Book Cover Design: How to Get Ultimate output in easy Steps?
One area where independent writers work on a limited budget, but cannot afford it on their own, is the ultimate output of cover design. Your book will compete with thousands of similarly priced books – almost all of them with professionally designed covers. Creating your own jacket designs in Photoshop can save you money upfront, but in the long run, you’ll lose money on book sales and your personal branding as an author.
In this article, I’ll show you how to find the right designer and get the ultimate output for your book. Also, if you’re wondering how much it costs, the cover design infographic includes averages taken from the market. You might be surprised how affordable it is to get the ultimate output for book writers.
Book Cover Design: How to Get Ultimate output in easy Steps?
1. Find cover inspiration and ideas
Working with experts does not mean that all creative work is left to experts. After all, this is your book, and it will help you approach designers with some clear ideas about what you might want as the ultimate output.
Remember, the cover is the first communication between your book and your target market i.e., people who might buy the type of title you write about. To create a sales cover, you need to know which visual cues your potential readers will respond to. In short, you need to take inspiration from other books to get the ultimate output that has found success in your genre.
2. Find a cover designer with the right experience
Online talent marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork make it easier than ever to find someone who designs book covers. But unlike Reedsy, they are more or less open to everyone. So you’re unlikely to find designers there who are familiar with the book market. All professionals who can be contacted by Reedsy must provide a proven track record of experience. Many professionals may have worked for some of their favorite books at major media outlets.
3. Create a brief that excites designers
Before you and your future designer can strike a deal, they need to know a little bit about your project. There you will get an overview or request of the project.
Just as this cover art requires a talented and passionate designer, designers are looking for communicators and collaborators who appreciate their work. So a good brief is not only a surprisingly detailed explanation of the book but also the first (and often only) opportunity to market yourself as a collaborator.
4. Choose your preferred concept and provide feedback
Every collaboration is different, but most designers offer some early concepts to choose from. For example, when author Niyati Tamaskar hired Reedsy designer Asya Blue to create the cover for his memoir Unafraid, the initial overview suggested using a peacock feather as the center image. Blue is back with three models to match this feather pattern.
When the designer goes back to the original concept, he needs to be able to tell the designer what details he likes and why. You might like the images in one version, but you might like the typography in another. This feedback will help guide you through the next design iteration.
The agreement with the designer may state the number of design rounds the cover will receive, so there is no endless tweaking or redesign luxury. So it’s very important to figure out what you like and don’t like.
5. Fine-tune and improve the final design
Now that you’ve reached the final stage don’t forget your goals! The devil is in the details, and there will be many details that you need to think about. Designers are great for leading the final stages of design but look for personal preferences for elements like fonts and specific color palettes.
