A good cover can make or break a book, especially for on-line buying. In a bookstore, most books are racked spine out, so author name sometimes means more. Readers can pick up your book, thumb through, get a feel for story and writing and then decide. On-line, readers see your cover. It has to say, “buy me, I’m a good book” to the reader. If it doesn’t, why would they take the time to possibly download a sample, or even look at product description? The changes in publishing have given the author many great opportunities and self-publishing is a viable option. However, self-publishing requires the author to make a few major decisions, and one of those decisions is cover.
You have a couple of options. You can do it yourself or your can hire a cover artist. There are many programs out there to choose from. There are many do it yourself programs, free programs, even programs that come with your computer that can create cover design. Even Word has the capability of designing a basic cover, but will the cover be good enough to invite the reader in? The question you have to ask yourself is it worth your time and energy to do it “right”. Hiring someone to do your covers can run as low as $50.00 and as high as $600.00.
This is not an easy decision, especially when you factor in other costs that go into making an eBook available to the reader. We made the decision to invest in the proper tools to do it ourselves because we had the design background, and the technical ability. We purchased the complete InDesign package from Adobe ($1,299.00) partly for the ability to create covers for on-line purchasing, but also because it made it much easier to create the full-jacket cover for our print-on-demand books and for web design.
Even with the proper tools we made a few cover mistakes along the way.
Publishing Mistake #1: Always Judge a Book by its Cover.
This cover sucks. Actually, every single one of the original Atlantis Covers was a disaster except for Assault on Atlantis, which remained almost identical as the original. So why does it suck and why did it make sense to change?
First. It’s too dark. I don’t mean color scheme because you can have a black cover that isn’t bad, but this cover lacks contrast. The color scheme is too similar. The letters and background blend together. If you have a dark background, you want letters that stand out. If you have a light background, you want letters that will pop.
Second. Do you know what the object is in the background? I know Bob does. I’m not going to tell you. You all can guess. Though, if you read the book, you probably know. Point is, what does this cover mean to the reader? I say this cover almost says pass me by.
Third. Logo. Wow. What were we thinking? I know we thought we were being brilliant when we put our very first logo on all our covers for them to stick out like a sore thumb. For those observant readers, you will notice here at Write It Forward we now have a new header. That look will be added to the Who Dares Wins Publishing website. I’ll get into that change in another publishing lesson. The point here is that the logo adds absolutely nothing to the cover. As a matter of fact, it takes a way from the already bad cover, making it worse.
If you were in traditional publishing it would be too bad, suck it up, go promote it’s the only cover you’re going to get. If you had hired someone, you’re be paying them to redo it. If you did it yourself, you’d be redoing it.
So what is best? I recommended if you don’t have the knowledge of basic design and design programs (for example how layers work) then hire someone. It’s why I do the covers and Bob doesn’t.
Publishing Correction #1.
The content of the book has not changed. However, the cover changed drastically. Why is this a good cover?
First. It has contrast. The color of the letters, while still complement the background, are bold and pop of the page. The background is vibrant and alive. It’s inviting. It doesn’t look dark and drab and boring. Yet, it is a very simple cover. Simple is often better.
Second. The cover says something about the book. Actually, it says something about the entire series, which involves the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil’s Sea and other strange and eerie places. It invites the reader to take a look inside and see if they are interested in the content. This is critical regardless of whether you are in a store thumbing through all the books in this particular section, or browsing on line trying to find a good read. A good cover can make or break you. We found when we changed the cover, our sales improved.
Third. No distracting white rectangle that means nothing to the reader.
While editing this post, I realized this cover still has one minor flaw. Every thing is centered. We’ve learned that alignment is another aspect you need to consider when designing a cover. Is it time to change it? No.
Publishing Lesson #1.
There is a time when it’s best to leave well enough alone. For a long time the first cover was it. It wasn’t until I had finished with the 6th and final cover in this series that we realized we had a problem. Not all of the books were in print at that time. We knew that it would cost us to make the upgrade and the book had already earned out and beyond. Our business had grown and we had a different set of tools to work with, specifically InDesign by Adobe which allowed me to create covers that I didn’t have the capability before. After much discussion, we began the revamping process. It took at least 6 more tries before we got to this one. Change was necessary, and unlike traditional publishing when it comes to covers after book release, non-traditional publishing allows us to make this change. However, timing is important as well as not rushing things. We had to get it right, and this time we did.
This brings me to a question for all our readers out there. The Bodyguard of Lies cover has gotten some negative feedback. Some readers thought the cover was boring. Too simple. We were aiming for simple and we wanted it to match the Lost Girls cover, which so far, I haven’t heard anything negative regarding Lost Girls. So my question to you is, is it time for us to change this cover? Don’t hold back. Tell us what you think.
Write It Forward!
While I like what the Bodyguard of Lies book cover suggests, America, loyalty, military, I do think it’s time for an update. In reality, this cover contains two-maybe three-colors. It tends to blend into the background. I would add in more.
I did a review of Bob’s “Bodyguard of Lies” in January and that was one of the few negatives I put in my review that the cover is boring. I would have normally passed it by. It really needs something vibrant. The flag is usually vibrant but this is so drab it’s severely not eye catching. I think if the snowy mountain (from the story) was included with maybe a helicopter and people running from it, something that is active and makes me say… “I have to know what is happening!”
Just a thought,
Heatheraine
http://heatheraine.blogspot.com
I would tweak it and try that first before a complete redesign. My suggestion is three-fold:
(1) Align the existing book title to the right.
(2) Move the flag to the bottom-left corner and make it more prominently fill the space. I would probably also attempt to rotate the flag or substitute another flag so that the stripes show better. Have it take up space on the cover approximately from the top-left corner in a diagonal line to mid-way across the bottom.
Alternately, zoom way out so that the flag is small, taking up perhaps 1/9th of the page much like the dog tags do for the Lost Girls cover.
(3) Lastly, change the background from gray to white. Change the font to black and see if you like it. You may want to go white-on-black instead to match Lost Girls.
There’s one flaw that all of the covers share. At the size you show, the small text is unreadable. And thumbnails are usually even smaller. And for Atlantis, all that NY Times blah, blah, blah dominates the page unnecessarily to the detriment of everything else. I’m not a designer, but I read a hell of a lot of books, and that cover doesn’t impress me at all. And the graphic for Lost Girls? What the heck is that? A name tag? A flack vest?
Speaking from a novice POV, it’s good to see text and graphic images that are short, sharp, shiny and relevant. Which sums up my thoughts on the appeal value of a cover. I was hoping a scalpel may be all that was needed to shave off the loose ends of my work, but based on the informative responses here. A Samurai sword may come in handy until the result is whittled into shape. Bodyguard of Lies didn’t seem so bad, though on reflection, there is room for improvement – more flag perhaps?
As a side note, I wanted to offer this anecdote about my behavior as a Kindle reader. When I use my Kindle device to shop in a random fashion (ie, I’m just looking to see what’s out there that might be interesting), I never pay attention to the cover. That’s because when you shop in the Kindle store THROUGH the Kindle device, the grayscale thumbnails are totally useless. They are just little blobs.
I’m finding that I focus on author and title. If I see an author’s name that I like, I stop and check out their offerings. I will check the synopsis if the title grabs me.
If I’m looking at a sea of books by authors I don’t recognize, then title becomes all important. There are so many offerings available that even if I have lots of time to indulge, I get too impatient to click on each and every one and read each synopsis.
I’m finding that I skim the offerings and I focus on the titles. If the title catches my interest, then I’ll click on the link and read the synopsis. If the synopsis seems to fit my preferences, I’ll download a sample. If I’m still engaged by the end of the sample, & if the price seems reasonable, I’ll buy the book to finish it.
But if the title doesn’t grab me, it doesn’t matter how good the synopsis, the sample, or the book is, because I won’t stop to look at those things. I skim titles, & only stop if a title jumps out at me. (Now, how to come up with a catchy title that will hook the attention of a lot of readers, that’s a whole ‘nother major challenge. Grin.)
I have a kindle app on my Droid smart phone, but cover still isn’t a particularly important part of my search. While color comes through on the smart phone, improving the contrast, the thumbnails are still so small on the smart phone screen that after I’ve scrolled for about 15 seconds, my eyes start to cross & my vision stops registering details. I go back to focusing primarily on titles.
I also have a Nook app on my Droid, & I’m finding the very same thing holds true for me.
Cover design is important if I search for books through the main Amazon (or B&N) storefront, using my computer. In that case, there’s color and a bigger size and the cover is distinct & makes sense. But if I’m browsing on the actual Kindle device or through my smart phone, the cover is a waste of time as a tool to catch my attention.
Is there any data out there on the avenues by which people search for books? Do other readers have different experiences than I do when searching for books through the Kindle device?
I don’t have any other e-readers; does Nook’s search options (or Sony or Kobo or iPad etc.) differ substantially from the Kindle?
this is all kind of tangential to the post, but that’s the way my mind works sometimes.
Shawn, I don’t have a Kindle and do my bookshopping online. But what you say about the thumbnails just supports my previous comment. Where we differ is that I think titles are almost irrelevant. They rarely give me any way to evaluate a further look unless they have a graphic specific to a particular genre. If it’s a knife or gun, or blood, I’m reasonably sure I can skip it because mysteries and detective novels don’t interest me. It’s the synopsis that tells me the most, so a poorly written synopsis is an instant turnoff. I pick up a fair number of books from Smashwords and when I have the time, I browse the mostly recently published books. Synopsis is vital here, title comes in second, and cover is usually irrelevant.
Very informative. Good value. We’re nearing the end of editing my first novel and the search is on to produce a good cover. The comments here help considerably. Auswag
Covers are always interesting. With over 40 books traditionally published, I had extremely limited input on most my covers. The first time I saw the cover for Dragon Sim-13 I was in-processing in the reserves at Ft. Bragg and the guy in line in front of me turned around and looked at my name tag. “Hey, your name is familiar.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out the hardcover for DS-13 which he’s gotten out of a New Jersey library. They’d gotten the book before I got my author copy.
I taught technical writing at Univ of WA last fall. One of the things I taught, because I had to teach another professor’s curriculum was a principle of designed designated CRAP. Yep. Easily remember. It stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Most of our covers were done by the time I went through this book, but I can see where many of these principles apply.
The good things is at Who Dares Wins Publishing is that we can change our covers quickly. My first book in the Area 51 series is now in its 17th printing. On the back cover is a mistake, saying “Nellis Air Force Base, New Mexico.” I’ve gotten God knows how many emails telling me Nellis is in Nevada. So is Area 51. I know that. I’ve sent the half-a-dozen or so editors I’ve had on the Area 51 series letters and emails asking them to correct the mistake. It still has not been corrected. That tells you that traditional publishers don’ care much about mistakes and don’t correct them. I’ve found that attitude to be prevalent. They’re too busy to do it right.
As far as the Lost Girls and Bodyguard covers, they’re too dark. One of the things Jen and I clash on is that she likes dark. But for covers to pop in thumbnail they have to be vibrant and alive. Not dark and gloomy. So I think for those two, we’ll shoot for that.
The covers of both books emphasize the name of the author and the title. If I’m looking for a Bob Mayer title, I’m done.
I prefer covers containing some point of color. The image on the cover of THE LOST GIRLS is clearly a set of dog tags. But the dog tags are monochromatic, so they don’t contrast sufficiently for my eye. The cover BODYGUARD OF LIES has even less for the eye to caress, in my opinion. I write thrillers, so I don’t expect pastels. But a sharp blast of color, even if tiny, always catches my attention.
The biggest issue is in the quote from Kirkus Reviews on the cover of THE LOST GIRLS. The word clandestine is misspelled as “cladestine”, which I suspect you’ll want to fix.
My two cents, since you asked.
I have 3 self published books. With the last one I paid someone to do the cover (Kimberly Killion at Hot Damn Designs, she’s amazing and cheap at about 100). I didn’t want to pay, to be honest. I had a book published with Kensington and had spent so much promoting that I refused to spend anything on self published book 1 and 2. Now I realize 100 is nothing for a good cover. And when readers don’t know you, the cover matters.
I’ve thought about redoing the covers for book 1 and 2. My question is, do readers get annoyed when you’re constantly changing covers? I’m wondering if someone might buy the book, thinking its a new one. I know this happens with NY. They’re constantly redoing covers, readers buy them, and are annoyed because they realize its actually an old book they’ve already read.
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Excellent post, Jenni–useful, honest, generous. Love it. It’s specially helpful for you to list the software you use and its price. Of course, all the nifty software in the world won’t make up for a bad eye, so it’s good to know about prices for designers, too.
The new Atlantis cover is a zillion percent better. That book is all about the place and the “monster” so the eerie green is perfect.
Yes, the Lost Girls graphic is obviously dog tags, but why? The girls who were lost were all civilians. Three images stand out from that book: Emily looking at that dog’s head, Emily’s underwire, and the final showdown, which is as vivid as if I’d seen it in a movie or witnessed it myself. None of those images would work at such a small scale. That’s the etched in stone limitation: size.
The cover for BOL looks like a history book, which is misleading. Again, the images that stick with the reader won’t play in such a small size. The characters in BOL and in LB are the stars, so the images I keep involve the characters. Honestly, Amazon ought to let you put up posters in addition to book covers. You know, maybe if I had a site where I sold my books, I’d give myself permission to put up posters.
Love the new look of this blog. Adding this strong color really makes it clear that exciting people here.
That last line should read:
Adding this strong color really makes it clear that exciting people live here. Argh.
I don’t know technically why, but it seems you almost have to search for the title in ‘Bodyguard of Lies’ whereas ‘Lost Girls’ stands out immediately. ‘Bodyguard of Lies’ doesn’t read smoothly – there’s a pause while your eyes adjust to the space at the beginning of the second line and the title is quite separate from the background image. Just my thoughts!
We appreciate all the feedback!
I don’t like the cover. Too plain. I am too ignorant to let you know anything beyond that. I think the cover to Lost Girls worked because it was an odd contrast with the background. “Lost Girls” seemed nefarious and intriguing when juxtaposed against this federal seal. It was like a doll in a gun case. It didn’t go, so it evoked curiousity.
This cover doesn’t do much for me, but that’s just my P.O.V. Seems like a lot of the other comments offered far more savvy advice
. I tend to buy stories off recommendation. I don’t browse like the old days before all my friends were writers.
Oh,,,and GREAT blog by the way. Very informative and funny. You guys have come a long way. I love my covers, so that’s all that matters LOL. Kidding!
Couple things about the Bodyguard of Lies cover:
Move Bob’s name to bottom (to provide consistent look between books)
LOL I totally noticed this after I typed out the change, too funny.
move title to top of image, separate “Bodyguard of” and “Lies”,
ditch any text on the cover is that is not the title and author that’s for your description.
center flag image between top and bottom then justify slightly left
hyper saturate red in flag image
suppress other color,
Then the cover will more directly mimic “twilight” which I guess was your intent.
So why those changes? The text other than your name or the book title is completely unreadable in thumbnail. The only other thing that might be readable/acceptable is “NY Times Bestseller”, which reads more like a stamp of approval rather than actual “text”. Also while both images are high quality they don’t really pop. Finally, another hint. Putting text over the image creates depth and seperation. Differences in quality and style between the text and the image will make the cover look “cheaper”.
Love the video – watched it and then had to go back and re-read the blog so I could comment! Covers are SO important, yet the only time I judge by them is in the library. If I’m shopping to buy a book, I already know I want it, wither from word of mouth or because I know the author from previous work. The library is the place where I pick books up because they look interesting. Sometimes it seems unfair that a brilliant cover can beguile you into picking up a lousy book when the reverse isn’t true. Still, you know what they say – you can’t…what was it? Oh yes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking wind. Or something.
Wow. We really appreciate all the feedback, comments, suggestions, etc! I have a lot to consider and a lot of really great ideas are forming, thanks to you all.
Bob mentioned earlier how we clash sometimes, but that clash is often a really good thing. As I go through all of your comments on the covers and your reading and buying habits, I’m taking a good hard look at my initial response. I often spend days on a cover concept and sometimes, just like writing, I’m too close to my own work.
Thanks again! I’m really loving all feedback.
While I am no expert in this I’ll give it a shot. The covers that pull me in the most are ones where the graphic acts as visual log line. Issac Asimov’s Foundation series would be an example of this. The cover graphic evokes a feel for what the entire work will be about (at least on the copies I have). Another point that stands out on the above examples is an overabundance of text. The title is fine, the author name is fine, but the rest is back cover material, in my humble opinion. Many already know Bob’s accomplishments or are familiar with his work. As mentioned several times above, name recognition is the greatest draw, especially for a long-established author like Bob. Having a cover that evokes emotion, like a piece of art in a gallery, will draw those less familiar into a deeper look without the need to clutter the art.
Just my two cents, hope it is helpful and keep up the excellent work.
Doing your own book cover is like giving yourself a haircut- just because it can be done doesn’t mean that it should….
Great post! As a seasoned print art director, let me say this: having the latest Adobe design programs and a hundred million fonts makes one no more proficient at cover design than a horse and saddle makes one a competent cowboy. In both cases it’s best to left to professionals.
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By that logic, I should tell all the people self-publishing to stop it, as they are not ‘professionals’. I wonder sometimes what makes one a professional. I was recently flamed for saying a reviewer’s blog was unprofessional. Then had people coming at me from both sides: reviewers saying they were readers just posting their opinions and reviewers saying they were professional somehow because, I don’t know, they read a lot. I’ll to mull over this idea of professional. One of the biggest things happening right now in publishing is a lot of the professionals between a writer and reader are having concerns about job security.
Actually, I’ve been thinking about the ‘professionals’ who’ve done my book covers at some of the major book publishers. Who put things on the cover that aren’t in the book. It’s pretty obvious from many professionally done book covers that the artist hasn’t taken the time to read the content. I know they don’t have time, but that seems a major disadvantage to me for the author.
On another tangent, there’s been a mistake on the cover of Area 51 cover and through the half-a-dozen or so editors who have been responsible for the series, I’ve yet to get one of these professionals to correct the mistake over 17 printings of the book.
So professional seems to be a subjective term. I prefer passionate.
There is a certain skill set that goes with creating cover design. Only part of that skill set is an understanding of how to use the proper tools. The other parts include understanding layout, colors and developing an idea that coveys something about a piece of work.
Bob mentioned passion and that is a word that calls to me. Without passion we have only a shell to work with. Passion fuels any and all professions. Passion is what makes us willing to go back to the drawing board and keep working when something isn’t just right.
A great article. Thank you.
I often think the cover sells my book–my artist, Rae Monet, is phenomenal. I’m sure I could figure out how to do this myself should I choose to, but mechanics aside, it’s a matter of ‘seeing’ things from the artist’s perspective that breathes life into a cover. My art comes from stringing the words together into a mental image readers forms for themselves.
Joanna Aislinn
Dream. Believe. Strive. Achieve!
NO MATTER WHY
The Wild Rose Press
http://www.joannaaislinn.com
http://www.joannaaislinn.wordpress.com
It’s the reason we have a team at Who Dares Wins Publishing. I don’t do the techie stuff. I know enough to know what I can and can’t do.
Having recently uploaded a book in need of a new cover when rights reverted to me, I had groveled for help from my photographer/e-book author son to cobble some images I’d found so the book had the same “feel” as the original print version. One thing I didn’t notice as I scrolled through the comments, but which my son was aware enough to do for my cover, was make sure there was room for the Kindle icon that the Amazon folks are going to slap in the lower right of any cover of books sold at the Kindle Store. He also made sure I looked at the covers in thumbnail size before we finalized the design. And, because it’s a romantic suspense, and therefore under the ‘romance’ umbrella, we went for the eye candy. (The book is What’s in a Name? should anyone want to take a peek)
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
There are a lot of things that one must consider when making cover design. While Bob doesn’t do “techie” stuff he does have an eye for certain aspects of the design that I don’t necessarily see. Since he wrote many of the books, he can give me a good idea of what he had been thinking and what are the key elements in the book such as important objects, theme, etc. And since I have taken the time to read every book I have ever made a cover for, I can see it from a different perspective. Combine the two and we usually end up with a concept that works.
Rea Monet does fabulous work. She designed a few of my covers when I was with TWRP. I loved every one she did. However, there have been other covers, especially from my first publisher that I hated and felt they didn’t give the reader the right impression. One the couple had a huge city in the background, but the book took place in the mountains and on a lake, never anywhere near a city. And another book the heroine had very short brown hair and brown eyes on the cover, but I wrote her with long brown hair, very long brown hair, and blue eyes. It seems silly, but it something to consider.
I love designing book covers. How does one join a team of cover designers?
A cover design is very important and just as in any graphic design, it needs the three primary elements. It needs to have balance, rhythm and emphasis. It should be distinct enough that it grabs the attention of your potential audience so that it can communicate the contents and share a message.
Distinction seems to be a large factor in the success of a project. One look at Urban Fantasy covers today and it’s incredibly difficult to tell one story from another without the text on the cover.
That video is great, I only wish I could work that quickly in photoshop.
I’m not seeing much of a change in quality from the first Atlantis cover to the updated version. More contrast, yes, but it still looks like something the author created in Word. It still looks “self-published”. Let’s face it. The best policy is to hire a designer–an experienced designer, not that cousin of yours who knows a few Photoshop tricks. Nor should you go out and buy an “Idiot’s Guide” to graphic design and give it a go yourself. Why? The Big 6 all have snazzy, experienced in-house designers with the best programs. Still nothing a good, experienced (and affordable) freelancer can’t compete with. It hurts, but if you want your book to look “real”, you gotta shell out and hire a designer!
Tominda
http://www.readvessel.com
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I like a cover that lets me know the genre of the book and also something about the story. I would expect a Western to have a horse or ranch on the cover and perhaps show the MC. An historical story would have characters dressed in the era of the book. If it was romance then the cover would have a romantic feel. A humorous story would have a font that spelled ‘humour’. I don’t read science fiction so a cover that shouted sci-fi would allow me to pass it over. (Perhaps this is a throwback to my days of reading the Famous Five and Secret Seven when the cover and title told you exactly what to expect in the story)