In my last blog, I described
the process I followed for the two books I have that are currently for sale. In
this blog we’ll look at two other possibilities: 1) Book under contract; 2) All
your own cover work.
If you are looking for
a contract with an established publisher, you probably won’t have the option of auditioning an artist or an
idea for your cover. You might, but the odds are not in favor of those options.
My second book with Koehlerbooks, TheObservers – A Science Fiction Odyssey,
will be released December 2014. Koehlerbooks has a unique approach to many of
their covers—they offer two options and visitors to their website can vote on
the option they like the best.
Here are the choices in the voting for the cover of The Observers.
Here are the choices in the voting for the cover of The Observers.
And the winner is…
I think potential readers
did a fine job. The cover that was not selected is intriguing (there is a solar system on the iris of the eyeball, and
the neurons at the top relate to the story), but it doesn’t have a “wow” factor. The winning cover captures the
essence of the book without giving away anything significant in the plot. It
also includes the visual drama of the faded alien eye (observing!) with the flash of an unknown sun as it rises over the
horizon of an unnamed planet.
If you want to start
from scratch and make your own cover,
here are three things to keep in mind.
1.
CreatSpace/Kindle
have very specific requirements for a cover.
Here’s
a screen shot of the custom template Amazon provides once you know the number
of pages in your book. This template is for 300 pages using white paper.
THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT CAVEATS—READ THEM
CAREFULLY.
A.
Where is says
to “Turn off guidelines…” they mean erase/delete the Background (that’s all the
stuff you see here.)
B.
You need to be
sure your front cover photo runs all the way to the edge of the paper, not just
to the trim line. Amazon’s print parameters allow for some “slippage,” so run
the front cover photo to the edge of the page.
C.
Make sure all
your text is at least 0.5 inches from the trim line.
- You will need software that a) allows you to manipulate pictures, text, boxes, etc., all in one file; 2) that will save your cover as a PDF file.
- These files take a lot of your TIME and your computer’s MEMORY—insufficient quantities of either will leave you frustrated and probably unsuccessful.
I subscribe to Adobe
Cloud’s suite of programs—in part for Photoshop and the full-blown version of
Acrobat, but also for Muse, which I use to manage my websites. There are many
other programs, but those are the three I use most.
If you have another reasonably
high-end program for photo manipulation, and you don’t need to do website
design/maintenance, then the complete version of Acrobat may service your
needs. I really can’t say that with 100% certainty, but I think that option has
at least a reasonable chance of success because Amazon provides a PNG version
of the template along with the PDF version. However, you have to submit a PDF file
to CreateSpace/Kindle for your cover.
Here are my current ideas
for the two covers I’m working on for two Mystery Novels in my queue. These are
both “all me.” The photo of The Detective, is on both covers to indicate the
books are part of a series.
These need work. But I did
them without anyone physically helping me. I’ve been using Photoshop for under
a year, so I think I’m doing pretty well.
Of course, we still have
one more aspect of covers to cover. My next blog will be TWO weeks from today..
Next Blog: It
Takes a Strong Back and Spine To Be a Winning Cover.
My website is: www.crdowning.com
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