Every Good Author Knows You Make The Book Cover First!

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ColdWintersNight

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I would say 97% of my friends are hard core artists. Meaning, in October, they all participate in InkTober. Which means my Facebook feed is filled with all these cool pieces of art made with real ink. I'm over here gearing up for NaNo though, but I decided to be a little creative before I dive into the writing game and fired up my photoshop. So I made a mock up cover for my novel as motivation to get my book done in 30 days. WOO! Who's ready!?

Hope this would catch someones eye in the book store!

tumblr_of1ttftMj71rkatkro1_400.jpg


Don't I feel all fancy smancy.
 
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gtbun

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It's fine as a motivational piece, and good on you for being so geared up that you work on other things around the project. I've always been a big fan of NaNoWriMo as a way to get people writing - though I know there are people out there who would sneer at it. It's a hell of an undertaking, so good luck.

As a cover, the imagery looks like a graphic novel cover than a novel cover, and even then it's struggling. One thing I would point out, regardless of quality, is never lay black over grey. Black will not print well from a grey background and even digitally looks painful. The typeface here is poor in the first place, but using two so wildly different weights in the same block (in this case the title) sits uncomfortably and suggests that Bunny and Girl are supposed to be separate. Advice I would give anyone putting together their own cover is: simplify. In fact, simplify until it breaks. I'm guessing this is some manner of hardboiled murder mystery involving a magician and his assistant? Well, bunny ears and a gun would convey that just as well. Similarly the type, many authors putting together covers think that type has to be "interesting" in the sense of quirky or representative fonts, but the idea of design is to convey the message clearly not to over-complicate it with unreadable or distracting type-work. You could use a simple system font like Calibri and it would be more interesting. Another facet of this is you don't need to put EVERYTHING that happens in the book on the cover - another something that authors doing their own do - just because your book has dinosaurs, and a scientist, and kids, and a theme park, and computers/science doesn't mean you have to put all of those on the cover, instead Chip Kidd puts half a dinosaur skeleton on the front of Jurassic Park.

As this is really a motivational piece rather than a "I want to use this cover on my self-published book" I won't really give a proper critique beyond that. Implementing a few design principles could clean this up and have it ready for real critique. But good luck for NaNoWriMo - don't fall behind!
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Dang, dude, that's awesome. I'd definitely pick it up if I saw it in a bookstore. How long did this take you, and would you be willing to throw something together for me? XD
 

Sage

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That's really awesome!

(But, OP & everyone in this thread, please observe the Image Guidelines, which say that images shouldn't be more than 400x400 pixels)

This is my quick and dirty cover. I have no art skills, so no comparison to the beautiful OP cover. This should be 400 pixels high, if folks want to compare their covers' sizes.

690a532d-b09a-413f-84c0-d542f26a3ecc.jpg
 

KateSmash

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I did one for the horror I briefly considered un-back-burnering then re-back-burnered. *cough*my user title is not a lie*cough*

tumblr_of1mlpoOFD1qc2nyho1_250.jpg


---

For those of y'all that want to make your own:

Pixlr - is free web based photo editing. Works a lot like a stripped down photoshop.
Canva - also a free web based tool. Simpler to use than Pixlr. Requires log-in and not all assets are free.

Pixabay - royalty free stock photos and art. For ethical graphics making. ;)
 

AW Admin

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Going to merge this thread in Art and Design with the duplicate thread in NaNo.

Please don't post identical threads in multiple places.

And I'm removing the image link; it's way too large.

Please reduce the image and link the smaller version.

People can't even get the thread to load because the image is too large.
 

JJ Litke

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One thing I would point out, regardless of quality, is never lay black over grey. Black will not print well from a grey background and even digitally looks painful.

I've worked in graphic design since BC (Before Computers) and I have never heard you shouldn't use black over gray. A pure black and gray would print on the same plate, and really I don't see a problem even if it's a rich black. If you're concerned about ink density, that's an entirely different issue and nothing to do with whatever color adjoins the black. If you mean that too much black is overpowering, that's a design issue, not a print one.

Sorry for the print derail, ColdWintersNight. :) I like your cover. The minimal detail in the figures and the layered effect are really cool.
 

ColdWintersNight

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Thanks everyone! It honestly does help me write when I look at it. Kinda like, I gotta keep going so I have something to put underneath that cover.
I'm digging everyone's covers too! Keep at it people. That sucker will be on the shelves soon enough.

And Maggie, I would love to! Send me a PM or post here if you like what your story is about or what you're thinking of and I'll see what I an come up with! If anyone else likes my style, I would love to spend the weekend making mock up covers for fun.

Thanks!
 
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KateSmash

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This thread has me making covers for every possible idea. You've reawakened my college days of poking around photoshop for hours for no real reason. :evil

So far, this is the winner for both cover and novel to actually write.

tumblr_of1zi9x8ni1qc2nyho1_400.jpg
 

JinxKing

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I made the covers for several of my now-published books before even writing them. Storm of Masks and Divinity both had covers before I started writing them (though I did have outlines) ... I feel like sometimes making a cover up-front gives me a firmer idea of the mood or atmosphere of the book, even if I end up making an entirely new one after I'm done writing.
 

JulianneQJohnson

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ColdWinter'sNight- I love it! Very eye-catching. My one nit-pick is that I find the smaller print difficult to read in that font.

Sage, I really like that. It amazes me how easy it is to read the title with the limited but very awesome palette.

Carrie in PA- that cover makes me want to get drunk on a plane!

KateSmash- love the washed out color for a horror piece. But the Starless one, Awesome!

Now I'll run set mine to the right pixelage and get it posted. I love that I'm not the only one who just has to make a cover for my NaNo project! Even though it's not a "real" cover, ('Cause I'm not a "real" artist) it really gets me into the swing of the project!
 

JulianneQJohnson

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Okay, let's see if I got this picture adding thing going today. I made this cover for my supernatural suspense story, and then I created my banner off of it.

nickcovertiny.jpg


Hey! I think I did it correctly! Huzzah!
 

eskay

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I am so glad to see that I'm not the only one :D

The problem is I'm terribad at titles. But the M fit so well that I decided to just go with it.

HdS3vuJ.jpg
 

Mary Love

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I dig this thread! I want to join but alas, my nano wip has no title. And none coming in the foreseeable future. :cry:

Wickedly awesome covers everybody! Good luck pumping them up with equally awesome stories to cover.
 
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