Your cover is your primary marketing tool, and everything else rides on it. Here’s how I got a great cover.
I have two fine arts degrees, so I wanted a cover that was a work of art. Big mistake.
For one, I wasn’t aware of current books in my genre or my book’s key emotion when I wrote my design briefs. (Heck, I didn’t know my book had a key emotion.)
For another, I contracted indie artists with stunning portfolios that didn’t necessarily include covers. Their creations didn’t fit with other covers in my genre, nor did they convey THE emotion.
One high-end indie designer had phenomenal covers in his portfolio, but created one for me with outdated images. It was painful to see my cover alongside others in my genre. When I asked him why my cover wasn’t the same quality as the ones in his portfolio, he said, “You can’t afford me.” Ugh. He operates within a tier, and at the bottom was his minimal effort for untried authors like me. Also, KDP and IngramSpark rarely lined up his border correctly. Maybe POD services have figured it out by now, but recently the same thing happened with my business cards, so no more borders for me.
Like my other contracted indie artist, he had no accountability, so bye bye thousands of $$ in hefty deposits and payments.
I ditched indies and the quest for a work of art and instead contracted a popular free-if-you’re-not-satisfied cover factory, only to discover it costs quite a bit after a certain point, coincidently the point my artist stopped giving his best. I should’ve read the fine print.
Bye bye, several hundred more $$.
My whole process shifted when I began to run potential covers through a marketing poll service (Pick-Fu). The targeted respondents generally liked my covers but also gave constructive criticism, i.e. “The words are too close to the edges to look professional.”
Then I learned about a cover service that offers design contests (99Designs). I selected the option for the most seasoned designers, then waded through dozens of . . . okay submissions. I was about to choose a cover that followed my design brief the most closely, when a striking submission arrived. I sent it for a poll, and the respondents raved.
Voila, my updated Sons of Adamah cover.
Yes, I did things the hard way and lost buckets of $$, but I also learned a lot. Here’s my advice (once you have a well-written, marketable book and an outstanding blurb):
1. Figure out your book’s key emotion, then collect samples of best-selling book covers in your genre and similar in mood.
3. Open a design contest and include your research in the design brief.
3. Send the best one or two results to a marketing poll, using an accurate poll question created by the service’s AI. Rinse and repeat until you get rave responses to a cover.
5. After contracting with the designer, send him/her the constructive poll feedback. If necessary, put the cover through a poll again until everything sings. Also pay attention to current back covers and spines.
Note: All sorts of things can be run through marketing polls, like blurbs and logos. Polls are not only helpful, but fun and somewhat addictive.
You invested a lot into your writing, so your book deserves a cover that will grab your targeted audience by the scruff of their necks and not let go until they buy it.