18
votes
Accepted
What matters more when it comes to book covers? Is it ‘professional quality’ or relevancy?
It depends.
Using Amazon's book store as an example:
If your book is in an Amazon category that has very few books and the reader finds a poorly-done homemade cover that speaks to what they are ...
- 9,923
13
votes
What matters more when it comes to book covers? Is it ‘professional quality’ or relevancy?
Am I to believe that the person will move on and not check it out simply because it was clearly homemade?
Yes, believe that. Of course, believe that on average, you will still get some percentage of ...
- 99.5k
13
votes
Accepted
Outsourcing people to make a cover
I've had very good luck with fiverr.com (yes, two r's). It is called "fiverr" because the artists are supposed to be able to do some (relatively small) thing for $5 US. I have zero financial interest ...
- 99.5k
11
votes
Outsourcing people to make a cover
There are sites where artists who do book covers list themselves as looking for work. And there are individual websites or social media for various artists. Look around and find someone you like, or ...
- 32.4k
7
votes
Is a tag line useful on a cover?
I don't think the tag conveys the fact that there is violence, as Cyn's comment says, it sounds "old fashioned".
From "Gentleman" and "Never Tells" my mind jumps to sexual trysts some woman must ...
- 99.5k
7
votes
What matters more when it comes to book covers? Is it ‘professional quality’ or relevancy?
There are two issues at play here, which I believe you are conflating. The first is the themes or "hook" which is conveyed by the imagery on the cover; the second is the professionalism of the cover. ...
- 399
6
votes
Is it true that a great cover is enough to sell many copies of your book
I'm not sure it's the ebook buyers who are the silly ones here.
Of course people judge a book by its cover, as they should. To navigate the thousands or millions of books on a real or virtual shelf, ...
- 9,923
6
votes
Accepted
How do existing covers compare to possible new ones?
"Don't judge a book by it's cover." We've all heard that, but how many of us actually adhere to it? I believe that is a totally antiquated statement, especially these days when more and more books are ...
- 10.6k
5
votes
Can I use an old painting of Lilith as my book cover?
Under U.S. copyright law, copyright on a painting is good for life of the painter plus 70 years. Works created when shorter copyrights were in effect get the shorter term under some circumstances, but ...
- 25.5k
4
votes
Are there any free sites for testing beta 'book cover' designs?
This is not particularly an answer but may be close.
The cover is indeed incredibly important. I have duplicates of a couple books, with different covers, and absolutely cringe when I see the bad ...
- 23.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Is a tag line useful on a cover?
A tag line can work, if it is so worded as to pique interest. But one must be careful. If the tag line suggests a different type of story than the actual work is, those attracted by it may well ...
- 4,337
4
votes
Is it true that a great cover is enough to sell many copies of your book
Yes and no.
I don't think many people purchase a book because of the cover. The cover will not give you direct sales (maybe a couple...).
But imagine that you are looking for a book. Either ...
- 32.4k
3
votes
Using published pictures for a book based on a true story
Photographs belong to the photographer (or to a business which has a contract with the photographer such that they own the copyright). It makes no difference if the subject is alive or dead.
A lot ...
- 32.4k
3
votes
Accepted
Cover image formatting for books published on Amazon?
Are you talking about a cover for a paper book or a Kindle?
For a paper book, you have to decide on a page size, and then the dimensions of the cover must match the page size. If your pages are, say,...
- 25.5k
3
votes
Is it true that a great cover is enough to sell many copies of your book
Is it really true that many ebook buyers are silly enough to purchase a book simply because of its cover (and blurb) without first sampling the actual writing inside the book?
I wouldn't use the word ...
- 1,830
3
votes
How do existing covers compare to possible new ones?
The current wisdom in marketing books is that the art should give the "flavor" of the book. Check out these Harry Potter Book Covers on google images. Or here is the 15th Anniversary edition of Harry ...
- 99.5k
3
votes
Can I use an old painting of Lilith as my book cover?
I can't answer specifically about this painting held in the Atkinson Art Gallery, but so that this question might be useful to other people I offer the following observations.
If you can go and ...
- 7,866
2
votes
Can the title of a book be slightly modified on the cover?
It is not unusual for a work to have a variety of titles. The title may appear differently on the cover, title page, spine and other places. Resource Discovery and Access (RDA), the standard for ...
- 156
2
votes
Can the title of a book be slightly modified on the cover?
Yes. It is not unheard of for a book to have a shortened title on the cover. The full title should be on the spine of the book though, as this is professional.
2
votes
Is SelfPubBookCovers.com a good website to buy book covers?
I don't have experience with that site, but you might want to try looking at Fiverr to see if anyone offering to make covers there seems appropriate. While everything on Fiverr starts at $5 you will ...
- 1,830
2
votes
Are there any free sites for testing beta 'book cover' designs?
I'd say others do have a point about not doing everything yourself, more often than not it does comes off as having a lower quality. In terms of hiring professionals (there's no need for single quotes,...
- 711
2
votes
Is a tag line useful on a cover?
I'm not sure about this specific tag line, but tag lines in general definitely appeal to me as a reader. Even if the tag line catches my eye because I think it's ridiculous, it still catches my eye. ...
- 347
2
votes
How do I know who to trust as I start producing a book?
Congratulations on starting your first book at age 10! Your parents and teacher are invaluable help on editing. It sounds like they aren't advising you on the publication yet.
From my perspective, at ...
- 171
1
vote
How do I know who to trust as I start producing a book?
When it comes to finding someone to trust, think about what you are trusting them with:
Your money? That's easy. Do not pay anyone any amount of money to get your book published. There's no "...
- 3,677
1
vote
How do I know who to trust as I start producing a book?
You don't do the cover art at all. If you intend to get a literary agent, or submit to a publisher, they will reject your manuscript immediately if you provide cover art.
That is not your job. That is ...
- 99.5k
1
vote
Accepted
Could I draw my own book cover?
I'd say, yes, of course, you can.
For instance, authors of children's books can many times do both the text and the artwork. And even stick figures can work...
It all depends on your artistic skill. (...
- 6,043
1
vote
Use of stock image on book cover
Definitely commission or make a new cover.
If you are going to self-pub on Amazon, simply use THEIR cover-maker, a link to it will come up when you go through the publishing process.
- 11
1
vote
Is SelfPubBookCovers.com a good website to buy book covers?
The business model of that site (I took a quick gander at the artist submission guidelines) is rather legit. They do require artists to submit original artworks, and if the stock photos are used, they ...
- 3,100
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