Book Covers for self publishers

[Phyrebrat]

I envy Photoshop skilled folks. I actually have an earlier version (- 4 years old) I deactivated on my computer. I always wished I could have taken a formal class or two to learn to use it. PS was nice but for whatever reason, I was never able to master its true potential. So I returned and remained to Paintshop Pro updated which I found easier to use. Not to mention nearly equal and whole lot cheaper. But if I could master PS, I'd jump to it with glee. Meanwhile, I keep watch for one of those free online courses to offer formal courses in PS.

I taught myself using YouTube tutorials!! It’s great. Two minute lesson on how to do x, y or z.

Much better than a book right now I’m learning After Effects ‘lesson a day’ and let me tell you; it’s dryyyyy!!

best of luck

pH

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

Personally, I think people are often over critical of indieauthors. I've seen traditionally published books with all the same flaws (typos, grammatical errors, poor cover design, etc.) that would get a indiebook crucified by readers. I'd think it should be the other way around given that the traditional publishers have access to all the best resources, editors, and designers while most indieauthors don't; yet, for some reason, we always seem to judge the indie more harshly .

I made my book's cover twice. The original cover, while not dreadful, was just rather 'blah' to me. The first one I made in Photoshop with stock images and it just didn't look right. My current cover, I painted in Corel Painter and then used Photoshop for layout, text, and final affects. Is it perfect? No, but I am still extremely pleased with it (especially given I'd not painted in years and this was my first time doing so digitally). I also know it doesn't match with what's 'on trend' for young adult book covers, but I frankly don't care as I don't create based on 'trends.'

 

[Boneman]

Can't reproduce my own effort... too many gigabytes. Or whatever. I'll try saving it to Word, see if that helps.

 

[BuriedAlien]

I taught myself using YouTube tutorials!! It’s great. Two minute lesson on how to do x, y or z.

Much better than a book right now I’m learning After Effects ‘lesson a day’ and let me tell you; it’s dryyyyy!!

best of luck

pH

PhyreBrat, I learn best via books, just a reader at heart. Plus being Deaf, captions on Youtube are often a mess. But what I hate most is video makers move fast. It's as if too many want to showoff as opposed to actually teach.

 

[BuriedAlien]

Personally, I think people are often over critical of indieauthors. I've seen traditionally published books with all the same flaws (typos, grammatical errors, poor cover design, etc.) that would get a indiebook crucified by readers. I'd think it should be the other way around given that the traditional publishers have access to all the best resources, editors, and designers while most indieauthors don't; yet, for some reason, we always seem to judge the indie more harshly .

I made my book's cover twice. The original cover, while not dreadful, was just rather 'blah' to me. The first one I made in Photoshop with stock images and it just didn't look right. My current cover, I painted in Corel Painter and then used Photoshop for layout, text, and final affects. Is it perfect? No, but I am still extremely pleased with it (especially given I'd not painted in years and this was my first time doing so digitally). I also know it doesn't match with what's 'on trend' for young adult book covers, but I frankly don't care as I don't create based on 'trends.'


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While I think your avatar could have been more photorealistic, the book looks to be a fantasy so it's cool. Second is I think your cover is fantastic not withstanding what I said in the previous sentence. Impressed you got Corel Painter to do such a fine job. Your work is encouraging for me--Thank You for sharing the image.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

While I think your avatar could have been more photorealistic, the book looks to be a fantasy so it's cool. Second is I think your cover is fantastic not withstanding what I said in the previous sentence. Impressed you got Corel Painter to do such a fine job. Your work is encouraging for me--Thank You for sharing the image.

Thank you! I absolutely agree that the character isn't rendered perfectly; it's something I'll be working on for the next cover . Thankfully, the semi-realist painting style is generally well excepted in the scifi/fantasy genre when it comes to cover art, as I prefer that style over hyper-realistic paintings. It just has more expression to me. However, my end goal, is to achieve something that is between the two.

 

[JohnM]

Since I work in the book industry, I can say that recent, in the last 20 years, efforts by publishers large and small are falling flat. I attribute that to perception errors. Access to high-tech/computer paint and photo manipulation tools means nothing if you don't have the knowledge and skill to use them. I was recently handed a copy of a self-published book by an author I knew. Two photos were badly combined for a bad cover, a bland cover. The average reader does recognize this even though he or she does not know what is wrong exactly.

Things haven't changed. No knowledge or insight was gained during the transition from the 20th to the 21st Century. Do large, established publishers have more resources? Yes. But that does not stop them from experiencing two other problems based on wrong perception. If the new batch of art directors replacing the old think they are superior just because they are young and new, that creates problems if they cannot appreciate how what came before worked and sold books. In large, established companies, that problem is partly corrected by reports of lower sales encouraging management to find out what's wrong and fixing it, including letting uncooperative art directors go. In all companies, trying out lower quality/less expensive artists might be tried since cutting costs is always a consideration, but that only results in short-term savings and readers going to better quality books.

So-called indie publishers can survive for years and with lesser knowledge by assuming they are doing something right but without the necessary skills or by relying on personal taste. I could start a publishing company tomorrow but judged against the efforts of larger publishers, I can only afford mediocre cover art or create my own covers which will fall short due to a lack of education and skill. For those producing books for themselves and a very small market, that may be enough. For those who want mass market exposure, it's not enough.

The other problem is PDFs. I have access to a lot of books in a niche category. All of the covers are bad to very bad. One author I know who publishes in this niche tried to create some excitement about his work but he is competing against established publishers. The same publishers who made the transition from the 20th to the 21st Century are still around or further books are being published by other, similar companies.

My point is: standards haven't changed. Expectations haven't changed. Even when charging a fraction of the cover price, the average reader will go with books by established authors and established companies and books by new authors, and publishers, that reflect a certain level of quality.

 

[Bren G]

As everyone knows, you don't judge a book by its cover - but we all do. It's arguably the single most important component of your novel. Poor covers are a proxy that the potential reader uses to determine the care and quality the writer put in to the novel. You may have a second or two to attract the reader and create enough curiosity in their minds so that they crack the first page.

No one wants to write the best written book that no one will read. I chose to hire a pro. It wasn't cheap but I tightened my belt and ponied up. He did an incredible job, a thousand times better than I could do, and I have decent experience with graphic design principles and tools. I reason, after spending easily 1,000 hours of writing, why would I not put the polish and primp it deserves? God didn't design the peacock hoping that it would make an impact, clearly, he knew what he was doing.

As has been mentioned by a few here, having a concept in your mind is critical (best if you can sketch it out in pencil or computer) but being open to feedback from the designer is good too. It is your book, so you should always assert the final say and rest on the result comfortable that you did. It's important too to have a designer who understands the nuances of book design and marketing, and not just graphic designer who does books on the side.

Also, pre-made covers are very affordable and can garb your baby in a premium looking cloth. There are many websites that offers them.

I am very glad at went this route. Hoping to publish in about 2 months so you can be the judge!

cheers,

BG

 

[JohnM]

Sometimes, old sayings, gone unexamined, don't mean much. Books are judged by their covers. It's the first impression experience we all get. When that cover catches your eye, and it's followed by the descriptive blurb on the back cover, you may crack it open. My personal and professional rule of thumb is if you don't grab me in the first six pages, the book goes back on the shelf. Remember, there are other similar books I can look at. And the competition may be better or not. However, never forget about the competition.

Pre-made covers? As an assistant art director myself, I need my years of experience looking at and selecting book covers. No offense, but an amateur doing this would not be a good idea. At the company I work for, the cover artist sends in four pencil cover sketches. I'm called in to select one. Sometimes, I'm asked to explain my choice. I always have less than five minutes. I had better know what I'm talking about. The final decision is left to the head art director, not me.

 

[JJewel]

I have been designing my own, I usually do 2-3 drawings for every story I write and then add it to the book. Although I completed a large poem and managed to do 12 pieces of art to illustrate it just for fun. You dont need to be a good artist, one of my fave artist is Don Van Vliet and his work is very abstract.
The first three are front and back of the first book
The next two, one will be the next cover and
The last 2 are the last and first images for the poem, rest are a lot more varied, they are alive in the first dead in the last is all.

As long as the art is not dire and fits the theme I always figure you can get awat with it. After all check out Lowry`s paintings...

 

[J.D. Robinson]

I’d be nervous (personally) about a pre-made cover, unless my story somehow fit a predetermined template. When I hire an artist we talk about the character and their motivations, the feel of the story, and the symbolism I want to incorporate. And I’m not saying my stories are magically more unique than anyone else’s (or my covers the best), just that if I’ve written something in my own voice, I want the cover to be bespoke to that particular story.

For a short story? Hm, then I might consider a pre-made. But for a collection, I’m going back to a designer. Partly because it’s really fun to work with them!

 

[JJewel]

I’d be nervous (personally) about a pre-made cover, unless my story somehow fit a predetermined template. When I hire an artist we talk about the character and their motivations, the feel of the story, and the symbolism I want to incorporate. And I’m not saying my stories are magically more unique than anyone else’s (or my covers the best), just that if I’ve written something in my own voice, I want the cover to be bespoke to that particular story.

For a short story? Hm, then I might consider a pre-made. But for a collection, I’m going back to a designer. Partly because it’s really fun to work with them!

Thats prompts two questions in my mind though?
1. who knows their own work better than the author and therefore who can express it better? ... wether abstract or technical perfection style.
2. And if you self design isnt that bespoke cause certainly no one else has it?
Also maybe a third consideration ... cost, the dreaded cost

 

[J.D. Robinson]

Oh, if you have the skills, absolutely, go for it! (Plus then you’re saving money too.) I’m a professional designer, but my area of expertise is user interface design, which doesn’t necessarily translate into book covers. I attempted to make my own first cover and it was … decent? But in my particular case that wasn’t good enough, which is why I went to the pros to paint me a unique scene. I can’t paint at all! It also depends on genre: a literary work, or poetry, etc., may benefit from a minimal, clean design. I could pull that off. Whereas a space opera will probably lean toward the grand and cinematic, and … ooh, I’m not up for taking that on myself.

So I agree with you. I just know I can’t create art of the type (SFF) I aspire to see, so I farm it out. (Also, full disclaimer, I pay a hefty fee. But I’m frugal in other areas, so consider it my only vice. )

 

[JJewel]

Oh, if you have the skills, absolutely, go for it! (Plus then you’re saving money too.) I’m a professional designer, but my area of expertise is user interface design, which doesn’t necessarily translate into book covers. I attempted to make my own first cover and it was … decent? But in my particular case that wasn’t good enough, which is why I went to the pros to paint me a unique scene. I can’t paint at all! It also depends on genre: a literary work, or poetry, etc., may benefit from a minimal, clean design. I could pull that off. Whereas a space opera will probably lean toward the grand and cinematic, and … ooh, I’m not up for taking that on myself.

So I agree with you. I just know I can’t create art of the type (SFF) I aspire to see, so I farm it out. (Also, full disclaimer, I pay a hefty fee. But I’m frugal in other areas, so consider it my only vice. )

If thats your worst vice then your gonna live a long healthy life . In a few books time I will be finishing of my sc-fi epic I have been working on and off with for years and the artwork their will be very different. Not sure I can handle straight line art.

 

[J.D. Robinson]

Whenever I see a book with a beautiful cover I track down the artist and drop their info into a folder. And while some of them are quite expensive, not all are! It definitely helps, as far as expenditure goes, if years pass between releases. If I released several per year my covers might start to take a hit.

 

[MikeAnderson]

There are some art students in my area always looking for cash. Some of the local authors here in the Black hills tap them for good, cheap cover art. I might look into that for cover work.

 

[Ashleyne]

I decided I care enough to change my first book's cover. I looked at other covers in my genre and decided to go for something bright with personality. I watched a few photoshop tutorials, got the rights to some stock images and the rest writes itself.

A professional could have done something more professional and less weird, but they always convince me to simplify my ideas. Then I back out before making any commitment. This cover could have ended up being a floating head and a burning tree.



Anyway, here’s the before and after.

Before:

After:

 

[JJewel]

To be honest I am not sure what to make of your cover it is kind of weird and suggests the kind of book image that my daughters read when they were teenagers? Def original though and that is always a damn good thing.

 

[Ashleyne]

I like that feedback. This book's aimed at the 15+ young adult crowd.

 

[Droflet]

The second cover is way ahead of the first. Well done.