…That’s what you’re competing with when you’re selling your book. You must have a book cover that conveys the right genre as well as attracts a click.
Now, every author’s journey is different, so I’m going to first share how I found my cover artists and then share with you other ways to find covers. From super cheap to paying top dollar for the best possible design.
When I was working on my first novel, I met Leslie Reilly. When I needed a cover for that first book, she was willing to design it for me. Since this was her first book cover, it didn’t cost me very much. I think she charged me around a hundred dollars. I sent her the story and she came up with the cover that conveys adventure and doom.
Since then I’ve hired her to do all of my novel covers, as well as some of my short stories. And, her prices have gone up, especially as she’s become even better at designing.
Here’s what Leslie had to say about book covers: How much does this manuscript mean to you? Did you whip it out or was it a labor of love that has to be shared with the world? A well designed, professional looking cover tells the audience that what is to come is special and worthy and of a certain caliber.
Along with your title, the cover sets a scene, mood, or clearly states what is to come in the following pages. Thank you Leslie.
One of my friends was doing art for Inktober and came out with this beautiful image of a woman in a dress, bare feet, and holding a sword. It immediately gave a story of a cinderella who’s fighting for her man. So I contacted the artist, purchased the image as wall as purchased the rights to it so I could use it for a cover, and she’s since done the other covers for that fairy tale series. Since those are really simplistic she charges me about 40 dollars and then I take the images and create cover.
Now, if you don’t have artist friends or maybe you really need to be cheap, you can start for free with Canva. I created a free cover on Canva for my short story Evil Nuns from Space and then when I had the money I hired an artist who did an amazing cover. I mean, you really need something special for evil nuns from space.
Now here are a few places to hire or look for covers, all of these recommendations came from authors in Mark Dawson’s SPF Genius group – so thank you all for your information.
GetCovers.com – which I understand they need good directions on what you’re looking for.
BooksCovered (Great for thrillers)
Notes:
Leslie Reilly: https://www.behance.net/LeslieReilly or lesliereilly4@gmail.com
designed the cover for Toy of the Gods
Emina Slavnic https://www.facebook.com/eminaslavnic
designed the images for Cinder Tales
Abygale Lowman https://www.instagram.com/xola.art
Designed the cover for Evil Nuns From Space
Other options:
Joanna Morgan – dreamsavercovers@gmail.com. Specializes in fantasy and all genres of romance, and specifically wants to help disadvantaged or struggling authors. You can also find her on her Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dreamsavercovers/
MoorBooks for romantic fantasy