Thanks for asking,
Here goes =)
1. mid twenties
2. auburn (dark brown with hint of red)
3. We''d rather have no cities on the cover, the landscape is similar to now the only main difference is that the deserts are forests (and the cities are smaller, more condensed due to smaller population). Highway is fine. Part of the book is up north on the highway way to Mt Isa and at lake Barrine. (don''t know if you''ve been up here:-D)
4. The title needs to be easy to read as a e-book cover as well (important detail that!). 
Not too ornate
It should appeal to young adult readers.
Whatever you think works best, probably not what you want to hear but the best I can give.
I''ve seen scripts in these cover designs that I never even knew where out there !! (I have been assured by the rest of the team that that is because I spend too much time in Word just writing.)

Hope this answers it all properly
Thanks again for your questions,
G

I am sorry to say, but in my eyes, the winning design does not fit the briefing and feedback you gave me.
(Where is the archer? A kangaroo icon??? Really????)
I was personaly invited by designcrowd to submit a high quality design. But both winning designs are executed in a really poor way. (Low res pictures, really bad isolated elements and false typography).

In case you submit projects in the future, please give precise feedback and open your eyes for quality in craft,

This was just a waste of time for me to participate.

Dear Joerchw,

I am sad to hear you feel this way.
Regarding the brief, we stated:

"The main difference is that the deserts are now all forests"

The winning designer took that information and made that the cover background.

Further more it said:

"Professional
Clearly based in Australia OR in some way indicating it is an Australian book
Not focused on the main character
Modern, Magical and Intriguing
The main character is a young woman (in her twenties) with long slightly curly dark brown/auburn hair."

All these are represented in the design.

It is not focused on the main character and we clearly stated "OR in some way indicating it is an Australian book" You really can''t get more Australian than that and it was done in a very stylish and original way with just one icon.

Under ''nice to have'' but NOT under ''must have'' we stated that "It would be nice to see the outline of an archer (don''t show face) can be a silhouette, doesn''t have to be a big feature."

We received the source files from the artist and can assure you that the images are all High resolution. Thank you for your concern on our behalf.

We do understand that you may have been disappointed with our decision not to pick your design but must point out that it is bad form to accuse another designer of "poor execution" in their craft due to our decision, we feel you may want to consider an apology to the winning designer.

We have a team of people (of several age groups) that decided on this design as the winner due to the quality of the work.

Again, we regret that you believe this contest was a waste of your time but must stress that perhaps you missed some points that were addressed in the brief when you wrote your comments.

Thank you for your time and submission,

G