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​Choosing my first pre-made book cover

7/22/2019

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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.
 

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