change my cover into a "more serious" one; apparently, my current cover (above) is too anime-ish for Historical- Warfare genre. He said a lot of "serious" readers won't be interested in such cover.

Now, I'm not sure at all. Does anyone have experience using a "serious" cover instead of an anime girl?

Yup! Here’s mine.

Charisma

I, the wholly happy-go-lucky character, go through life on an alternate Earth with some 'minor' differences. Yes indeedy do! I promise an absolutely joyous time! I tell no lies. What minor differences you ask? Well, here's some advice. Don't drink that lava in a bottle, or you'll spend a night...

www.scribblehub.com

Chose mine for horror. Originally, I used a strange-looking city, but that was deemed too boring by the masses (despite being ‘serious’).
I will say though that when it comes to historical-warfare genre, it is very unlikely that I would choose the one with an anime girl, because I expect them to focus on other genres than historical-warfare. Fantasy, less serious adventure into the outer world, and such are the genres more heavily attached to anime, not historical.
Seriousness is kind of stupid as a metric. So you shouldn’t really care about what the reader is saying. However! It will attract a certain reader base for something they may not find. But hey, you are the author. The opinion that is end all, be all.

 

[Hanne]

thank you all, my confidence restored

 

[melchi]

Imagine someone saying "1 out of 10, how can I take this isekai seriously as realistic because it has an anime cover"

 

[Rhaps]

I got more traction when I switched to my current cover, gotta hit the weebs when this website is filled with weebs

 

[TheOneWho]

Can't draw so no matter what I use for my cover, it will always look silly

 

[MouseDestruction]

It's Ai art so there's a few odd things here and there. Think this was either "colorful drawing" or "comic book".
There's a few more in my glossary too. The "watercolor" ones look pretty cool too. There are a few anime style ones there too. And I included some failures.

https://images.ai/

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Horizon of War [Strategy, Empire Building] Stub Soon

The thousand-year-old Imperium is crumbling, and war looms on the horizon, bringing with it both brutalities and splendor. Caught in the midst of this chaos is Lansius, an office grunt and veteran MMO player who has been transformed into a medieval peasant. With no wealth, status, or magical...

www.scribblehub.com

I have one reader that advised me to change my cover into a "more serious" one; apparently, my current cover (above) is too anime-ish for Historical- Warfare genre. He said a lot of "serious" readers won't be interested in such cover.

Now, I'm not sure at all. Does anyone have experience using a "serious" cover instead of an anime girl?

lol this is a website heavily based around anime culture, these "serious" readers are already the minority. Why care about them? Sure, if you find a image you like better that IS more serious then you can change it, but dont let readers make you second guess yourself when it comes to chosen covers.

If i were you, may look into CGI covers if anything. Or something similar to Sekiro or Ghost of Tsushima in terms of style. But an anime girl cover is totally fine too, cuz waifu

 

[Bluebery]

Here is SH. Not RR.
Use anime cover

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Horizon of War [Strategy, Empire Building] Stub Soon

The thousand-year-old Imperium is crumbling, and war looms on the horizon, bringing with it both brutalities and splendor. Caught in the midst of this chaos is Lansius, an office grunt and veteran MMO player who has been transformed into a medieval peasant. With no wealth, status, or magical...

www.scribblehub.com

I have one reader that advised me to change my cover into a "more serious" one; apparently, my current cover (above) is too anime-ish for Historical- Warfare genre. He said a lot of "serious" readers won't be interested in such cover.

Now, I'm not sure at all. Does anyone have experience using a "serious" cover instead of an anime girl?

also now that im looking at your cover, it looks really nice. Not just some thirst trap, but really detailed and matches the title well. I wouldnt change it. Tell that reader to fuck off. Or if you're nicer than me, to kindly fuck off

 

[Vnator]

I did, but anime girl cover increased my views by like 2-3x so... Yeah, this site sucks sometimes.