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September 13, 2011

Hiring a Cover Designer: How I Got My Covers Designed for Legacy Hunter and Soul Seeker

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I usually do my own basic cover design for my ebooks, but my upcoming novel, Soul Seeker, is going to be released in print as well as ebook format. Designing a cover for print is much more complicated than putting something together for an ebook. In addition to designing the front, there is also the spine and back matter to take care of, as well as other print considerations, such as bleed, and other things I don’t know even about.

While I could try to learn all this stuff, I still wouldn’t be an expert at it, and I really don’t want my print book to scream “self-published” by having it look ghetto. As much as we all hate to admit it, we do judge a book by its cover. (I know I do.)

So I decided to hire a cover designer. Since I have also written a short story that takes place in the same world, I wanted it to have the same look, so I submitted both projects together. After checking out her online portfolio, I decided to go with Robin Ludwig at Robin Ludwig Designs Inc.

Other than the overall look and feel, I wasn’t sure what I wanted in a cover for these projects. I knew it might be difficult creating something from stock images that would resemble my fantastical characters (an elf and a dwarf) without looking weird or cheesy. Robin was great about suggesting images and design concepts, and I pretty much just let her do her thing.

The end result turned out great. I now have images for both ebook covers and I will be going back to her for the print version of Soul Seeker once my final revisions are complete. (Spine measurements are dictated by page count, so I can’t get the print cover until I have my final page count.) I was super-excited to get my final cover image files, and now I can’t wait to launch these books!

Turnaround time was a little under a week (even with the long weekend). The design cost is $80/hour (billed in 15 minute increments), plus the cost of purchasing the stock images used in the design. An $80 deposit for each project is required up front. 


Have you used a designer for any of your covers? If so, would you recommend them?


2 comments:

  1. WOW!!!

    They REALLY look awesome & so very professional! Thanks for always giving such great and helpful tips for the Indie authors!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Sophie Li

    Thanks! I was so excited to see them once they were finished. :D Robin's work is definitely worth checking out.

    ReplyDelete

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