E is for Eye-catching Covers: 9 Tips on Finding a Great Book Designer #AtoZChallenge

The #AtoZChallenge 2017 Theme at Operation Awesome is the Publishing Journey.

If you’re searching for a book designer, the options seem endless. My Twitter feed is full of freelance designers. So, how do you choose the right designer for your book? You probably have an idea of how you’d like it to look, but also would like an expert to add in her ideas.

At Rebelight Publishing, I’ve had the privilege of working with a fantastic designer. Over and over, Melanie Matheson has produced stand-out book covers that have thrilled our authors and readers alike. She has over twenty-years experience in book design, so she knows her stuff. Recently I had a conversation with Melanie about how authors can spot a good designer and what elements they should be looking for in cover design. Here’s the advice she gave.

1. Take some time to look around a bookstore and see what stands out. The ones that stand out are fresh and new and interesting. That’s what you want for your book. You don’t want it to blend in with all the rest.
2. Take off your writer hat and put on your reader hat. What type of cover would make you want to pick up and read your book? What writers want on covers and what readers want are often two very different things.
3. If you see a book cover you like, find out who designed it.
4. Look for someone who is honest and a good communicator.
5. Make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you choose otherwise it will be difficult to convey what you want and to ask for changes.
6. Ask to see the designer’s portfolio. You are hiring the designer for a job, so treat early conversations like an interview. Ask questions.
7. Hiring an inexperienced book designer my save you money initially, but you’ll end up paying more at the printer when costly changes have to be made to fix mistakes.
8. Book covers are their own design specialty. Someone who specializes in corporate logos, may not be the best choice for a book designer. Find someone who has experience producing book covers and interiors and who loves books.
9. As much as you may think you know exactly what you want for your book cover, keep an open mind and allow the designer to do their creative work. Trust their expertise.

 Thank you to Melanie for lending her expertise to us today!

A Post Covering Covers

I went to Westercon a few weeks back and attended quite a few panels, including one on the evolution of cover art. Despite the fact that the presentation could have benefited greatly from visual aides (I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find anyone at a geek con who could create and play a slideshow), it spawned some discussion of how the great book covers manage to straddle the line between  placing a book firmly within its genre, while standing out among other similar titles.

And while no one on the panel claimed to know the secret of finding that cover art sweet spot, one of the recommendations was to look at a lot of covers in your category/genre and get a sense of which ones make you pick up the book. I think this is particularly crucial with self-published books because you're already up against a perception that the writing and editing might not be up to par.

More and more readers are willing to give self-published books a chance, but the cover is seen as a reflection of how much time and effort the writer put into the book as a whole. Amateurish, poorly-designed covers are often a sign that the author wasn't willing to spring for a professional editor or book designer either. If you don't have a background in graphic design, there are so many people out there working on a freelance basis that there's really no excuse for grabbing your nephew's drawing off your sister's refrigerator and slapping it on your book.

But before this post gets too long, back to that advice to look at a bunch of covers--this has become a lot harder now that there are fewer book stores with sections to browse. You can certainly do a search for your genre on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and check out covers that way, or wait for Kate Hart to do more YA Book Cover Infographics, but I wanted to point out a few more helpful sites.

The Book Designer does a monthly roundup of e-book Cover Design Awards and though they are subjective critiques, what I find particularly helpful is that they include information on the designer. So if you like a particular cover, it's easy to do a search and get in touch with that artist/designer about what you'd like to see on your book.

And Design Observer spotlights 50 outstanding book covers; you can see winners and nominations for 2011 and 2012 on their site. The winning book covers going back even further are in the archives of AIGA. The individual artists and designers also comment on what the assignment was and why they went with that particular artwork, which can be a mini-seminar on the evolution of book covers in itself.

If you know of anymore sources for book cover design ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments. Or maybe give a shoutout for your favorite cover! This is one of my favorites: