Self-publishing has challenges and stresses distinct from traditional publishing, but it does have one very fun aspect. You have total control over the cover of your book and the elements included in it. As much as we say, “never judge a book by its cover”, I’ve never met a sighted person who wasn’t influenced on some level by a book cover. Years ago, when I worked in a bookstore, we’d organize the shelves to show off the covers of books we had multiple copies of or were trying to sell. The book cover is the first thing people will usually see about your book; it is the first impression, and thus when it came time to get a cover for my first self-published book, I took the process very seriously.
While I dabble in art, I knew that I lacked the experience and talent to create a cover of high enough quality that I would be happy with. There are several ways to purchase a cover in the modern age, depending on what you are looking for. Premade book covers can be purchased from sites like the Book Cover Designer or the Cover Collection, or Book Cover Zone with a variety of genres available. These sites vary slightly in the customization options available but serve as a great resource to many self-publishing writers. I browsed the selection of covers on such sites for weeks before making the final determination that I wanted to specially made book cover.
My decision was based on a few points.
- One, I knew that The Iron Realm was the first in a long series of books. I wanted to be sure that I had the ability to have the same artist work on all the following covers so the style of the covers would be consistent.
- Two, there were certain specific details that I wanted to make sure were included in the covers.
- Three, I wanted to have a subtle brand symbol in the form of the triskelion on all of the covers to create a unifying element.
These three things were important to me, and I came to the conclusion that a premade cover was not the correct choice for me. My budget also meant that I could afford to commission a cover that was more expensive than premade options. Depending on your needs, a premade cover may be the right choice as you may be able to find a cover with the elements and atmosphere that you are looking for. Before committing to either option, consider your story and what you need from your cover, as well as your budget.
With my intent to secure a commissioned cover, I looked at the options for how to purchase one. There are many wonderful artists that can be connected to via the internet, but the question of what style I wanted lingered. While I had ideas for what I wanted my cover to look like, I had avoided trying to craft anything too specific in my mind as I feared being disappointed by whatever I received.
Then I came across the website 99 designs, a platform that links artists to clients and handles the business side of things. More importantly, 99 designs offered a feature that appealed to me at once. A client could host a contest and invite artists to compete for the commission. The price for running a contest is higher than commissioning most artists on the site, but it provides an incentive for artists to offer designs. Rather than only receiving one finished product, I could instead receive a dozen. After spending some time browsing the portfolios of some of the artists on the site, I decided that this was the route I would take to get my book cover.
One major thing that I had in my favor when I started the contest was that the cover was the first in a series. In the briefing, which included elements that I wanted to see on the cover and descriptions of the elements that were distinct to The Iron Realm, I was able to inform the artists competing that the winner would not just be commissioned for this cover but would have future commissions with me for the rest of the series. This allowed me to attract talented artists that I likely would not have been able to overwise.
The contest attracted some exceptional talent! It was a challenge to choose my favorite cover, and there was a second cover that I was very tempted to buy. In the end, I selected the cover of The Iron Realm I did because it included the details I wanted, had a clean style, and the artist had a solid history on the platform that gave me confidence they would be around for a few years while I kept working on the series, granting me a little bit of future-proofing.
Since then, I’ve gradually commissioned the covers of The Iron Soul series, usually one or two a year, while preparing each book for publishing. Each one includes some key details of the book that I felt should be on the cover so that the cover feels like a good match for the story that is inside. My decision to commission book covers has been a bit more expensive than the premade cover option, but for my needs, it proved to be the correct choice.