I will be the first to admit that my book covers are not the best. With a zero budget, no required degree in design, and working within the sadly limited choices of KDP, my book covers have not turned out the way I would like.
I can SEE gorgeous covers in my head and KNOW what I want – but don’t have the wherewithal nor skills to produce them. Neither can I afford the sort of people who can. By squeezing my monthly budget even tighter than it already is (this is why I never go on holiday), I’ve decided to start investing teeny tiny amounts in marketing.
Since visibility is vital, the best place to start was with improving my book covers. I decided to use my most recently published novella, SHATTERED, as an experiment. I had already published it as an ebook with a truly woeful cover. What I REALLY wanted was an image of a shattered moon. I couldn’t find one anywhere – at least, not one that would work as a book cover.
The next step up from (a) something you cobbled together yourself and (b) something you cobbled together on KDP – is the pre-made book cover. The next step up from that would be a commissioned cover, something I can’t – yet – afford. I spent months looking for something I liked. I looked at many websites offering their services. It only takes a moment to work out whether an artist is going to work for you. Aside from style and genre, the biggest problem I had was that almost all pre-mades include PEOPLE. Who would buy these covers??? What are the chances that the characters you’ve invented will actually fit the random renditions?? Or do authors go, mmm, yes, I like this cover, I’ll just quickly write a book that fits the person on the front. Finding a cover that vaguely fit the story I’d written AND had no stupid people on it was immensely hard.
I kept coming back to The Cover Collection. The sci-fi covers seemed particularly rich and colourful and the art is attractive. The cover I finally selected, after days and days of scrolling and thinking and debating, has, at least a moon on it. But no people. Working The Cover Collection was very easy. Once I’d bought the cover for £60, I was sent 5 covers to choose from. I selected one and asked for the author name to be slightly shorter (it’s a very tall font) and bolder.
The cover is not perfect, nor did I expect it to be. But it’s a million times better than the sad covered I cobbled together. The colours positively GLEAM at you and the genre is immediately obvious. I was so thrilled that the cover now features on the home page of my website.
I can SEE gorgeous covers in my head and KNOW what I want – but don’t have the wherewithal nor skills to produce them. Neither can I afford the sort of people who can. By squeezing my monthly budget even tighter than it already is (this is why I never go on holiday), I’ve decided to start investing teeny tiny amounts in marketing.
Since visibility is vital, the best place to start was with improving my book covers. I decided to use my most recently published novella, SHATTERED, as an experiment. I had already published it as an ebook with a truly woeful cover. What I REALLY wanted was an image of a shattered moon. I couldn’t find one anywhere – at least, not one that would work as a book cover.
The next step up from (a) something you cobbled together yourself and (b) something you cobbled together on KDP – is the pre-made book cover. The next step up from that would be a commissioned cover, something I can’t – yet – afford. I spent months looking for something I liked. I looked at many websites offering their services. It only takes a moment to work out whether an artist is going to work for you. Aside from style and genre, the biggest problem I had was that almost all pre-mades include PEOPLE. Who would buy these covers??? What are the chances that the characters you’ve invented will actually fit the random renditions?? Or do authors go, mmm, yes, I like this cover, I’ll just quickly write a book that fits the person on the front. Finding a cover that vaguely fit the story I’d written AND had no stupid people on it was immensely hard.
I kept coming back to The Cover Collection. The sci-fi covers seemed particularly rich and colourful and the art is attractive. The cover I finally selected, after days and days of scrolling and thinking and debating, has, at least a moon on it. But no people. Working The Cover Collection was very easy. Once I’d bought the cover for £60, I was sent 5 covers to choose from. I selected one and asked for the author name to be slightly shorter (it’s a very tall font) and bolder.
The cover is not perfect, nor did I expect it to be. But it’s a million times better than the sad covered I cobbled together. The colours positively GLEAM at you and the genre is immediately obvious. I was so thrilled that the cover now features on the home page of my website.
 BEFORE |  AFTER |
RSS Feed
