I'll design your ebook cover for free. And it won't suck.

leahzero · Feb 17, 2011

I love AW, and I want to give back to this community in some way. So I'm offering to do some free ebook covers for AW members.

RULES

Please do not PM me. Post in this thread with a blurb about your book, including genre. I will contact you if it's something I feel I can do well.
No romance novels. Sorry!
Please only post one blurb.
You must buy the stock photos. Using professional stock will make the cover look exponentially more professional, and will make it easier to design something truly representative of your book. Otherwise, I will use free, royalty-free photos from sites like sxc.hu.
You agree to let me post the cover in this thread and anywhere else I show my design portfolio, and to take credit for designing it. You will retain all other rights to the image.

STOCK PHOTO SITES

Ordered from cheapest to most expensive.

EXAMPLES

Movie posters

pixiejuice · Feb 19, 2011

Oooh, these are really awesome! I especially like the "YA" example - that's lovely!

I don't have a book ready to do a cover for just yet, but I might be looking you up again in a few months. Do you have a website for your design work that I can bookmark? (or pass on to friends?)

leahzero · Feb 19, 2011

Thanks, Laura! I don't have a design portfolio set up currently, but I'll put one up again soon somewhere on my personal site (http://www.leahraeder.com/).

For now, you can just bookmark this thread--I'll be checking it regularly.

Sargentodiaz · Feb 20, 2011

The more I look at it, the more I like the cover for Follow the Raven.

:snoopy:

Konah · Feb 20, 2011

I love the Follow the Raven cover. I'll be keeping in touch! My novel has some ways to go, for sure, but I have ideas in mind for a cover already.

The Grump · Feb 20, 2011

Nice covers. Makes me wonder why there are so many publisher published books out there with such lousy covers. Only wish I had something that needed a cover.

Ari Meermans · Feb 20, 2011

Leah, those are stunning covers and you show impressive skill. I am bookmarking this thread, as well.

Thank you for your very generous offer to AW members!

leahzero · Feb 20, 2011

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words.

ShadowCat said:
Your covers are beautiful. But I have to ask; could you do the cover for a paperback as well or do you only do covers for ebooks? Also, do you have the font chocolate?

I prefer to do just ebooks for now. Print covers have to be much higher DPI, and there's twice the work involved (spine and back cover).

Misa Buckley · Feb 20, 2011

I have to say that I love your poster for The Feral - "They don't sparkle..." LOL!

Bicyclefish · Feb 20, 2011

Those are really nice and a great examples of using stock photos well. The Raven sample is particularly eye catching to me.

Out of curiosity, what do you normally charge and how long have you been doing this? (I ish nosy.)

leahzero · Feb 20, 2011

Bicyclefish said:
Out of curiosity, what do you normally charge and how long have you been doing this? (I ish nosy.)

I've never sold book covers before, so I'd have to work out a rate card.

I mainly do other forms of graphic design for print, as well as motion graphic design (video animations). I've been doing graphic design of some sort for quite a while. 10+ years?

LivingDork · Feb 24, 2011

Leah, you've got mad skills!

onetiredmama · Feb 24, 2011

Wow, you're really generous to make such an offer. I'm actually right in the middle of trying to design a cover (I've been spending lots of time on istockphoto and fotolia.) I have a few ideas in mind, but I'm not sure which way to go yet. My novel, The Biggest Weirdo In The Whole Eighth Grade, is an upper middle grade urban fantasy. Here's a blurb:

[FONT=&quot]Lily Wheeler tries hard to be the biggest weirdo in school. That way, no one will get close enough to learn her secret. When she touches someone, she can sense their feelings. Crazy. Having friends is just too risky. But Lily thinks the new kid, Trevor, has the same secret, too. Can she trust him? They’ve got much bigger problems, though. Like the new girl befriending them? She’s really a fairy, searching for two special mortals to sacrifice for her Queen. Maybe Bio class isn’t the toughest part of 8th grade, after all.[/FONT]

I'm not sure if you do middle grade, but thanks for even considering it. Lisa

AmsterdamAssassin · Mar 3, 2011

Beautiful covers, Leah.

I have an idea for a cover and I need a graphic designer to make an e-book cover. I'm not looking for freebies - I'm more than willing to pay you for your time and effort, and you can most certainly use the final cover for your portfolio.

For the blurb, I'd like to use the pitch I used for the ABNA 2010:

REPROBATE is the first novel in THE AMSTERDAM ASSASSIN SERIES featuring female freelance assassin Katla Sieltjes, a specialist in making homicide appear as 'deaths without suspicious circumstances'. The setting of the story is the Netherlands, in particular Amsterdam.

Blessed with an almost non-existent conscience Katla Sieltjes views assassination as an intricate and rewarding occupation. Hidden behind her alias Loki, Katla receives anonymous assignments, negotiates the terms with principals through electronic means, all to protect her identity.

Resigned to remain single for the duration of her career Katla meets the enigmatic blind musician Bram Merleyn when he enters the gallery where Katla has just killed the owner. Deciding that the blind man won't make a reliable witness, Katla spares his life. After stalking the blind man to gain information whether he is truly harmless, an opportunity presents itself for a new introduction and Katla becomes intimate with Bram who is unaware of her real occupation. While the relationship between Bram and Katla blossoms and starts to affect both their lives, the suspense mounts to exciting heights as Katla accepts a difficult high-risk assignment from an unreliable principal – not only her possible exposition and fragile relationship with Bram are at stake, but her very life is in peril as Katla scrambles to get back to zero.

Through the developing romance between Katla and Bram, and their interaction with a supporting cast of unusual characters, the reader gains insight in the business of a commercial assassin as well as detailed knowledge about the life of session musicians; local information about the famous Dutch capital; the narcotics trade; motorcycle gangs; mehndi bridal tattoos; martial arts; and the brutal effectiveness of disciplined violence.

The strength of REPROBATE lies in authentic details and psychological depth of the characters, mixed with fast-paced action and a realistic plot.

I have some ideas about the cover, but first I'd like to know if you'd want to help me make this e-book cover...

leahzero · Mar 3, 2011

Have a busy couple of weeks. I'll get to these soon.

Uncarved · Mar 3, 2011

My Blurb (and I really really like the Historical Fiction cover!, mine however is nonfiction and easy)

Title: Indigenous - Southern Native Gardening

Native plants aren't just weedy wildflowers that you pull out to make room for exotic tropical plants. Natives attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and songbirds while helping the environment use less water and fertilizer to grow. Native gardening in the South provides ample choices for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced gardener. Go wild, be native, grow indigenous.

I am going to be completely grateful and love whatever you do.
Here are some free images that have Hi-Res downloads if you need them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Magnolia_flower_Duke_campus.jpg
http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/aqca_002_php.jpg
http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/sami9_001_pvp.jpg

Sargentodiaz · Mar 3, 2011

leahzero said:
Have a busy couple of weeks. I'll get to these soon.

Check out Follow the Raven on Amazon.com.
You get credit!!!!!

FranYoakumVeal · Mar 10, 2011

Finding My Escape

I'm going to take a shot here:

My YA novel is Finding My Escape. I'm in the process of editing now. My blurb (which I'm also still editing) is below. I wanted to give you some detail so you could determine if this is a project that would interest you. Thanks for your consideration!

Fran Yoakum Veal

Hannah Jordan wakes up in the hospital to learn that her parents have been brutally murdered in a home invasion. Transplanted from Atlanta to a small town in East Tennessee, she finds her one solace to be running the beautiful mountain trails behind her aunt’s house. Until she begins dreaming of the mysterious, but handsome blue-eyed, blond haired Josh. She soon discovers that what she is experiencing is more than just a dream and that Josh, whom she is falling for, actually exists somewhere in the physical world.

In the waking world, Hannah’s best friend Matt arrives on her doorstep to help her deal with her parents’ death, and it becomes clear Matt’s feelings go beyond friendship. As Hannah is torn by her feelings for Josh and Matt, her life is further complicated when she begins to find clues that indicate her parents’ murders were part of something more sinister. And the killer is still out there…

Leigh.Lyons · Mar 16, 2011

I'll give this a shot:

Beyond Death's Grasp--Adult Urban Fantasy.

Lorelei's first day as paranormal cop for the United States Slayer Guild just went from hassled to insane. A missing body walks through the office door and crashes into her lap. Could her day get any worse?

Yes. The Chief assigns her a partner to help with the new, baffling case, a half demon with “boundary issues”.

Lorelei tries to keep her personal feelings in check—until an innocent seventeen-year-old girl dies in her arms. Later on, Lorelei's boyfriend is taken from her bed on their engagement night. Her only lead is a note left on his pillow saying he's been black-bagged. The most frightening thing about this letter is that it's Lorelei's handwriting, but she has no memory of having written it or anything from the night previous.

Lorelei knows that she only has 72 hours to find him before he winds up dead like all the other victims, with her soon to follow.

K. Taylor · Mar 22, 2011

Hey, Leah, would you be up for doing a love story that ends badly?

nancy sv · Mar 30, 2011

Lovely covers!! Would you be up for doing one about a family trip around the USA and Mexico? We have tons of photos our our journey.

Solivagant · Apr 20, 2011

leahzero said:
I love AW, and I want to give back to this community in some way. So I'm offering to do some free ebook covers for AW members.

RULES

Please do not PM me. Post in this thread with a blurb about your book, including genre. I will contact you if it's something I feel I can do well.

No romance novels. Sorry!

Please only post one blurb.

You must buy the stock photos. Using professional stock will make the cover look exponentially more professional, and will make it easier to design something truly representative of your book. Otherwise, I will use free, royalty-free photos from sites like sxc.hu.

You agree to let me post the cover in this thread and anywhere else I show my design portfolio, and to take credit for designing it. You will retain all other rights to the image.

Hello LeahZero,

I'm not sure if you're still taking requests, but if so I would love to see your take on a cover for my Dark Fantasy Novel Lay of the Lost.

It is heavily inspired by Norse mythology and follows A man that unknowingly trades his memories for immortality.

Thank you!

Alessandra Kelley · Apr 21, 2011

It's very nice work indeed, Leah. I'm impressed.

Sargentodiaz · Apr 22, 2011

As I noted before, our poor lezahero has disappeared. Probably inundated with requests for covers.
At least she did Follow the Raven for me - the best of my covers by far!!!

JC Miller · Apr 23, 2011

Maybe she went away for the Easter weekend? My sister had to remind me of Easter today. I had completely forgotten about it.

I'll design your ebook cover for free. And it won't suck.

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