Let's Cover It

I began doing graphic design around eight years ago on a website called Wattpad. I have designed many graphics for users there, mostly covers. Design for someplace like Wattpad varies greatly from what you would design for publication. A lot of the books on the site are fan fictions so the covers contain images of actors or bands, anime characters, or other images that are technically copy written. Many of the authors are teens, they’re on the site to practice their writing or they might be there simply for the fun of it. Many aren’t looking to publish their work, just to write and have it read by others.

The point is, these covers are not used for profit. The site is free to join and free to read, except for a few authors who have joined the coin program. Disney or One Direction probably aren’t going to come after some fifteen-year-old for their use of the images. It isn’t worth their time and money.

Things change greatly if you use that cover on a book you’re planning on publishing and selling. You’re profiting off someone else’s work and they tend to frown upon that. If you’re planning on publishing your book then you need to consider where your cover is coming from and how it’s being designed.

Things to think about before you begin on your cover design:

ü  Pick a reputable cover designer. You can get references from other authors if needed. If you're publishing through a publishing house they likely have designers in-house. In which case you will probably have limited input on the final cover design.

ü  Cite where the images came from so the original owner of the images is credited. I generally do this on the copyright page. Yes, the images were purchased from a stock site, you have the correct permission to use them, but citing where the images came from and the author of the images gives credit to them for their work. And maybe someone else will want to check out the stock site and artist.

ü  If the offer to make a cover sounds too good to be true, check into the designer. You don’t want to hand over money and get nothing in return. Especially if they’re asking for everything upfront before they’ve done any work.

ü  Don’t approve anything if you aren’t completely happy with it. I’ve gone back and forth with an author for weeks before they were finally happy with the design. We authors are often indecisive beings and we change our minds a lot. If your designer isn’t going to be patient with you as you try and reconcile the image in your head with what the cover looks like, they probably aren’t the right person to make your cover. There are times you might have to compromise on the final imagery, some things just can’t be translated from the imagination to a visual adaption. But hopefully, your designer will work with you to get your cover as close to what you want as they can. Check with your designer beforehand to be certain they will do multiple redos of the cover if necessary. I generally offer only two redos, but I’ve worked with authors and done more depending on the cover and its level of difficulty.

ü  Hit your local book store or ebook site and browse the shelves for your genre. Get an idea of what the current cover trends are, you don’t have to follow trends but it can help you see what other authors have going on and what’s selling. If the design you have in mind doesn’t fit your genre you might want to consider going in a different direction. It can affect whether a reader will buy your book or not. If the design you’re picturing resembles an already published work too closely you may confuse readers.

These certainly aren’t all the things you might want to consider when getting ready to design your cover, but they are the biggies.