Stock photography for cover - help?

dennisreynolds

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I'm almost done editing my first erotica story for kindle (woo!) and I'm looking for a cover.

I'm a bit confused though. I've read advice to:
not use faces
no suggestion of nudity
and have a unique cover

But all I see on amazon are shirtless men, scantily clad women, and the same thing over and over. I want my book to stand out - even if that means the cover is "boring".

My first story is boss/employee genre, and I've been looking at free stock photo sites first with not a ton of luck. When I look at paid stock photo sites, the prices seem astronomical (to me at least). I can't seem to find a site that has good shots that you can download individually without paying like $20-30. Other than that, there's subscription.

Am I missing something here? I want my first book to be on a shoe string budget before I invest a ton of money (I'm a student) into a venture that I'm not sure about yet.


Thanks!
 

veinglory

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Using faces is optional, some readers prefer to imagine the face as they wish to.
Some nudity is fine but Amazon does on allow sexual intercourse positions, butt crack, lots of butt cheek, boob including side boob or any hint of genitals.
Unique is best but a cover that combined different stock, or otherwise transforms the stock to a different look, will remain unique even if the shot itself is not.
 

dennisreynolds

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Ok great cool. Yeah I'd prefer not to risk any skin for not at least. But what do you think of these possible images? Obviously cropped vertical and color corrected. I could use them in a series or sequels or just my niche.

qKbP64cm.jpg


R2BCcGGm.jpg
 
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JDlugosz

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You think 20 to 30 dollars is too high? What kind of return are you expecting?

I think Adobe Stock has deals. Yea, right in the applet, “Get 10 free Adobe Stock images.”

You could always shoot your own photos.
 

dennisreynolds

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Well that depends. If we're talking $30 for one month that allows you 10 images - nah. But if it's $30 per image, I can't afford that right now, and even if I could, seems like more of a gamble than $3.

I'll check the adobe stock ones thanks, didn't know about that.

And yeah actually I am a photographer so I may do that too.
 

Maryn

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Dennis, it does seem that if you simply want a nicely assembled man in a good suit, and you're a photographer, you could easily shoot your own covers, possibly in exchange for digital images on a flash drive for your model.
 

dennisreynolds

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Do you think the image would work for that genre? I've seen a couple like this in the billionare boss niche
 

Maryn

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My eye--which is not particularly artistic--liked the close-up version of the two you posted that were not yours.
 

c.m.n.

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You can also take a look a pre-made cover art and see if you find something you like. Or check out artists looking for work: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?251181-Cover-artists-and-designers-seeking-work

If you're not willing to spend much on the cover, you might be able to make the 2nd image work with some good Photoshop skills. It all depends on what you're going for with not just the cover, but the outcome. But please make sure you check the TOS of the website you got the image from. Many free stock image sites don't allow for commercial work.
 
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JDlugosz

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Do you think the image would work for that genre? I've seen a couple like this in the billionare boss niche

What is the book about? I think juxtaposition of elements makes for an image that speaks to the subject. Say, business suit and bondage mask,
 

dennisreynolds

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I found a site that is CC zero usage, or complete commercial use no attribution.

The book is about a woman who needs to sleep with her potential boss to get the job. I could use the second watch/suit image, but I was actually thinking of juxtaposing two images @AJDlugosz

Maybe having this have some transparency over the suit? Not sure. Would obviously crop both though.

y95MerIm.jpg
 

WildcatJim2112

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Shoot a pic yourself then you don't have to worry about it being unoriginal or paying for it. You could do a close up of a guy in a suit with lipstick on the collar of his dress shirt. That could look cool.
 

Cindyt

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I paid $33 at istock for a stunning cover for the historical.

On Big Stock, I found a long-haired man holding a gun who looks exactly like my MC in A Deadly Spill of Scarlet. It was $29.

I would think an erotica cover should be sexier than a closed suit. I'd go for a face and six-pack abs. Or two people in a sujestive pose. You want it to whisper sex. Or shout it. Whichever fits.
 

StoryofWoe

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A friend recently turned me on to Pixabay. Free, high-res public domain stock photos, no attribution required. Decent selection, too. In the past, I've paid $44 (with coupon code) for 10 photos from Shutterstock for my website. I'll probably do so again at some point, since the selection at Shutterstock is notably better than Pixabay, IMO. Still, not bad if you're on a budget.
 
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dennisreynolds

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Thank you all for the suggestions!

For the time being, I have found a designer on fiverr I will be using and figure out my photos beforehand. Maybe use a free stock photo!
 

veinglory

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A suit is a good sub-genre marker but if this is erotica it is good to have a signal or that as well. That can be as subtle as the font and title, but having a sexy woman's face immediately shows this is MF erotic romance with a successful guy.
 

BenPanced

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You can also take a look a pre-made cover art and see if you find something you like. Or check out artists looking for work: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?251181-Cover-artists-and-designers-seeking-work

If you're not willing to spend much on the cover, you might be able to make the 2nd image work with some good Photoshop skills. It all depends on what you're going for with not just the cover, but the outcome. But please make sure you check the TOS of the website you got the image from. Many free stock image sites don't allow for commercial work.

(Emphasis mine.)

This[sup]10[/sup]. I found some images I wanted to use for a project and dug a little deeper into the TOS. While there were no royalties due on the surface, a licensing fee is due when I use the image X amount of times, including book covers and promo materials. As c.m.n. mentioned, some services won't allow images to be used for commercial purposes while others permit it so make sure the TOS spell out specifically what you can and cannot use the images for.
 

Willow Bern

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I like Canva. They have good tutorials and are very reasonable. They have images starting at 1$ for single use which is perfect for a cover. You might want to check them out.

Good Luck,
Willow Bern