TuesdayTips192

(They) Always Judge A Book By Its Cover

Welcome to this week's #TuesdayTip. Two week ago (TuesdayTips190), I announced my newest book, The Aftermath, which I am self-publishing - a first for me. I promised to take you with me on this new and exciting journey. Last week we looked at why even self-published authors need professional feedback and editing. This week it's covers.
I'm not an expert - far from it - but I have learned a lot over the past few months. If you have any suggestions or thoughts though, please feel free to comment here or on social media.

First of all, much of what I have learned came from the brilliant resources available through the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). Joining them was well worth the relatively modest subscription fee (which is tax deductible in the UK) (https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/). Many of the indie authors I've spoken to over the years swear by them.

Never judge a book by its cover, is advice heard so often, you'd almost think people followed it.
Spoiler: they don't.
Like it or not, covers sell books. Traditional publishers know this and spend large sums studying industry trends, conducting focus groups, and preparing detailed briefs for the professional graphic designers who will realise their dreams. Sometimes they even consult the author, although whether they pay attention to the author's thoughts varies somewhat! There is a reason Amazon and every other online retailer shows covers on its search results, and having a book 'cover out' in a bookshop is a 'service' that many publishers will pay for.

Since I'm going it alone, I had to find myself a cover designer.
"Why didn't you just design it yourself and save a few quid?", I hear you ask.
Because, unless you happen to be a trained graphic designer specialising in book covers, it will look crap. There is a mysterious alchemy that professionals possess. A combination of skill gained through years of practise, an understanding of what works in that genre and reader expectations, an innate artistic flair, and access to state-of-the-art design software (and the expertise to use it properly). Even if you have a great idea, and assemble all the elements necessary for your cover, unless it's a plain background with little more than text then it probably won't look quite right (even then, graphic designers are likely to be more familiar with the many fonts out there than you are).

And herein lies the problem. Like it or not, there remains an inherent snobbery towards self-publishing. Many readers still equate traditional publishing with quality and remain suspicious of self-publishing. Despite the many advances in recent years, the field is still pretty young and it has yet to fully shake off the stigma from the early days when people would imply 'if you aren't good enough to get a proper publishing contract, you could always self-publish your little stories for family and friends.'
So, rightly or wrongly, a chunk of your potential readers won't even give your book a second glance if they think it is self-published. Or at the very least, they will take some persuading. What you want is for them to pause and click on the cover, or take the book off the shelf, to read the jacket blurb. Because, if the book sounds like a good read, then some of those doubters might just decide to take a chance on a title that isn't backed by a big publisher they recognise.
Therefore, you want your cover to standout because of its design, not because something about it looks not quite professional.

What should I be looking for?
Unless you happen to be on first name terms with someone who is a designer, you need to choose one. Which is tricky. There are a few options.

• If you want to save money, some designers actually have pre-designed covers that they customise to your needs. The obvious disadvantage is that your book may look very similar to others on the market. However, that doesn't always matter. For some books, a fairly generic background with a prominent and eye-catching title is fine.
• You can take a punt and hire someone on a gig site like Fiverr - needless to say, you will want to see their portfolio. You may get lucky and find a skilled new designer taking on commissions to build their portfolio. Or a respected freelance designer who works for the big publishing houses and takes on side-gigs to earn some extra cash. Or, you might get a chancer with a bootleg copy of Photoshop and access to ChatGPT.
• Go with someone you know does a good job. I don't mean know personally. Recommendations from people you trust are nice, but not everyone has access to that network. Fortunately, there is an easy way to find those with a proven track record. For many books, the cover artist is actually credited on the inside pages or the back cover. Since most cover artists are freelancers, you can often google them, find their webpage, and see if they are accepting private commissions.
• Finally don't forget your due diligence. As with anything internet-based, it's a wild west out there. You need to ensure that you aren't going to get ripped off. ALLi (https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/) has a trusted professionals directory, and equally importantly, forums discussing who to avoid. A legit cover designer should have an online portfolio showcasing some of their work. Check out the books they claim to have designed, they should be easily accessible on Amazon.

What do I need, cover-wise?
Something I learned very quickly is that there are a plethora of things that you need to consider.
First the design. What do you want?
For The Aftermath I knew very early on that the cover should feature the dramatic inciting incident - quite literally a garden shed ablaze. But my designer immediately asked what sort of shed? Night or day? He also asked me to send him links to covers that I like and explain why.
Because The Aftermath is a domestic thriller, it needs to look different from my previous Warren Jones covers. This is both to stop reader confusion ("1 star, Warren Jones never appears.") and to attract the eye of fans of that genre who may not be familiar with my previous work. I found several examples from my 'peers' in this genre, not because they have a garden shed, but because they have the 'feel' of that genre. I also chose a couple based purely on the colour palette.
Your designer should send you a list of questions, otherwise how will they know what you want?
Next, what formats of cover do you want?
It stands to reason that the cover for a physical book is a bit different to an eBook. For a start, eBooks only have a front cover. Physical books have a rear and a spine. Should you be lucky enough to be stocked by a major retailer, chances are you will be sideways on the shelf, with your cover hidden. So don't ignore your spine.
eBook covers tend to be a standard size and your designer will just send you a Jpeg or possibly a PDF. However, Audiobooks have slightly different dimensions (they tend to be more square).
Print books are where the complications lie, and your designer is going to need some additional information from you. First of all the "trim size". There are several different, commonly used sizes of books - look at your bookcase, you'll see the differences. So, early on in the process, decide what trim size you are going to have your book printed. I measured one of my Warren Jones novels with a ruler, then went to Amazon and IngramSpark (the printing company that most authors and publishers use) and identified the trim size (198mm x 127mm in case you're wondering).
Next there is the spine width. This is determined by the number of pages and the type of paper used. So again, early on in the process I decided which paper I wanted (Groundwood, which is the stuff commonly used in mass-market paperbacks). The page count comes after you have typeset the manuscript. It is not the page count from your Word document. Typesetting is the process by which your words are laid out on the page. Don't forget to allow for the front matter (title page and copyright etc) and the backmatter (Acknowledgments, previous books in the series etc). I'll look at page-setting in a later TuesdayTip.
Hardcovers are different again.
It goes without saying that cover designers will charge you more if you want paperback and eBook, rather than just eBook. Many offer different "packages" to choose from.
How many revisions do you get?
This is something worth considering. Many designers put a limit on the number of free revisions an author can request. Which is fair enough. I can imagine how frustrating it must be if your client repeatedly emails you to 'just tweak the font my name is written in'.
My designers bespokebookcovers.com were a little more expensive than the cheapest on the market (although still very reasonable according to friends) but the package included as many revisions as I want. I won't be taking the mickey, but I have had two small tweaks (the shed window originally looked as though there was a light - we changed it to flames, and Patrick's extremely clever idea of a discarded shoe had to sadly be ditched because it doesn't feature in the book). I will be asking for one more revision before it is sent off for printing: a cover quote (we've already designed holding text that looks really good, so it is just a case of inserting the wording), a tiny tweak to the jacket blurb (the result of a vigorous debate at my writers' group about the placement of a comma) and the all-important barcode with the ISBN.
Do you own the correct licences?
Ugh - the legal stuff. One of the things that attracted me to bespokebookcovers was the fact that they promised to pay the licencing fees for any stock images or fonts used. Sorry to break it to you, but it is unlikely that your designer will be out and about with a camera hunting for that perfect shot to illustrate your cover. They will probably have licensed the photos from a stock photo site. Similarly the fonts that are used for the title and your name etc, might not be free to use. These fees are included within the standard package price  I paid for, so no nasty surprises!

So, what are your thoughts on cover design? Any advice you would like to share, or questions you'd like answered? As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.