This is excellent work, but I'm going to be professionally nit-picky here, since this looks professional. A space ship leaving the planet is traditional, and I've done a few space ships of my own, but I'd like to assume that readers of science fiction know all about planets and orbiting space stations, and even that editors at the major publishing houses are familiar with the concept. A ship with a lurid orange trail would be a distraction rather than an asset. There are times to be fussy and times to be bold, and this cover should be bold. A frame edge for the viewport would help make it obvious, BUT it would also destroy the balance. I like the layout as is. The negative space works well, and the twin streaks help with the glassiness. (I can't tell where they are from but it almost doesn't matter?) The light source on her face is not the same as the one on the planet, yet it appears strong enough to be from its sun. (Because her reflection is fully-lit, it indicates a certain angle.) You might consider changing the lighting on the planet to match. If the upper left corner was more shadowed, it would make the planet more rounded and might make the composition a bit tighter yet. You appear to be using a decent shadow map size on that light, but can you step it up a bit more? The shadow of hair on forehead is jagged-edged, and can be corrected either in lighting or in postwork. The highlight in her eyes isn't from the sidelight behind her or the sun in front of her. A tiny thing, but I really prefer to have highlights match light sources. If this is to be printed, remember that about 5-10% of the detail is usually lost in the process, and 4-color inks don't cover the entire spectrum. I like the reflection, but worry that it might get lost. This is something that you may wish to discuss with a printer. Also, her shoulder patch right next to the viewport could be brighter to indicate depth. Her white shirt collar has a higher albedo than the skin of her neck and in the reflection should be a tad lighter as well... especially since that side is in full light. A basic principle of composition is that the eye goes first to the area of greatest contrast and then travels around. We have control over what the viewer notices and when. There are 2 areas of high contrast here: her cheekbone and the author's name, and the eye goes first to the name. The author might want his name to be that prominent. However, I'd argue for muting it by maybe 10-15%, picking one of the blues in the planet. (If you are using PhotoShop for postwork, you can tint that layer and then "fade" it back until it looks good to your eyes.) This will make her profile the definate focal point, and the eye can travel from there. All in all, this looks as good as what is on the shelves, so I hope that you will take my comments in a constructive way, to make a lovely piece of work even better. Carolly