Picking A Cover

Trying to find a good cover for your e-book can be a challenge. There are lots of ways to go about it, and I considered three different methods:

1. Create my own
2. Hire someone to create it
3. Find something already created

 I seriously thought about number one for a while. I'm not an artist, but I could use photographs. I had some decent ideas but I realized I would spend as much on props as I would to buy rights on a stock photo or to hire someone. Going forward this is something I will consider. I'm going to keep my eyes open if I'm at a yard sale or antique store. If something's the right price and it might fit a theme for a cover I'll go for it.

I didn't consider hiring someone for too long. I've tried this before with mixed success. Partly because I've gone with people I know. I know a couple of people who do graphic design, and I want to support them. Unfortunately it never worked out quite right, even when I was offering to pay for their work. If I try this in the future I'll go the route of searching out someone who is specifically looking for freelance work. I read somewhere that Deviantart was a good place to find artists.

So this leaves us with something already created. The route I chose was to use a stock photo. There are lots of websites out there where you can buy stock photos. I searched through istockphoto.com, depositphotos.com, and freeimages.com. I ended up going with a photo on shutterstock.com.

I had originally found a photo I liked at depositphotos, but it was going to cost something like $40 for the image. I found my way back to shutterstock and found a similar picture, plus the price was a lot better. Once I bought the license it was time to upload!

Once you've got your cover image, you can use photoshop to adjust the picture and add your title and name. Since I am publishing through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, they actually have a cover design program you can use. I was able to upload my photo, add the text and customize it as I saw fit. One thing I didn't realize was offered is that this tool allows you to create a cover without a picture. You can use color design and add in text to build your cover.

Picking a cover can be a pretty important part of your book, right up there with the title. People are busy and are scanning through thousands of images. You need something that will stand out. The right colors, the right image can grab the attention of someone who is looking in your genre.