The Cover
Hello from Michigan! Today we hit 49 degrees F, but somehow had a snow day.
I think most authors and consumers would agree, the cover is
one of the most important parts of the book.
Everyone has heard the maxim “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Right.
We all do it.
Being a new, self-publishing author, I didn’t have much
extra cash to spend on a cover. If you’ve
done any shopping around, you know you can spend as much as you want on the
cover. $$$$. I wanted a bargain, something great for not a
lot of money.
As a ration human, and someone who knows the value of time,
you’d think it would occur to me that no one is going to spend time and perfect
my cover for $20. At the time though,
$20 sounded pretty good.
I used Fiverr. There are good and bad things about a service like Fiverr, and I was really happy with it at first. I spent a long time browsing different graphic designers, almost all of whom are located overseas.
My first cover was made by a graphic designer I found on
Fiverr, and being a newbie, I didn’t understand the jargon when I placed the order
initially. The listing said something
like “find a picture you like on depositphotos.com and send me the link.” I took that to mean, ‘give her some ideas so
she can put together a kickass cover.’
No, that meant “go to depositphotos.com and purchase the Extended License (EL) for the picture so I can do some minor photoshop tweaks and slap a title on it.” After a few minor revisions, the cover turned out pretty good and I decided to use it.
For my second book, I wanted a variation of the front cover
that looked like part of the same series, but I wanted two people in the
picture, the Princess hugging a man from behind. I didn’t want either face to be visible, but
I wanted a shining crown nested in the Princess’s curls.
WAY too specific. I
couldn’t find an image even approaching what I was imagining. Try to find a picture of a woman embracing a
man from behind with her face turned away.
Google failed me. Unfortunately,
I don’t have the means to set up a photo shoot for something like that.
I turned to Fiverr for alternate options. Surely, somewhere in the world, there is someone who could either take or draw a picture like that. After many, “I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures like that,” I found someone willing to illustrate a picture for $180. On Fiverr, the service provider lists a deadline that they will have the first draft to you and his was two weeks. I felt for what I was asking, this was reasonable.
At this point, the book is finished. I just need a cover to list it for sale on
Amazon and I’m excited. I have forward
momentum. I waited in anxious
anticipation as the two weeks came… and went.
The day after it was due, I messaged the seller and asked for an
update. He was apologetic and said he
was having technical issues, and “Thank you for your patience.”
It so happened that I had to work several of the days after
this communication, so I was patient.
Another week went by.
Nothing. I messaged him again and
he assured me it was done, but with the technical issues, he was way behind and
he would have it to me ASAP, no later than Sunday.
On Tuesday, I canceled the order, a full month after the
original order date. I was very disappointed. Fiverr customer service was excellent and I
was able to get a full refund. The downside was that I wasn’t able to leave a review and warn other potential
customers.
Not able to find another illustrator willing and able to
create what I was looking for within my budget, I changed my idea for
the cover. I went on depositphotos.com
and found a picture similar in essentials to my first cover. Going back to my
original cover artist, I sent her the photo, along with another picture I
wanted on the back and a detailed description of what I was thinking.
She barely made the self-imposed deadline of two days and it
looked as though she hadn’t even read my description. Both images were on the front, and the font
was something you might use for hard-core sci-fi, but not a romance novel.
Very unhappy, I asked for a revision using the description. After another couple of days, she did get
back to me, but by then I had taken matters into my own hands.
Canva is a graphic
design program with a free trial period.
I experimented with it, initially with the idea of creating something I
could send to the graphic designer to give her a better idea of what I was envisioning.
Turns out, the sort of covers she was cranking out weren’t all
that hard to do. I have absolutely no graphic
design experience, and while I can usually find my way around a computer, I
wouldn’t consider myself an expert. I’m
sure many people could have done the same design much faster than I did, and
probably added in some things I still don’t know about that would make it
cooler. I was happy with the result, however,
and moved forward with it.
Getting the paperback specifications right was trial and error.
Amazon lets you upload the image as many
times as you need and has very helpful lines to show you where the spine will be. I was ready to be done at the end of the day,
but the freedom to make changes made the hard work worth it. I have since
tweaked a few small things and if I decide to change the back cover, I can just
do it. (The source file was included in
my package on Fiverr, but without Photoshop or any inkling of how to use it, I
didn’t find it very useful.)
I’d love to hear feedback! authorelharper@gmail.com
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