Book Cover Design Part 1

For the book cover I will be reworking "Moon Called" by Patricia Briggs. This series is probably my favorite and I've read it three times now. This series is about a coyote shifter who was raised in Aspen Creek, MO by the alpha of alphas (Marrok) of the US but now lives in Washington State next door to the wolf alpha of that area. She is a mechanic who bought her business from a fae. As of the first book only the fae are "out." During this book she has a run in with a new werewolf who was forced into the change and ends up going to back to MO because her neighbor is injured. They return to WA with the Marrok's younger son who lives in Mercy's trailer but refuses to join the pack even though he lives next door. While she was gone the fae who sold her the business took over and gives her hell for working for vampires when she returns because she is now forced into a meeting with the Mistress of their seethe (group/pack). Because of this very busy storyline I felt that it was important to show Mercy's coyote and, at least, two wolves on the front cover. Also on the front are mountains under a full moon which is tucked in the upper right hand corner behind the book's title. At the bottom the author's name will be featured. The spine will have the title, author, and icon for the publishing house (Penguin Random House). The back will include the UPC and the publishing house's icon at the bottom. The top half will be filled with the synopsis. Whatever remaining room will be dedicated to representing the vampires, specifically the Mystery Van (yes, Scooby Doo) belonging to her vampire "friend."

This cover may end up being much more simplified but I really want to include both the coyote aspect and the wolves because only the main/current cover even hints at that part of the story which is a main plot point. 

Below are the three variations of the book cover:

This is the current and most popular cover on both the hardcover and paperback. It's very simple with Mercy dominating the photo and a background of a cast iron gate toped with a wolf on each half's top. Mercy's coyote paw print tattoo is in the book and represents her alternate "shape" but it can easily be mistaken as a wolf paw print (which is brought up in the book itself). Patricia Briggs' name dominates the top while the title is at the bottom. We read left to right, top to bottom, so I feel that the two should be switched.

This is a secondary cover that I found which was used when the book was published by Little, Brown, and Company. It's very plain with a greyscale color scheme, a profile of a woman and some headstones and flying bat in the background. This cover lacks the coyote "half" of Mercy and doesn't refer to the wolves of Aspen Creek or her neighbors at all. The title is at the top (area) this time but there is a lot dead space above it.

This third cover is by the Australian printing company Hachette. Again, the color scheme is simple, blues and blacks, the cover itself a random woman, some tribal, and a photo of traffic. Mercy is part Native American which can be connected to the tribal designs but the traffic doesn't have much to do with the story besides the fact that she travels from WA to MO and back again. Again, the wolves and coyote aspect are left out. The title is (directly) above the author's name but is dominated by her name, the font of the title is also not very clear and a bit ugly, the eyes want to look somewhere else.