You can tell a book by its cover!
I’m back from vacation and ready to roll again, so off we go!
Every book needs a cover, and in the world of self-publishing, it needs one quick. Draft2Digital wants the upload of your cover right away, while you are deciding all the basics. It’s not something you can put off until later. The cover gives the book an identity. The cover creates an atmosphere for your book. The cover compels the reader to choose your book over the dozens of others on the shelf.
But how do you get a cover that can be that good?
There are lots of ways to obtain an awesome cover for your book. First, you need to know there’s a specific type of cover depending on whether you’re publishing an e-book or a print book. They’re not the same.
The e-book cover is basically just the front cover. It should include the title, the author name, perhaps a very brief excerpt from a review or pitch line, and some type of graphic. The total effect of all these elements together will draw in the potential reader and make them choose your book. So, it’s got to be the perfect cover for your story.
There are two ways to get the cover for a self-published book. Create it yourself or get one from a cover artist.
Since the growth of self-published books surged exponentially, so has the availability of cover artists. As with any profession, however, some are far better than others and some are just plain awful. Be careful to vet thoroughly before you choose. Ask to see samples of their work and ask for references. If you use social media, you can check their pages, and perhaps even contact some of their former clients. The old saying holds very true here. You get what you pay for and once you upload that cover, you’re stuck with it. To change it means re-publishing plus spending more money to buy a new one. Be sure the cover you finally get is exactly what you want.
You can hire the cover artist to create an original design based on your ideas and specifications. A good one will also have suggestions and critique based on their experience with other clients and their sales. Usually, an artist will also have a stock of ready-made designs that she/he will customize with the title and your name, but the font and graphic design will remain the same. These tend to be less expensive than a fully-customized cover.
One suggestion – if you plan to have a print version of the book, and hire a cover artist to design a custom cover, have her/him do a full wrap (the front, back, and spine). You can use just the front cover section for your e-book while paying only once to get the full wrap for the print book.
If you feel you are creative and have a modicum of design sense, you can create your own cover. One word of warning – the industry in general does not approve of AI (Artificial Intelligence) artwork or covers. AI-generated work is frowned upon and often refused by other professionals and publishers. If you are self-publishing, you police yourself and can choose to use whatever tools you want to create your cover. However, you should be aware that the publishing industry in general is very protective of all its artists – writers, designers, creators, etc. – and there is little tolerance for an AI system that is seen as stealing copyrighted work. (Personally, I will not support AI used in any capacity that adopts and adapts human-created works of any kind without express permission of the artist.)
There is an abundance of software out there to choose to create your cover –
Adobe PhotoShop which must be purchased but you can download a free 7-day trial.
Book Brush free-to-use online program and has free graphics and templates for covers and ads.
Canva seem to be the most popular, a free-to-use online graphic design tool.
I decided to create my own cover for Lady, Will You Hear Me? I started with Book Brush on the recommendation of a friend whose friend used it. I found it a bit confusing and limited, though that could have been the result of my own learning curve. I switched to Canva and found it easier to use for both the e-book and later for the print edition. I’m definitely a trial and error person; FAQ and most directions do nothing to help me. I would say it took me a full day, maybe 7 hours to get what I wanted. In the end, after a few tweaks I was completely happy with the result.
If you choose to design your own cover, be sure to follow the requirements for trim size and understand what that means. Did I mention earlier that you had to select the size of your book? Very important. I chose 5.5” x 8.5” for Lady because that was the size I chose for Uncovering Norman when that was published. Since they were to be part of a series, I wanted to be consistent.
The graphic used for your cover must be legally free of copyright restrictions. You can’t just go online and copy any photograph or drawing. If you are not the artist/photographer, you have to research how to legally obtain a license to use that piece. Media sites that offer graphics often have some free for download, but the “good” ones usually come with a price. Check out the licensing requirements before you decide on your graphic. Some of the popular sites are Getty Images, Shutterstock, Istock, Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, and there are hundreds more.
You can always choose to use your own photograph or drawing. This is what I did for Lady, Will You Hear Me? and also for Uncovering Norman previously. Draft2Digital will identify the size requirements you need for your file.
The font you choose for your cover is an important element of the overall design. The style of font should match your subject matter in some way. For example, you don’t want flowing, flowery Edwardian Script for a horror story. And you don’t want dripping, melting letters for a Western. Choose a basic font like Times New Roman or Arial unless you find one that really fits your story or genre.
The colors most often used for the font are white on a dark background, black on a light background, and red for either light or dark. However, you can choose any color that complements the graphic on the cover. There can be two different fonts, one for title and one for author’s name, or you can use the same font in different sizes, which is what I chose, once I found the font I liked.
That’s it for the cover of an e-book. A LOT to think about. Pre-planning helps tremendously so you don’t have to stop part way through to figure out a piece of the cover design you didn’t think of before.
My best advice is to Love Your Cover! It covers a lot of ground for you.
What’s Next? Making hundreds of words fit into one sentence!
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