I am a new author who will be publishing a supernatural fantasy series of novellas. I want to get my books the covers they deserve, but I don't get paid that much. Can anyone suggest cover designers who would be willing to give a discount for multiple cover design requests?
I too am about to publish my first book. I came across the site called 100covers.com. They have discounts on series covers
I’d be happy to make something for you for the fun of it. Please tell me what you want and then I’ll have an excuse to draw. Note: I’m an amateur and playing with creating very “stylistic” artwork like this (WIP):
Stuart bache is an excellent cover artist, he charges about 400 pounds and also offers ready makes for between 149 and 99 pounds. Fionajademedia is another option who is a little cheaper, probably about 2-400 dollars I've not used either myself, I do my own covers because I have the design skills to do it, and thriller is the easiest genre to do so, but I've seen enough of their work to have no problem recommending either. I'd stay away from the cheap end, as you do get what you pay for and there's no point in paying one hundred notes for something you could have done yourself.
I ended up asking a friend to help me out, same reason, no money. I am sure there are awesome artists out there who would oblige - if not there are stock drawings you can buy and use. I did that for my first book, then i saw the same stock image on another book about a year later......ooops. Good luck. Rgds
Or you could hire some who's actually a professional cover designer like Stuart... Among others he's done cover for Stephen King...he did the iconic cujo one for example, le carre, and more recently for mark Dawson. 400 put there, or if you can't afford that 149 for a pre made will be way better than wasting money on amateurs from fiverr or deviant art who may or may not be good artists but who by and large dont understand what sells a book in terms of genre cover art And as to self publishing doesn't pay back... It does if you do it properly with decent covers, editing, marketing etc.... If you don't think your book will earn 400 quid why are you bothering publishing it at all ? If you diy on some shitty template, or get an amateur cover from someone who's never designed a book before it definitely won't sell. Also another problem with cheap pre mades and work from fiverr is copyright infringement. I've seen examples where people have tie fighters on their front covers, or the ship from sg1 and so forth...if you do that and somehow do make some money you'll lose it all in lawsuits.
By all means, get a recommendation from people who have used a cover designer before you commit to paying for their product. That said, Fiona Jayde won myGoogle dart throw contest for cover designer last year (I never take my own advice!) and was selected to do my first cover for the Eagle and the Dragon. I couldn't have been more pleased. She was reasonable, @$250, with quick turnaround, @3 weeks, and works with you to tweak the design. She also got a write-up in USA Today for her work. Attached are @K McIntyre 's two covers, Ruby not yet available until mid-July. FionaJaydeMedia.com. Her last package included not only the book cover, but variants for all the different POD and eBook makers, a book promo, and banners, all unasked for.
Investing in a quality cover will help sell your book(s). If it's a series, securing a solid artist to do all of them with branding in mind is a good idea. Are there self-published covers that look like 'amateur hour efforts' that sell well? Sure. But if you have a cover that doesn't entice readers to explore further when they come across it, you add an additional hurdle to achieving a greater readership. Look in your genre for self-published books with covers that have a look or quality that you're looking for. Often the artist is credited by the author. Check out those artists, and see if one or two are affordable. Save up some money for it. Ten dollars a week (or whatever) adds up, and if you do it while you're writing the works, you'll have it set aside for when you need it.
What @TWErvin2 said! I used to be of the "You can't judge a book by its cover" school. However, the reality is that the cover is the first thing a potential reader sees of your book. And you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.
Exactly. And that is why DIY with a good template ensures your cover has a chance to help sell. What I see is too many covers are by artistes trying to win some award and don't care if your book sells or not.
How do you tell the true professional from the many that claim to be 'professional' cover artistes. fiverr has many artists as good or better than the many 'professional' hyping their wares at obscene prices. Either way you still have to be able to tell which is real and which is overpriced memorex. The statistics say that the vast bulk of SP books do not sell enough to recover expenses. Clearly if yours is good and could be that one that is a best seller then you need a decent cover. But price does not guarantee quality. The templates I see are professional quality. You still have to fill it in which is where the crappy part may come. You do have to be careful about copyright issues and getting all rights as a work for hire no matter where you buy a cover.
Recommendations are always good. But then ask the person how many books did that cover sell for them, not did you think it was pretty, or did it win some award from some contest.
Bad covers will kill sales. The data is not clear that a 'good' cover, whatever that is, actually sells many books. IMHO most SPers would do far better to hire an editor than a cover artist. Proof: millions of kindle novels.
ROTFLMAO. All art is subjective. There is no objective way to say what is good or bad for art nor covers. I have seen sales results. I see no proof that paying a lot for a cover made sales happen. Clearly a bad cover can hurt sales. But what cover has any evidence that it created a lot of sales. Bad is a cover that keeps the person from looking inside or reading the back cover. Bad is a cover that is confusing. Bad is a cover that is hard to read. Bad is a cover that features your name unless you are famous. But a good cover has nothing to do with the fanciness of the image used. Or the awards the artist won.
A "good" cover is a cover that isn't bad. It's a minimum requirement. And very few self-published books have covers that aren't bad.
How do you know who is truly a skilled cover artist and who is a fraud trying to scam you ? If you dont feel comfortable doing your own cover how do you feel that you can choose a good cover artist? More to the point: Covers are mean to SELL books not win artsy craftsy awards. Instead of a good cover artist wouldnt a good salesman specialising in covers be better ?
True. And too many covers by so called 'professional' cover artists are bad too. Bad covers include at least: Covers that are confusing Covers that are illegible Covers not clear at amazon thumbnail size Covers that feature some unknown author's name If a writer is not good enough to make their own cover, then how are they able to tell a good artist from a scam claiming to be a 'professional' cover artiste. And shouldnt a cover be designed to sell books not win artsy bleepsy art awards? Dan Poynter was the guru of self publishing and had a template that was aimed at selling books not looking pretty and certainly not putting the potential buyer off.
I just want to address 'If a writer isnt good enough to make their own cover, how can they tell a good artist...'. This implies that if I don't act, I cannot tell who is a good actor. If I don't write music, I cannot tell who writes good music. This is absolute nonsense. Seriously, are you actually perpetuating the mentality that you must be good at a thing to recognise others who are good at a thing? I hope you've misrepresented yourself, because otherwise I'm going to struggle to take anything else seriously. The best book covers, for me, are minimalistic approaches that convey the tonal approach of the book. Then again, I'd say the authors name should be on the cover, but you're saying that unless you're a known author you shouldn't do that? I've just picked up a few books from my shelf, and the first is 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milan Kundera. I hadn't heard of her before this book, and I wouldnt class her as a 'known', but the cover is basic, it is professional, and it conveys the tonal approach of the book. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, is just a picture of a room, but it sets up the tone for the book. Again, maybe I'm ignorant, but I don't know anything about this fella beyond the words in this book, but it didn't stop me buying it. It's literally just a photograph of a guy in a room, with his top off. Third is Invisible Cities by Italo Cavino. I'd heard of the book, but not the author, and the cover is a black background with a funky font where some of the letters look like landmarks from cities. It isn't anything special, but it works perfectly. Again, hadn't heard of the dude, but that doesn't matter to me one iota.
I assume that you will be providing us with several examples of such covers, along with the identity of the artist and documentation of their professional credentials?
References from satisfied clients who are selling books with their cover art? Or maybe reaching out to other authors in your genre who you know are selling books to ask for a reference to their graphic artist? I don't self-publish, but if I was going to go that route, I have multiple successful self-published or hybrid authors I could hit up for recommendations.
Well, at least I have won awards at a top photo club and was trained as a judge for competition. And the covers amateur writers love would not pass the first triage at the club level. People keep forgetting that the key is that covers are meant to sell books not win artsy awards. If a cover does not help sales then it does not matter how pretty it is. Too many covers are confusing. The words are illegible. They don't grab you at thumbnail size. They don't have the sales copy on the back that is needed. I did not say not to put your name on the cover but certainly don't make that the focal point if you are not famous. But do you really have room after you did what was necessary to create a cover that would entice the buyer to keep looking? Maybe, but if not don't force the name on the cover for your ego. The goal of a cover is to help sales. PERIOD.
Exactly. You had the problem of using ready mades andor stock images for a cover that is a risk to any going that route.
