|
Where
to find artists to develop great cover art
Do
not for a moment think that an ebook does not require a cover. If you're going
to sell your ebook to the public, go the extra half mile and get some great
cover art for it. Of course your ebook is full of all your best, Grade A meat.
It discusses a sought-after topic, was prepared by a solid ghostwriter, and was
edited and approved by you yourself. Customers should be able to read about you
on the Internet, click on a text link, and buy your book. Even online, people
continue to judge books by their covers. What would bookstores be like if every
shelf held only stacks of paper held together with binder clips, large staples,
rubber bands or manila folders? No
matter how good a book is, it must be nicely packaged. The value of a paper
book is exponentially increased by the addition of nothing more than a glue
binding and nice cover. Likewise, and ebook's sale-ability and appeal is
exponentially increased when it is packaged with an appropriate cover.
In
order to sell well, a book sitting on a retail shelf will actually have to have
more than just any old cover. The cover should appear to be professionally
designed. Brick and mortar booksellers know how to sell books. They do it with
eye-catching displays and covers with color, catchy text, and shiny spines.
And
if they really want to grab your attention with a book, they may make a special
display, offer a bonus, have the author available to sign copies, or set a
particular book on a particular shelf where it will be more visible to passers
by.
As
we all know, it's tough to sell a book! Sometimes even good covers get passed
by, because other covers are more enticing! Consumers want to see a picture of
what they're getting. And that picture has to look good. It has to make them
say, "Wow, that looks like an
incredible book!" You have only a second or two to grab their attention.
You must do it with a picture. If you are thinking of offering your ebook as a
free gift for visiting your web site, subscribing to your newsletter, or as a
bonus for purchase of something else, then the artwork is less important. But
still, there is no excuse. If a book is worth the effort of writing and
marketing to consumers, then it is worth getting great cover art to package it
with.
The
artwork serves two purposes:
1. It
gives Internet surfers an immediate image of your book when they're glancing at
a web page. People only spend a few
seconds scanning on the web, so your picture can make or break a sale when
there's hardly time to read the rest of your sales pitch.
2. It
puts a nice graphic at the beginning of
your book. Although ebooks don't need complete covers like traditional
books do, people like the idea that ebooks are just like paper books. The cover
art makes your ebook appear more official and published like a traditional
book, and that makes the ebook more appealing to readers. It will grab their
attention when they first open the file to read.
Your
ebook cover will look more like a paper book, and therefore more appealing if
your cover art also contains the title along the spine, and aesthetically
pleasing designs, drawings, or photographs on the cover.
How
to get a cover
There
are a couple ways to get great cover art for your ebook. The first is to create
it yourself. This is the most time-consuming of the options.
Hardest - do it yourself
To
make your own cover, use your favorite drawing, painting or graphics software.
Draw a rectangle. Add a book spine and pages to give your rectangle three
dimensions to look like a closed or partially open book. Fill your drawing with
interesting colors or patterns. Add your title and author byline to the front and
spine. Embellish and revise ad nauseum.
If
you're wondering which graphics program to use, there are many to choose from.
Some standard office programs provide the ability to create graphics, including
MS Word. More flexible, but more complicated graphics software you could use
just as well includes Macromedia Fireworks, CorelDraw, or Adobe Photoshop.
Professional cover art designers and graphics artists tend to use the pure,
flexible, more complex, programs for their work.
Developing
your cover from scratch is do-able, and even you could do it if you were so
inclined. But I don't recommend the do-it-yourself approach. This is because,
if you're short on software skills, artistic talent, or time or if you would
rather focus your energies elsewhere, then there are more efficient ways to get
cover art.
A couple shortcuts
Shortcuts
to the build-it-from-scratch approach include using templates or using ebook
cover art software.
Templates are available for purchase on the
Internet, and some sites even offer free basic templates if you will link back
to their site. Buying or borrowing templates will still require you to add your
own text and additional graphic elements, so you'll still be investing some
time, just a little less time than drawing each line of the picture from
absolute zero.
Purchased
templates should not require a link back, and if they do, then definitely don't
buy those.
You
can also buy specialty ebook cover
software from a number of web sites. The software generally is a glorified
set of templates, but gives you more choices and more freedom to change this
and that. You will still do the work of designing your own cover. If you do
design your ebook cover art using free or purchased templates, or free or
purchased software, you own the copyrights to the finished artwork and to
anything else you design with the templates or programs.
hire an ebook cover designer
When
you hire a designer to create your
ebook cover art, you will get the following benefits:
1. You
get full copyright and exclusive ownership of the finished artwork.
2. Professionals
with professional skills can turn around your project quickly. Sometimes in a
matter of days.
3. You
avoid struggling with software to create your own artwork.
4. Designers
are familiar with what types of colors, fonts, and overall designs are better
for marketability.
5. An
artist can likely also help you create matching graphics for your web page
menus, headers, etc.
Artists
who design ebook covers generally charge from $50 to $500. If your investment
of, say, $100 results in an additional 100 ebook sales, wouldn't that be a good
investment? The cost is completely offset with improved marketability and
increased sales.
How
to find an ebook cover art designer
Just like searching for a ghostwriter, you could
ask and call around in your community's art organizations to find artists that
you could pay to design an ebook cover for you.
Another
way to do it is to conduct an Internet search. If you type in key words
"ebook cover art" you'll get pages and pages of results. Ebook cover
artists are literally standing by to get your project on the world wide web.
Some individuals specialize in ebook cover art, and some companies provide a
gamut of graphics or e-selling services.
The
reality is, going to individual web sites and researching each one can take
some time. Here's what you do: Look at web sites where ebooks are being sold.
Most well-marketed ebooks have cover art shown on a web page where the ebook(s)
can be purchased. Decide for yourself which of the ebook covers most capture
your attention and would therefore be good for your project.
Once
you've found one or two really great ebook covers, contact the webmasters and
ask who did the designs. You'd be surprised how many people will share their
information with you. Introduce yourself pleasantly. You won't find out much by
being gruff or unfriendly. Be honest and open, and if you want to start off on
the right foot, it may help you get in the door if you initiate the
conversation by complimenting the webmaster's work. When you're using your best
manners, if one webmaster won't divulge his cover art designer, then another
webmaster definitely will.
How
to choose a designer
A
good designer works with you and for you.
Whether
by Google or by referral, once you navigate to an ebook cover designer's web
page, read through her terms to see what her fee is, how well she works with
people, and any examples of her work. Contact her to get additional
information. And regardless of any testimonials on her web page, ask for
references of real people whom you can contact yourself.
Look
for things like:
· Does
the artist get a lot of repeat business?
· Has
the artist been responsive to your questions?
· Have
you seen some excellent examples that you really like?
· Does
the artist guarantee your satisfaction before he gets full payment?
· Will
turnaround be a few days? (It really shouldn't take more than a week at any
rate.)
· Will
he or she revise the artwork after you've seen the first draft? Is this
revision included in the quoted cost?
· Do
you feel yourself wanting to buy the ebooks shown on the designer's web page
that this designer "covered"? In other words, do his or her pictures
entice you to make an immediate purchase?
· Will
the artist also be able to create additional items like web page headers,
banners, or related items?
The
work to weed out designers and to find a few that you like will pay for itself
in the long run when you want to create ebook after ebook. It's good to have
someone who designs great covers, whom you can trust and rely on, who works
quickly and effectively, and who charges reasonable rates.
Tip:
Find out the web services fees when you're asking about ebook cover art fees.
It's an added perk if your ebook cover artist also provides web page design
services. You may wish to have your marketing web page and ebook cover design
match. A good artist can generate titles, banners, buttons, and other related
web page items.
What makes a great ebook cover?
When
you hire a designer, you're giving up the reins on your cover art to some
extent. You can definitely use your gut instinct to determine when a cover is just right for
your ebook. If your gut doesn't speak to you, you can also make sure your cover
art is good by asking yourself and answering some questions.
Does
the artwork stand out proudly on your web page? You don't want it to blend in
with the background or be barely noticeable. Whether it's by color, texture,
shape, exclamation points, or professional looking artwork, your designer needs
to know how to add enough pizzazz to your cover art to get you noticed. This
doesn't mean that you need microscopic detail or complicated figures or
drawings. Sometimes simplicity does the job quite well. Artists know that. Look
for the "stand out" factor on his designs.
Is
the title prominent on the cover? You don't want too many words on the cover.
Stick with the title, a byline, and short words. You may be able to effectively
include a short bulleted list, but not much more. If the title isn't lodged in
your memory after a passing glance at the picture, then the artwork needs a
face lift.
Does
the cover use four colors or less? Although rainbows are pretty, they don't
stand out as much as solid colors. You can actually get by with three colors.
In most cases, you'll need at least one more color besides just black and
white. Just like web pages can look unprofessional with too many animated
graphics and background textures
likewise, your cover does not require all these frills. Don't be sold on
an artist or his work because he can make your ebook cover look like a tie-dyed
T-shirt. Occasionally lots of colors or textures are called for, but usually
not.
Can
you read each letter of text on the cover? You do not want a font that is
difficult to discern. Interestingly, the simple fonts that we use every day
when we communicate by email, are some of the best for ebook cover art. There's
a reason fonts like Arial and Times are so popular. People find them easy to
read. Don't make your potential buyers work to hard to figure out which letter
is which on your cover. In general, stay away from curly cues, unusual
handwriting fonts, and heavily detailed lettering.
Does
your cover have a large amount of red, blue, or yellow? These have been
determined by psychologists to be appealing colors for consumers. In fact any
two of these colors in combination with black and white would probably work.
Steer away from brown, green, gray, and muted or faded colors unless there is
some really good reason to use those colors. Does your cover look like a
three-dimensional object? You are trying to convey an actual book, so you
definitely want the art in 3-D. Make sure your ebook art has a spine and the
appearance of some internal pages. Don't settle for a rectangular
representation of only the front cover of a book. A flat rectangle could work
for the first page inside your book, but not for a picture on a web site that
is supposed to attract a buyer. Even though your readers will obviously have
enough computer wherewithal to have found your ebook in the first place, in
their hearts, they will still be attracted to online artwork that reminds them
of actual paper books. It's just a fact of life, so accept it, and make sure
your ebook cover art looks like a book.
Privacy Policy
Other
pages on Ebook Writing: Ebook Marketing Hiring
Ghost Writers Introduction Topic Ideas
Working with Ghost Writers
Disclaimer:
The web site is for information purposes only. Readers would not get
the results that are talked about in this web site.The information provided in this web site may not be authentic. Readers are strictly advised not to act upon the information provided in this web site.
| 
