Now, trust me, there are plenty of people out there who could "make" you a book cover, but let's face it - not all of them should. There are people who will take advantage of you and create something that you don't necessarily like or something that isn't legible. There are people out there who are unprofessional or overly expensive, but let's talk about everything YOU need to know about book covers.
FIRST - DESIGN:
You want something that stands out, but don't compromise what YOU have in mind due to the limitations of an artist. Your image that you have is embedded in your mind for a reason. However, it might need a little tweaking and every artist will incorporate a little of themselves into the cover. Personally, I tend to lean towards something colorful.
For example:
Here is a premade cover available at Hearts on Fire Editing. I love the colors that are present and how the woman stands. It's a unique design and while it is a stock image, the effects that were placed on it adds just a little something to the image.
Another Example:
This is only the ebook cover for Shadows of Pandora by Gwen Selix, but it's gorgeous and not all that "bright" and colorful per say. It's dark and adds a bit of mystery all while keeping the image that the author had in mind. Kate Marie Robbins designed the cover for Pure Ice Publishing and worked closely with the author. It works well with the story line as well.
You want to find something that isn't necessarily simple, but you don't want to overdo it. Too many things going on with the cover won't attract people. It will in fact turn them away from it, reducing your sales.
Second - Size:
Now, the sizing isn't that important for an ebook cover, but for print, you do want someone who knows what they're doing. Sizing is important. If you want a 5.5 x 8.5 book (the size that I personally use), you don't want a cover artist who will give you a 4 x 6 or something like that. This is where photoshop comes in handy. Cover artists can manipulate the image to be the correct size that is needed for you. IF PUBLISHING THROUGH CREATESPACE - REMEMBER TO TELL YOUR COVER ARTIST THAT YOUR WORDS NEED TO BE 0.5" AWAY FROM THE EDGES OR CREATESPACE WILL NOT ACCEPT IT. That is something important to remember.
Now, when you meet a cover artist - remember to ask them what system they use for photo editing. If it's something other than photoshop, I would be weary of using them, to be honest. This isn't because
of skill. This is because to be a paperback, you need to edit the resolution (or the dots per inch) and there aren't many things that do this other than photoshop. The Resolution (or DPI) is what will keep your image from coming out printed with pixelated.
Third - Personality:
As far as designers go, you want someone who will talk to you and take your input. Now, if you give them free reign over something, you should expect something that is very much like them. Maybe you want something soft and sweet, but the cover designer you've hired is more into something hard. That doesn't mean there can't be a middle compromise in it all. There can be things that are soft with a slight edginess to it. There are covers that are soft with edginess to them.
This is something I can't think of an example of off the top of my head, but once I do, I will post it.
Forth - Fonts
The fonts and their placement play a MAJOR factor in a cover. Say your cover is something with a sweet and innocent kind of image with a big, bold, font smack in the middle of the image. Of course you don't want it covering your model to the point where it's taking away from the image. Instead, you want something that would compliment the model, showing her (or him) off. Listen to your advice from your cover artist. They have usually been doing the business for many years or have learned something from someone else, but overall, follow your gut.
Colors of the font can be a hard thing to figure out. Did you get a cover where the font is hard to read? There are different effects you can apply to the image to smooth it out or darken/lighten it, but work and experiment with different colors to see if there is one that is more legible than the others.
Here's an example from Hearts on Fire Editing:
Now, the artist started off in a purple font, thinking it would compliment the image, but it's a little hard to read as it goes across the model. No matter where you place it, it gets a little difficult to read, but playing with font colors, this was what she came up with as a final:
Now, while the green is still a little difficult to read, it's better than the purple. Also, from experience, the green font will be easier to read once it's printed versus the purple. It also compliments the image, giving the image a different viewpoint than the purple. While the purple complimented the background, drawing the attention to the landscape, the green compliments the model, bringing out the yellows in her collar.
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Now, the cover design is all you. If you don't like where something is going, SCRATCH IT and start again. The cover artists are there to service YOU, not the other way around.Find something that you can afford and go from there. Take a deep breath. It's just one more obstacle in the way of you publishing your book. You are closer to being there than you were a month ago. Take this knowledge and talk about it! Don't be afraid to say you don't like something! This is something YOU are putting YOUR name on (and something your cover designer is putting their name on as the design for the image goes to them in your copyright page).
There is more advice on book covers that can continue this, but it will be made at a later day!
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