Both in the sky seem better.

Is it intentional that there is what looks like a big atomic power-plant in the background?

I like them both up top. It makes the image pop more & looks more traditionally bookish to me.

I think splitting makes the most sense for covers that have a series title up top by the book title.

I do think they both look good & it doesn't make too much of a difference.

Good luck with you book launch :) I know it can be a tough market for new/indie writers

None of you caught it, but apparently AI stole art to make this image. My intention was to hire and fairly pay an illustrator. I sourced Nell Fallcard through Art Station, searching for mermaids, filtering out AI art. She met those criteria. However, I do see that recently she has used AI. Her bio's did not mention AI art, and on her recent pieces I saw that she had used blender, photoshop, and I was less familiar with AI apps and did not spot those. Reddit users voiced concerns that the art was stolen by AI. I hired an independent artist to look the piece over. She determined it was likely AI. To see her analysis, follow this link.

Even given her explanation, I find it unlikely I would be detect similar AI thefts. I will have to be more careful in hiring illustrators in future. My graphic designer also used AI art to make a back cover. I caught that and had him redo it. The front cover was not obvious to me. There are few things less solarpunk that stealing work from artists. I will not be publishing my novel with AI art, which means the release date for Missing Mermaid will be postponed. If you know illustrators who would be excited to work on a solarpunk piece featuring mermaids, do tell.

Hey! I have Murder in the Tool Library on my device to read next. Cool!

They both look great with a slight preference for #2 since it lets the illustration shine!

Hmh. I like having the title down below. Gives me a more polished vibe, dunno why.

This looks great! I think I also like the cover with the text split up, but both look polished to me.

Another vote for the two up top, just looks more professional for some reason.

I like option 2, I thought I would prefer Option 1 before I saw 2 but it’s executed really well in 2! Also, that illustration is gorgeous, and thank you for sharing the illustrator’s details. I want my next novel to be solarpunk, and I am definitely in the market for a new cover artist…

I need to add this and Murder in the Tool Library to my storygraph. And preorder/buy a copy of both tbh.

I much prefer option 2.

This cover scares me