Loose Paint Art

The idea behind the quote "You get what you pay for" is so universal that a search for that phrase on Google.com will provide you with hundreds of millions of results. Publishing a book is an expensive process and the cover artwork is no exception. Once the decision to publish your work is made, marketing becomes the highest priority, and if you fail to market successfully you may never get off the ground. A book cover is the primary marketing tool for your book.

To be successful in doing its job a cover needs to be intriguing. It has to grab the browsing reader's attention and it must do it immediately. I don't have a definitive source for this information (you can google it) but it's generally understood that a reader will spend approximately 3 seconds considering your book before moving on - based on the cover alone.

Trust your artist. I can't stress this enough. The bottom line is that, if you don't feel comfortable trusting the artist you're considering, it's better to keep looking until you find one.

Artists are born with a desire to create and they possess a keen eye toward all things visual. Let your artist be free to explore. Offer suggestions up front - more is more in this case. Your intimate knowledge of your work will often inspire your artist to do great things. But if possible avoid forcing something on them. Restraints and boundaries can kill creativity. An experienced, talented, cover designer will know what sells books. A book cover doesn't have to be a masterpiece but it must do the job of making your potential reader desire to look inside. That's not to say that it shouldn't be a masterpiece, but you have to remember, it will never hang in the Louvre. And that's especially important to remember if you're on a tight budget.

Resist the urge to micro-manage your artist. An experienced artist will keep you posted on their progress, and if they don't, ask for periodic updates. We want you to be involved.

Look for an artist who proactively seeks your manuscript. A lot of inspiration can be drawn from a quick read of your work and it shows that they're focused on your cover. You deserve their undivided attention.

For a work of fiction, avoid using people on your book cover, if possible. It's difficult to illustrate something that will perfectly match your vision of the main character in your book and it's even less likely that we'll find a stock photograph that accomplishes that. An alternative may be an abstract representation of the protaganist. This could help when you're working on a series and need consistencey.

I have a theory about book covers, and understandably haven't found a willing author, but it goes like this: If you were to put the words "DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK" on a cover, everyone who sees it will more than likely want to pick it up. This is really just a commentary on the kind of creativity needed to entice readers into exploring a book beyond the cover. Gimmick's work. It also reflects the idea that a cover doesn't need to be an artful masterpiece in order to do its job. It just needs to be clever, eye-catching, relative, and attractive.

JEFFREY HOLMES | DESIGN PORTFOLIO