How to successfully design a cover
Designing a cover is an exciting process, but it can also be a stressful one. In this blog post, I will walk you through all the points you need to consider.
First, decide what your budget is. If your budget is on the low side, you might want to check out sites like Fivver.
However, you must be aware that these sites tend to focus on quantity over quality and that many of the freelancers will try to pump out as many covers as quickly as possible, thus severely limiting individual attention and amount of revisions performed.
If you decide to go with a cover artist who is more established and has an own website, be prepared to pay more. Just like on Fivver, you will soon discover that there are a lot of cover artists out there. In addition to carefully checking their website and portfolio, try to find their work on Amazon. Check whether authors have stuck with the designed cover or hired a new artist to change it because the initial cover wasn’t selling or they were unsatisfied with it.
Next, decide what package you need and ensure your selection of cover artists offer them. You might think you only want an e-book cover, but I suggest looking for cover artists who also provide print covers. You never know when you decide to offer a printed or even audiobook version to your readers. Check with your cover artist whether you get discounts for multiple covers etc.
Once you have found several artists that you like and who are within your pricing range, contact them. I suggest contacting at least five, and having a list of ten artists ready. Some artists might never get back to you while others aren’t taking on new clients. If an artist is busy, you must decide whether to wait for this artist or go to somebody else. Personally, I believe that it makes sense to wait for a good artist for a few weeks until a timeslot becomes available. I wouldn’t wait several months though, since this would severely postpone your book release.
Once you have agreed with your artist on the time and date you will start working on the cover, be prepared to provide your artist with images you like. Check out Amazon and books in your genre to get a feel for what should be on the cover and what colors and font work.
Ask your artists where they get their images from. Bigstock, Shutterstock, and Depositphotos are the most popular sites. Once you know which photo provider your artist uses, ask him how many images are included in your package. Then go to the website and search for images. Don’t under estimate the time it will take you to find a good image. I would calculate in at least several hours for finding the perfect model in the perfect pose and then another few hours for background etc.
Withstand the temptation to pick a model or an image from the first page of results. The first page is seen by a lot of people. The chances that another author is using this same image as you for their cover is very high. You don’t want readers to think that you are a copycat or uncreative. Make sure to ask your cover artist how confident there are in image manipulation. Certain artists will want you to pick one model, while others will be more flexible and be able to combine the face of one model with arms from another image and an outfit from a third image. When picking your background, make sure that the background isn’t too busy and doesn’t detract from the focal point of your cover. Also, if your background has too many colors, it will be difficult to have your title and author name pop out.
In summary, consider these points when hiring a cover artist:
- What is your budget?
- What package do you need?
- How many images, revisions, and photo manipulation do you need?
- When does your cover has to be ready by?
I hope this post has been helpful in your search for the perfect cover and will bring you one step closer to your journey of becoming a self-published author.
Things to consider when hiring an editor for your novel
No matter how many grammar books you read and how often you reread your manuscript, you will want to hire a professional editor for your manuscript before self-publishing it.
For those on a tight budget, I suggest checking out the website Upwork. It has thousands of freelancers and you can search by skills, rates, test scores, and regions. Upwork is very user friendly, and it takes less than half an hour to set up your profile and post your project.
Upwork will ask you how much you are willing to spend, and potential candidates can filter you project by this category and other factors. If you see a particular freelancer you wish to work with, you can invite him to your project. If not, sit tight. In less than a day, you should expect to receive at least 15 to 20 responses.
Besides a cover letter, you can see how many jobs each interested freelancers has performed, how satisfied their clients were, whether they have worked on projects similar to yours previously, and what their scores were on grammar and punctuation tests.
In addition to this, Upwork has a wonderful customer service that will assist you with any queries.
The downside of using Upwork is that a lot of times you will get people who are trying to make quick money and are doing this job on the side. Many freelancers will do the minimum of work required to satisfy you.
Unlike agencies, who put a lot of effort into maintaining clients, freelancers might think more short-term and try to take on as many projects as possible within a week or a month. This in turn means that they will earn more money, but that your project will receive less time and attention.
When thinking about cost vs. value, you want to check how many rounds of edits are included. You might think that the agency is charging way more than a freelancer, but you are actually receiving more value if the agency reads your work twice and offers advice on the edits you’ve made. Freelancers don’t have to look over your work a second time. And if you want two sets of eyes, you will have to hire two freelancers.
At an agency you won’t just see an anonymous portfolio, saying that a freelancer completed project XYZ. Most agencies will tell you what type of books they have edited, and you can check out those books on Amazon or other online stores to get a feeling for the quality of the performed work.
Whether you decide to go with an agency or a freelancer, make sure you ask for references and a sample edit. In a sample edit you will submit the first few pages of your manuscript and it will be edited for a set fee. I suggest sending the first three chapters to 3-5 people. This will give you a good idea for how well, in-depth the agency/freelancer is, allow you to properly compare you hires, and determine which is the best fit for you. You should also be able to gauge a general turnaround time and how much of a priority you are for them.
Below I’ve created a list of questions you should ask somebody before hiring them for an editing project.
- What type of books have you edited in the past?
- Do you have experience in my genre? How vast is that experience? It makes a difference whether someone edited 1 vs. 50 fantasy books.
- What is the price of your services? Do you charge per hour or per word?
- How quick is your turnaround time?
- If you write a series, you might prefer to work with the same editor on all the books. Ask whether they would be available to do so. An editor who is familiar with your work will be able to point out inconsistencies in a series.
- How many rounds of edits will you perform? Do you provide a second set of eyes? This normally applies only to agencies. If you hire a freelancer from Upwork or a similar site, you will have to hire a second freelance editor to perform a second check.
Whatever route you decide to take, make sure you leave enough time between the editing process and the submission process. If you’re using Amazon’s pre-order option, set a deadline for yourself that is realistic and includes buffer time for emergencies, sick days, etc.
Magic. Romance. And a battle to the death.
The Secret Circle meets Sookie Stackhouse in this pulse-pounding, fast-paced paranormal series.
Torn away from her high school graduation, Sierra Reeves discovers that everything she thought she knew is a lie.
In a flash, she’s no longer a normal girl preparing for college, but a Fluidus—a rare supernatural with telekinetic powers. Her new abilities attract the attention of both the Ardere regency and the Culpatus, a group that wants to overthrow the supernatural government. Fearful for Sierra’s future, her grandmother decides to leave their home state Vermont and hide out in Savannah, Georgia.
In Savannah, Sierra forms an alliance with the overprotective and handsome Ardere marshal Gavin McLoughlin. With his help, she slowly accepts her new powers and that she’s a part of the supernatural community.
Just when Sierra begins to settle into her new life, her world is rocked again. In addition to the Culpatus discovering her location, a serial killer is on the loose in Savannah.
Fighting to control her developing power, and facing danger on multiple fronts, Sierra will have to use all her resources to stay alive.
Fluidus Rising is the first book in the Dark Legacy series.
Available on Amazon
How to fix wrist pain
Those of us that type a lot will most likely encounter wrist pain or strain at one point or another. When writing a detailed outline for one of my books, I found myself typing over 7k for several days. I was proud of the amount of work I had completed but the progress came at a price. My right wrist and finger joints began to ache. Below I’m going to share what has helped me to recover from the pain.
First of all, let me say that I was typing away at an 11 inch MacBook Air. I’ve chosen this particular laptop since it’s small size and light weight made it very portable. Unfortunately its small and thin keyboard forced my wrists into an unnatural position and didn’t provide much support for my joins.
After much research on ergonomic keyboards I’ve decided to purchase Microsoft’s ergonomic keyboard. It is slightly elevated and the keys are split in the middle. Both allows for a more natural wrist position, thus relieving some of the pain. The adjustment time was fairly quick and one month later I’m very happy with my purchase.
However, the first few days after straining my wrist, I needed something to alleviate the pain. Futuro does great wrist supports that doesn’t constrict your movements and still allows you to type comfortably. Futuro products can be purchased at drugstores and supermarkets and can be washed if needed.
While I have tried a few pain alleviating crèmes, I wasn’t too happy with the results. Personally, they didn’t do much for me and I didn’t enjoy the tingle. I also didn’t feel comfortable relying on them long-term.
What made a big difference however was purchasing a hand therapy exercise kit. It came with three balls of different firmness and instructions on how to perform eight simple exercises. I found it easy to integrate those exercises into my daily routine and strengthen my wrists and arm muscles.
If you suffer from wrist pain, don’t ignore your symptoms. Listen to your body and find ways to alleviate the pain. Consider an ergonomic keyboard, wear a temporary wrist brace and strengthen your forearm muscles.
