When I switched from traditional to indie, cover art intimidated me at first. I’d handled the editing side dozens and dozens of times. I’d even tackled marketing and book releases as part of my day job. But cover art always fell to the publisher. Coming into my debut I was nervous about nailing my cover art. Turns out it wasn’t as hard as I’d expected. This was one of those aspects of self-publishing that made me feel overwhelmed at first, but as I prepare to order my second cover I’m more confident this time around. A few key tips made my cover a success.
Hire a professional. Unless you are a graphic designer who already has book cover experience, I can’t emphasize this enough. If you only have enough money to pay for one thing, make it good cover art. A cover is the most important aspect of your marketing kit. A bad cover will turn readers away immediately. You need your book to look professional to compete in the crowded market.
Know your genre. This is part of writing to market. You should know your genre inside and out. Like what reader expectations are in your genre, typical book length, what covers look like, etc. Find a handful of comparative titles in your genre that are similar to your book that sold well. This will not only help market your book to similar readers, but give you an idea of what covers work for your kind of book. Every genre has cover conventions from font choices to color schemes. A good cover will give the genre away and entice your targeted audience.
Use your comparative titles as examples to your cover artist to help them nail the design. This made it much easier for me to describe what I wanted. I picked a company with experience in my genres and gave them examples of books similar to mine and what I liked about them. I picked a standalone book as well as a series since my book is the first in a series. I explained what aspects I wanted to incorporate in my own covers. Other than that I trusted my cover artist to come up with a good design.
Research your cover designer. You should look for someone with previous experience with your genre. Someone who specializes in contemporary romance for example wouldn’t be a good choice for a horror if they have no horror experience. So check out their portfolio and make sure you like their work. Decide on a budget and stick to it. For Tempest in a Teapot, I hired miblart. Why? I liked their portfolio, they were within my budget, and they had experience with my genres. Keep in mind, illustrated covers tend to run much higher than photo manipulated covers. Something to keep in mind for fantasy writers.
If you don’t know where to start, find out who designed the covers of your comparative titles or favorite indie authors. The cover designer will either be listed on the copyright page or the author’s website. There are also a lot of recommendations out there by authors like Joanna Penn or Dave Chesson on his Kindlepreneur site. You can also ask author friends who they worked with and whether they’d recommend their cover artists.