Your book is in the editing phase and boy, is it a doozy
Your long days of writing and editing and rewriting (and worrying the book will never end) are finally behind you.
It’s time to get a cover.
Unless you are rich in design skills yourself (or have a lot of money to throw at a custom book cover design) chances are pre-made covers are the perfect fit for you.
How does it work?
The process itself is quite simple and is basically the same regardless of where you get your cover.
Step 1: You find a cover you like, contact the seller, request whatever alterations are allowed by the terms of the website (often this is only the author name and any credits included in the design)
Step 2: The seller confirms the cover is available and they can meet the request.
Step 3: You pay, and the artist sends you your cover in the form of an image file (usually by email and typically it’s a .jpg).
That’s it. Pretty easy stuff. Now…what should you look out for when picking a cover?
Cover Quality
This part of the process is very subjective, but look at the covers in your genre. Go to Amazon Best Seller lists, check out what’s currently selling.
Look at A LOT of them.
Not just the top ten. Remember that Stephen King is going to sell a million books no matter what’s on the cover. You want to look for themes that show up repeatedly in your genre. Preferably covers by indie authors like you. Make notes, save some of the images to use as a reference.
Have an idea for what will work in your genre.
Terms
Questions you should ask about the company you’re dealing with:
- How flexible is the company or artist you’re buying your cover from?
- Do they have a money back guarantee?
- What’s their turnaround time (and does it really matter to you)?
- Do they offer any alterations or revisions other than the author name?
Ultimately, some of these will matter to you and some won’t, but more flexibility is better.
Price
This one seems obvious, but actually deserves a bit more time. People are drawn to lower prices, but remember that this cover will likely be the face of your book (your book!!!) forever.
This isn’t the time to try to save $20. It’s the time to find the right cover for you. One that you really like and that suits your story. One that people will get excited about.
When you find that cover, buy it. You’ll thank yourself later.
Shopping for pre-made book covers right now? Check out the bookspry.com pre-made cover collection!