Should I Change My Book Cover?

alyssabcole

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It's in the signature. I released the book a few days ago but now I think I need to go with a professional book cover designer because I'm feeling more and more insecure about this one because it looks to "self-published" (which it is). Am I being too insecure or do you think going with a more professional cover will help? If so, is a website like fiverr dependable?

Thanks!
 

MaeZe

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I find the font hard to read. I don't think the concept otherwise screams self-pubbed.
 
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mrsmig

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Seconding the difficulty in reading the font.
 

Chris P

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Agree with both Maeze and mrsmig. Otherwise I think it's fine; it's simple, and between the title and image I'm expecting a troubled romance (is it?).
 

alyssabcole

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Chris P, it is a troubled romance, based on Phantom of the Opera. :)

Thank you for the comments, everyone. I just found a very affordable freelance book cover artist so I'm going to go with that. She'll be able to do the paperback as well (the ebook cover didn't transfer well onto the paperback) so I'm just going to hire her to change everything - including the font! This is the first time I'm hiring a freelancer, so it's very exciting but a little nervewracking. I almost feel like a fake professional somehow, haha.
 

CathleenT

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Just because someone is a "professional" doesn't mean you're going to get a professional-looking cover out of it.

As other have said, your current cover's not bad. What's your genre, however?

I should be able to tell genre from your cover, and I get nothing. Whoever you hire, make sure that they specialize in whatever this is...lit fic? If it is, you want someone who can design that sort of cover. The last thing you need is a genre cover, like romance, misrepresenting your work.

ETA: I'd stay away from Fiverr. Covers purchased from vendors there in the past have included unlicensed images, and that can cause real problems down the line.
 
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Charles Windsoap

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Be careful with your images. The one you're using seems like it's from shutterstock and they go after people hard. Pixabay and unsplash are great sites for free, high res stock photos. Your book sounds great and very unique, but, sadly, the cover just isn't doing it justice -- or really telling anything about the theme. I do mostly corporate design work now, but I did do plenty of covers in the past. Were I to take on a project like that, I would have perhaps a golden opera mask with red ribbons on each end which come together to make something like a heart between the two words of the title. I was actually going to do something like that for you as my Sunday good deed (thanks Grandma!), but it seems like you found an artist, so I wish you the best!
 

dpaterso

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You can see the problem with the thumbnail image, which is what's going to display on Amazon, etc. The tiny writing's too hard to read!

Could you maybe suggest to your artist that they up the font size? e.g. and just casually playing with what you showed above,

OfsP0fz.jpg


Increasing the size of the real fonts would produce a much sharper image.

For that matter they could also zoom in on the hands -- the important part of the image -- and crop out the upper forearms. Shrug, just a thought!

Edit: oooh wait that's what they said already! D'oh.

-Derek
 

KBooks

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I wouldn't use Fiverr for the reasons listed above. Agree that the hands image is cool, but the font is really hard to read.
 

cool pop

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Just because a cover is amateur or bad doesn't have anything to do with self-publishing. A bad cover screams, "bad" no matter how the book is published. I've seen small press covers that look as though a drunken monkey did them with one paw. As for should you change your cover, I'd say yes mainly because I can't tell what genre it's supposed to be. I have no idea what the story is from the cover. If a reader can't tell genre right off then you are setting yourself up for a hard road.

Also, always pay for licensing of images you use. Don't just yank them off a website. Not saying you do that, just saying because you'd be surprised how many people don't realize this is illegal.

Oh, just went back and read your post. This is a ROMANCE? The cover doesn't say romance at all to me. I'd have said YA before romance.

To give you an idea, try looking at top selling romance books because romance is not a genre where you wanna stray from the masses concerning covers, etc. And a reader needs to tell it's a romance from the minute the person sees it or you'll lose a lot of sales. Romance is not a place where you wanna go too far out the box.

I second staying away from Fiverr. That place is full of scammers and plagiarists. Not all are like that but many are there to take advantage of people looking for cheap services.
 
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babbage

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I agree that the font is difficult to read, and I would add that the cover doesn't really convey anything about the book.

As to hiring a cover designer, be careful: almost anyone with artistic talent can claim to be a cover designer; it is easy to get ripped off (as I and others have) by unscrupulous people. Make sure you get mock ups and a contract that clearly spells out your deadline and any additional charges you may incur for revisions.

The goal shouldn't be affordable--the goal should be to get the best cover for what you are willing to INVEST in the book, because your book is a product and you are the company selling it.
 

babbage

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This is great advice, and I would underline the part about PAYING for any images used in your book or on it that you did not create. It isn't hard now for content creators to track down bad actors (not saying you are one) who think they can pull an image off the Internet and use it without paying for it. Do the right thing, always, when it comes to copyright: after all, you wouldn't someone trying to sell your work as their own, would you?

Just because a cover is amateur or bad doesn't have anything to do with self-publishing. A bad cover screams, "bad" no matter how the book is published. I've seen small press covers that look as though a drunken monkey did them with one paw. As for should you change your cover, I'd say yes mainly because I can't tell what genre it's supposed to be. I have no idea what the story is from the cover. If a reader can't tell genre right off then you are setting yourself up for a hard road.

Also, always pay for licensing of images you use. Don't just yank them off a website. Not saying you do that, just saying because you'd be surprised how many people don't realize this is illegal.

Oh, just went back and read your post. This is a ROMANCE? The cover doesn't say romance at all to me. I'd have said YA before romance.

To give you an idea, try looking at top selling romance books because romance is not a genre where you wanna stray from the masses concerning covers, etc. And a reader needs to tell it's a romance from the minute the person sees it or you'll lose a lot of sales. Romance is not a place where you wanna go too far out the box.

I second staying away from Fiverr. That place is full of scammers and plagiarists. Not all are like that but many are there to take advantage of people looking for cheap services.
 

Sonya Heaney

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It definitely looks like a YA or NA romance cover, but not an adult romance. E.g. Here's one of bestselling YA romance author Simone Elkeles' covers:

418wWK8OUzL__SX339_BO1204203200__zpsscbjx5dh2_zpssytyxmiz.jpg


I write romance for adults, and it wouldn't work as a cover in my genre (or, at least with my publisher).

I agree with other people that the cover idea isn't bad, but the font should always be easy to read.
 
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