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Cover Art

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cfnmchap

Experienced
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Posts
75
After all the work of writing the cover is a big deal. It's the eye catcher, the hook, the lure to draw potential readers in. So it, alongside a catchy title is really important. At least, that's my take on it.

I'm actually in the very early process of organising a cover for a book I am currently working on. I'm thinking of 1950's detective theme.

Although I haven't found an artist, I am searching online, whilst also considering putting adverts in local art colleges/universities with a view to discussing what I am after and how much that will cost.

So, the reason of my post is to ask how other authors have gone about searching for their ideal covers. Any tips or tricks to share? Or advice on what not to do?!
 
I search the various photo services (e.g., 123rf, depositphotos, shutterstock) for images I think match what I've written and pass the numbers to my publishers for them to see what they can do if they don't have images they've found that they think are better. Then they make up the cover and send it to me for approval, and that's that.

It would be nice if there were inexpensive cover services for erotic for self-published authors--and maybe there are--but I don't know of any.
 
From my experience people who design covers charge a fair amount, depending on what is required.

Truthfully if all you require is a single image you can grab a stock photo for a few dollars and add text.

I have somebody that will do a pretty good one that involves multiple images and photo shop for around $20 pm me if interested.
 
For stock photos, definitely check Bigstock. I use Irfanview to add tittles, etc.
 
Like above I usually search through stock websites, 123rf and such. Creative Commons images can be rather handy, they are images that you can use for free, some with restrictions and some without. Be sure to check those restrictions, some are as easy as proper reference of source to not being allowed for commercial use.

If it's erotica, skin is important.
 
Then there are those photo's that are in the public domain. Free to use without having to pay royalties.

I may use two or more images combined together to make a new image. Paintshop Pro is your friend.
 
sr71plt said:
I search the various photo services (e.g., 123rf, depositphotos, shutterstock) for images I think match what I've written and pass the numbers to my publishers for them to see what they can do if they don't have images they've found that they think are better. Then they make up the cover and send it to me for approval, and that's that.

It would be nice if there were inexpensive cover services for erotic for self-published authors--and maybe there are--but I don't know of any.
Click to expand...

Thanks, so far it seems a very expensive task to find a decent artist who'll do what I am after (though my concept is not yet set).
 
cfnmchap said:
Thanks, so far it seems a very expensive task to find a decent artist who'll do what I am after (though my concept is not yet set).
Click to expand...

The most effective approach is to learn to make the covers yourself. I've worked on the design of them in the mainstream and closely follow that with my erotica, but I don't want to sacrifice the time put to writing to learn the technicals of doing them. So, I turn that over to publishers. It's an area of erotic that is open to business--not just creating covers relatively inexpensively (mainstream printers like RR Donnelley budget around $30 for in-house cover creation) but also photo services to serve erotica themes.
 
cfnmchap said:
Thanks. I'm pretty new to Literotica so wasn't aware that there was a Visual Artists corner. Will check it out. Cheers
Click to expand...

There are some really good erotic artists showing their work there, and some of them do take commissions.
:rose:
 
Thanks

Thanks to everyone for the shared information. I will be checking out the sites and options available so this has been very helpful.

Cheers

Paul
 
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