Artwork For Book???

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Riddex

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Hi guys I've just started writing my first book but already i am worried about the front cover, does anybody know where i can get one made for me or maybe a tool that lets me create my own because i want it to look professional.

Any help would be great thanks.
 
I assume you must be doing this yourself because most publishers will do the front cover for you (even selecting the artwork used, although I think most let you have a few choices from a couple of selections - depends how "big" your work is of course).

If you're doing it yourself I'd say wait - if you've only just started writing the story then the title and what is suitable for the cover might well not be fully evident till you're actually finished writing. It's abit cart before the horse - so focus on getting the writing done then you can concern yourself with how best to present it.


Note if you want custom artwork head over to Deviant Art and have a browse through the artists; you can often find many who will do work for commission at varying skills and rates.
 
Some of what you do depends on Genre. Sometimes simple is best, but beware of looking too cheap and cheesy.

I've done some stuff through a POD and they were supposed to do covers for me, but when I tossed ideas at them they came back with cheesy. I ended up doing all my own artwork as an example hoping they could run with it from there and then ended up having to almost complete the whole design myself.

You might have more luck with DeviantArt and artists who have had experience in that department. Really though a simple relevant artwork with bold Title and Author name can work quite well. Try to stick with one font if you can and if you mix fonts try not to have more than two.
 
Say Gary,

For future reference::

What kind of rights do you offer with that. Is it exclusive to the single work or can the author use it for advertisement and his web site and so on as though it belongs to him or her?
 
tinkerdan said:
Say Gary,

For future reference::

What kind of rights do you offer with that. Is it exclusive to the single work or can the author use it for advertisement and his web site and so on as though it belongs to him or her?
Click to expand...

Copywrite will be yours so you can do what you want with it. :) You can say in your book "cover and book designed by Tickety Boo but you don't have to.:(
 
Personally I'd finish the book first. You'll have a better idea of the theme and tone them. And, if it's your first novel, it might take some time and maybe best not to invest until you know better where it's at?
 
I agree with Springs 100% That's like me deciding I want to make a rock album but have never made an album and have only sung for my dog...but I want to make the CD cover first. First I need a band!
 
springs said:
Personally I'd finish the book first. You'll have a better idea of the theme and tone them. And, if it's your first novel, it might take some time and maybe best not to invest until you know better where it's at?
Click to expand...

I assumed book was finished.:D (must read threads in more detail) Yes get it done first or the cover may not match your content.
 
That brings up another question for Gary. Is the cover design done with a read of the material or just a synopsis or by way of some suggested notion of what the author wants or maybe a bit of all of that?

Oh and yes I would agree the book should be finished before considering a cover.
 
It would have to be the authors idea. We would then develop it. Even if I have read the book, the authors vision usually differs from mine so for example Susan Boulton wants her characters on the cover with a large steam train. So we will work from there and see where it takes us.:D

Hope that helps.
 
Stock photos, royalty-free images, video & music clips - iStock is very good. You can buy the rights to images and photos, around 7 images for $50 which you can then use up to 250000 times.

You can then run it through Amazon or Draft2digitals cover creator and et voila, a cover. You have to play with it a bit to make everything readable on the tiny pics you get on Amazon though.

I was lucky and found a load of art that evoked, to a tee, what I wanted. You can commission stuff on Devientart for various sums, but I gave up in the end, the artist kept going off piste...
 
There are also individuals who design fabulous covers. People like Leisha (a member on here -- she has a website too and maybe someone will kindly remind me what the URL is?), whose work is both elegant and striking. I was hugely impressed by the covers of hers I saw -- they looked just like modern, professional industry designs.

Her new Goblin Moon cover is just stunning (just as well -- it needs to match the book!)
 
Gary Compton said:
It would have to be the authors idea. We would then develop it. Even if I have read the book, the authors vision usually differs from mine so for example Susan Boulton wants her characters on the cover with a large steam train. So we will work from there and see where it takes us.:D

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Very Large Steam Train ROFL!:D
 
Until you have a book, it's irrelevant. Plus how the book ends up may change what you want the cover to be. So for now, don't worry. Let it slide into the background while you finish the first of what will hopefully be many.
 
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