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? asked in Arts & HumanitiesBooks & Authors · 4 years ago

Where can I find cheap book covers or get one designed at cheaply. I m even open to making my own.?

The book is a romance story centered around a male.

7 Answers

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  • 4 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Try Etsy

  • 4 years ago

    I like to use canva.com, it has a bunch of templates you can edit and upload your own pictures onto. I just use it for fun and take pictures off of pinterest, but for a real published book you'll have to worry about copywrite issues, and probably have to get your own artist to design it (which almost always costs money)

  • 4 years ago

    As a writer and a artist, my advice is that you don't do you own covers unless you're really good at it. An amateur cover can make all the difference whether you make a sale or not. Personally if I see one, I don't buy the book, simply because it gives a bad impression and I'm thinking that if the author couldn't bother about the cover, then how's the writing going to be? It might seem unfair, but it's all down to professionalism, and often there is a correlation between the two.

    A really good book cover made from scratch will easily cost you a few hundred dollars. If you want to go for a cheaper option, then check out fiverr.com, where you can find cheap graphic design covers, that will probably look quite generic, but which won't scream amateur (unless you pick an designer who isn't good at what he/she is doing).

  • 4 years ago

    Well. If you know how to manipulate Photoshop you're good to go.

    The only problem would be using an image that is NOT copyrighted. Best of luck!

  • As a self publisher, you need to be aware that many of the people who claim to be book cover designers or will offer to design one for you have little to no ethics in regards to copyright law.

    They routinely use stock photos, steal images, etc... with little regard to the actual legality of using these images. For instance, just because an image is on the net or even has been labeled "free" doesn't mean it is, as quite often the original photographer and model still owns the rights to their image.

    So Don't use faces, as you could end up paying someone for their image endorsing your product. Keep it vague. After that, search the image someone makes for you and the component parts, they might just be giving you a real book cover or image.

  • 4 years ago

    If you want to publish traditionally, the publisher provides the cover. If you want to self-publish, these are your options -

    Any large stock photography site (just Google "stock photography" to find them) should have photos of suitable-looking men. You'll need to pay for a license to use one on your cover, but individual photos aren't horribly expensive. You'll need to add your name and the title, and probably insert a background image, but this isn't terribly difficult with Photoshop or a similar program.

    If you Google "pre-made romance covers" you might find something ready-made for around $25 to $50. The artist won't do any customisation beyond adding your name and title, but it will at least have been made by someone who knows what they're doing. (They take a cover off sale once somebody buys it, so that you don't have hundreds of books with the same cover. They make a profit overall, even if most covers don't sell, because they create the covers very quickly.)

    If you want to go the whole hog and hire someone to make a cover for you, that will cost a few hundred dollars. (It can be a lot more if it needs custom photography or the artist is well-known. But when was the last time you bought a book because of who did the cover?) There are forums where writers and artists can find one another, but I've never used them, as I'm arrogant enough to do my own covers. You could try Kboards or Deviantart. Or find a few books with covers you like and find out who the artist(s) is or were. The acknowledgements in the book, or the author's website, will usually tell you.

    EDIT: As a couple of other answers point out, if you're using images from elsewhere, you do have to be careful that whoever sells you the license does actually have the right to do that. Even if the site says they're legitimate, you could be on the hook if it turns out they're not. If you stick with big, well-known stock photography sites, or use established artists, you should be OK.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    If you are going to a publisher they will usually arrange this.

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