Cover Art

B.G. Dobbins

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I have been thinking about self-publishing some short stories electronically on Amazon just to get my work out there before finishing something bigger, such as a novel. I don't think I should have too much trouble formatting the stories myself, but I have little skill for visual art. Are there any free or inexpensive cover art sites where I could get quality images for my stories? What are my options?

Thank you in advance!
 

SunshineonMe

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'Well, there are places where you can buy stock images, but I am in the same boat as you. There is a place Goonwrite.com that sells covers for ebooks only that are fairly inexpensive. The thing is, your cover IS a big part of what sells your story, so you want a nice one. And, it has to look nice as tiny Amazon size square. Blurb, cover, editing are all three super important parts to your book's success.

By the way, congrats on finishing them!
 
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OJCade

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'Well, there are places where you can buy stock images, but I am in the same boat as you. There is a place Goonwrite.com that sells covers for ebooks only that are fairly inexpensive.

I bought a cover from Goonwrite.com a week or two ago. It was absolutely perfect for what I wanted, and was sent to me with the text I wanted on it within a couple of hours.

I'd absolutely use them again.
 

benluby

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I used fiverr and got exactly what I wanted for a low price. Fast and good.
 

RikWriter

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I had some credits left on iStock from some stock photography I sold there a while back, so I went shopping and wound up picking up a couple nice illustrations to become covers for two of my books.
There's some surprisingly good artwork (aside from the photography, which I expected) on iStock.

This is the new cover for Birthright:

Image

And this is the new one for Honor Bound, the second book in the Duty, Honor, Planet series.

Image

I was pretty impressed by some of the illustrations there on iStock.
 
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Treehouseman

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Don't forget fonts! Try for something that is readable but NOT on your average Windows font-list, at least for the title. Googling should find some cheap/free fonts.
 
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Toothpaste

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I totally agree about the font. You've got some great artwork but the font is making it look unprofessional. Have you tried dafont.com? Lots of the fonts there are free to use, and those that cost are really cheap. Plus it's tons of fun to look at all the options :) .
 

Channy

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If you check out the forums on Deviant Art you will find a wide range of artists there. I commission frequently just for character portraits/poses/reference sheets and what not, and I've always been happy with the end product. You let them know that you want a book cover and they'll charge a bit more for the commercial rights but you'd probably be able to get a custom font out of it too.
 

WeaselFire

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Check your local colleges and universities. There are usually some talented artists in design, art, graphics and communications programs that need portfolio work.

Jeff
 

gcommon

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When I was creating my book covers I used deviantart.com You can find good artistic images there and information on out to contact the creators. Most are artist who are just starting out so they'd be more than willing to work out a deal with you. I got images from two artist to make this image and all they wanted was credit for it.
 
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RikWriter

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I totally agree about the font. You've got some great artwork but the font is making it look unprofessional. Have you tried dafont.com? Lots of the fonts there are free to use, and those that cost are really cheap. Plus it's tons of fun to look at all the options :) .

Are you speaking to me? It gets confusing trying to sort out attribution if you don't quote.
I will check out the font site, but I really don't have a problem with the font I'm using now. If I was even the one to whom you were speaking.
 

RikWriter

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When I was creating my book covers I used deviantart.com You can find good artistic images there and information on out to contact the creators. Most are artist who are just starting out so they'd be more than willing to work out a deal with you. I got images from two artist to make this image and all they wanted was credit for it.

I contacted an artist on deviant art about using one of his illustrations for a cover. He wanted $100 for it, which I thought was a bit too much given that you can get very nice illustrations on iStock for $10.
 

Toothpaste

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Rik - yes I was. Sorry, I guess I didn't realise you weren't the OP and so you weren't asking for advice. If you're happy with your font that's cool. In my opinion you could find a much stronger one that makes the awesome images you have pop even more. But again, tastes vary and the important thing is that you think your cover does the best job at selling your work! :)
 

RikWriter

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If the font were on a print book in a store, I might be more concerned, but for selling e-books on Amazon, IMHO the most important feature of the font is be readable as a small image when the consumer is shopping.
 

Toothpaste

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True, but that doesn't mean it has to be that particular font. I have no idea what you think of the fonts on my books, but the blue one on the far left has a font from dafont.com on it and is readible even as small as I made it on my cover. And the fonts on the yellow and black covers I think are very readible as well and they are quite "fancy" fonts.

You can make something readible AND original. The thing, at least for me, with covers is to try to convey many messages. Right now the font you have, to me at least (it could be different for others), says amateur. That doesn't mean the content is, it doesn't mean you are, it just is how it reads. And that might turn some other readers off. Just as a font that's uber fancy but totally illegible would also turn readers off. That's why cover design is such an art. There's so many things that a cover has to do, both artistically and pragmatically.

But I feel really lousy commenting to you right now because I know you weren't asking for advice, and you have many books in your signature which suggests to me you have a plan and things are working for you. I'm just sharing my general thoughts here, but in no way expect you to change anything. It's more for the lurkers I guess at this point.
 
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AngelsAvengeMe

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I totally agree about the font. You've got some great artwork but the font is making it look unprofessional. Have you tried dafont.com? Lots of the fonts there are free to use, and those that cost are really cheap. Plus it's tons of fun to look at all the options :) .

I'd be careful using dafont.com. A lot of them are for personal use only or you have to pay to use them. Just make sure you contact the creator of the font if you absolutely want to use their font!
 

Toothpaste

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You just have to read the licensing agreement. The information is right there on the site for each font. And even if you do need to license a font, it's not exactly an arm and a leg (the font in my avatar for RYAN GOSLING MUST BE STOPPED cost me $15 to license for commercial use).