Hello forum, I wanted to ask you all about the subject of book covers. How do you approach them, do you make them yourself or use a service? What do you like to see in a book cover? If you make them yourself, what tools do you use? If you use a service, which one and how much do they generally cost? I've dabbled a bit in making them myself (examples below), and just want to know your thoughts.
I tend to like book covers that are pretty clutter-free. Your first one definitely piqued my interest, but the other two are a bit too active for my eyes. Then again, that's just my personal preference. When the time comes, I'll very likely pay someone to make mine. I have experience with Photoshop, but I don't trust myself to make something approaching acceptable or professional.
I have been using GIMP 2 for making my covers. Bit of a learning curve, but fun to learn how to play around with all that stuff.
I had never even heard of GIMP 2 but after seeing your post I looked it up and I'm definitely going to give it a whirl. I use adobe illustrator which is pretty nice but it's like over 30 bucks a month. I don't know about you but that's Netflix and Hulu AND Amazon Prime all in one shot lol.
