Once more I’m getting back to my follow the creation series.
There are times in this process that I wanna play with covers. The covers might give me an idea of where to take the story, or where it’s going. So in this case, I thought why not? It’s the thing percolating in my head. I thought I would post this one next to let you know that’s what I’m up to in the background. I am deciding on a cover for this. Again, not necessarily gonna write it. Just showing a process I go through.
So how do I come up with the cover ideas? I simply peruse free image sites and I look at images. Occasionally I actually have the idea in my head of what I’m looking for – say a wolf image, or a spaceship type image. But often enough, I just scan the popular tab on sites. Or the explore tab. My favorite site right now is pixabay.com. You’ll see in all of my books, in the front of the book, I have that listed in the credit section. That way people know where the image comes from.
A thing with the free image site. So many will mention not liking those sites because then you get a ton of books or covers in this case with the same imagery. One, it is if you use the default image and don’t alter it. Now, in my case, I can change the imagery at any time. I’m not forced to have a certain image up. So that’s an advantage. The disadvantage is that yes, many covers may use that image. In truth, I’m not as concerned about the cover image being super individualistic.
We all love a good image. We love making beautiful covers. I care more about the story. About telling a good one, giving you a good one. It’s why I’ve stopped using the featured image ability on these blog posts. At the end of the day, having a nice image on this post isn’t where I want the attention. I want to give you something to read, maybe something to help/inspire. Not focus on the image. I’m not a painter of images. I am, but with words. Words for me are more important. So I’ve gotten to the point I don’t worry over the images on these posts.
Same with book covers. No matter how perfect we do, how much money we spend on a cover designer, at the end of the day? A group of people will hate it.
You can find the best of the best cover designers. Spend thousands upon thousands of dollars and hours creating the absolute piece of perfection.
Someone will hate it.
One of my favorite images? The Jurassic Park movie image. Simplistic and basic.
One of my best selling covers I ever did when I began?
The simplistic image I had for the Dark Illusions cover. It was just silhouettes of two men, a woman, and the most basic of all images.
So when you create a cover, do what you feel is right, but realize at the end of the day you’ll have people who love it. People who hate it. Nearly every cover designer right now, perfectionist, and critic is staring at this with the evil eye. They are saying to themselves that is WRONG. You are SO WRONG. Why would you advise that? That is WRONG. This is why everything in this world is WRONG.
*shrugs* People like to shame others, critique, and use every excuse in the book to not put out work and cut down others out there. I didn’t advise making a crappy cover. If it’s the difference between you taking a leap of faith? Use a basic cover, put a title, put it up for sale. Even just a background with a color, and a title with another. Go look at traditionally published author covers for an idea. Some of them literally have nothing more than a colored background with a title. People would argue rightly that they benefit because of their name. Could be. I was a no name when I used mine. First book ever published. Thousands were downloaded as soon as I hit publish. So take with that what you will. I just wish I didn’t have a different pen name back then. Many may not realize there is a whole bunch of books attached to that series.
We can’t please everyone. Said also for self as a reminder.
So right now in the background, I’m working on a cover for this. Letting ideas percolate and tinker about in my noggin while I work on other things. I’ll share the images I decide upon before I even make the cover. Or put them on the post with the cover I come up with. For y’all to pick apart and say THIS is why you’re supposed to hire a designer. lol Go on with yo bad self.
And for those who enjoy learning, you can enjoy the cover and what I’m working on with my next step. That’s gonna be its own blog post.
As always, if you like what you’re reading, feel free to subscribe below to receive these posts direct to your inbox. If you’d like me to cover something on this site, lemme know in the comments.
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If you like this content, consider a small donation.
Donations help me keep the lights on, heat running, food in the belly, and keep my sites going. Even a small donation can go a long way, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude enough for anything you can help with. As a FT caregiver to my elderly mother and older brother who have a lot of health struggles, I am struggling these days. I have a couple tiers up to check out as well if you’d like to sign up for that, instead of a single donation. More will come as I think of stuff, or I get feedback on what I should add.
If you prefer Patreon (more payment options) – http://www.patreon.com/kimberlysueiverson❤️️
Kimberly Sue Iverson - Author 