We listen and we don't judge... Book Cover Edition
We've all heard the saying "never judge a book by its cover," but here in the literary industry, that statement couldn't be further from the truth. We--both authors and readers--do in fact very much judge books by their covers. In fact, we are so judgy with book covers that we will literally choose not to pick up a book and read it if the cover isn't up to our standards.
So, let's talk book covers
I cannot--and I mean absolutely cannot--stress enough the importance of hiring an experienced professional to create book covers for your book babies. Now, let me be clear: I'm all for trying new graphic designers who need to build clientele. I love helping new professionals gain business. However, my advice to any author is that you do not buy a cover from a graphic designer just because that person is your friend, because they're running a sale that's hard to pass up, or solely because they need to build clientele. Always vet your graphic designer in some way. Check their website for previous work or premade covers. If you heard about them through social media, check their social media pages for previous work. You want to check the quality of their work and determine whether it is up to your standards. You want a book cover that looks professional, and you want one that is not too risqué so you don't have to worry about Amazon refusing to publish the book because of the cover.
When choosing a cover, especially a premade cover, be careful not to purchase covers using model images that you have already seen before, especially if they're easily found on a search engine like Google. Because let's be honest here. AI has gotten entirely too advanced for a graphic designer to be using or reusing images that are technically stolen because they don't have permission to use them. With the right AI program and prompts, you can create an image that's completely unique to use on your cover.
Quality is of the utmost importance when you're talking book covers. If the cover has a model, the images should be clear and high resolution. Any items added to the image should be seamlessly blended into the photo. You definitely don't want your book cover to look "Photoshopped," and we all know what that means. An image just sitting there on top of another image. You can tell this was obviously not part of the original picture.
Rule of Thumb
A rule of thumb to remember when choosing a book cover:
A low-quality image/ low-quality book cover will give the impression that you're selling a low-quality book.
There's no avoiding it. There's no way around it. There's no excuse you can make for it. No matter how you try to up sell this book, if your cover looks "cheap," "thrown-together," or "low-quality," potential readers are going to assume the same about the content inside. Be wary of using those types of covers because they will most definitely have an effect on your book sales, especially for your paperbacks.
Creating your own book covers
In today's world, we've got many options and opportunities when it comes to creating our own book covers. With Canva and Vellum at our fingertips and KDP providing a cover creation tool right in the middle of the publication process, it cannot be any easier to create your own cover for your masterpiece. I'm never going to tell you not to do it. I think they're all great tools, and learning how to use them takes time and practice. I do, however, suggest that you start off creating simple covers if you're going to create your own and build upon your skills from there. Believe me, there's nothing wrong with a simple cover. I love them myself. And you'd much rather have a simple cover that looks cute and professional than a more complex cover that looks thrown together and "junky."
When creating your own cover, or when providing cover ideas to your graphic artist, remember that you want your cover to be appealing the eye, and you want it to fit the standards for your particular genre. You don't want your murder mystery's cover to give rom-com, just like you don't want your urban romance cover to give horror. Choose colors that mesh well with the tone and title of the book and images that effectively portray the message of the story.
Premade Book Covers
It's extremely tempting to buy premade book covers when some of our favorite graphic designers post them for sale on their social media pages. I know plenty of authors who have a whole stockpile of premade covers they've purchased and plan to write stories for. Premade covers are usually already set at a lower price than custom covers, and graphic designers routinely run specials on them to clear out their reserves to make room for new ones. This makes them a great option for indie authors, especially if you have a small budget dedicated to book releases.
I've bought premade covers in the past. In fact, the covers for Slim Thick, Never Going Back, and Wish were all premade covers, all from three different graphic designers. I tend to use covers from reputable designers, people I see post new material frequently on social media, especially if they have a website. For quite a while, I've been using the same graphic designer for all my covers, especially if I'm looking to purchase a custom cover. Because they are typically more expensive, I only entrust the production of my custom covers to designers (really one particular designer) who have proven experience with high recommendations.
One thing I will advise you is to make sure the premade cover you choose matches the story before you stick it on a book. I've seen authors who were so fascinated and in love with a particular cover that they just had to use it for their next release. However, that release's story did not match that particular cover. Your cover should give the potential reader a little bit of an indication of what the book is about. Ideally, your model should be the same gender and general description as your story's main character, especially if the main character is also the "title character."
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, what I'm saying is to choose book covers with the reader in mind. The cover of a book is the one time that aesthetics actually matter. Readers will forgive a bad choice of font for your chapter headings much quicker than they will forgive you for an "ugly" or misleading book cover. In fact, your book cover could be the reason your readers turn away from your book before they even get to see your chapter headings. Be very picky about who you buy covers from, and try to only purchase covers from graphic designers who have previous work available to speak for the quality of their work so you know what quality of work you're getting ahead of time. Your book cover will speak for your work before it gets to speak for itself.