Book Covers

[The_shadow_rising]

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone can help. I am thinking of publishing a book on Amazon but I'm unsure where to go to get a cover photo taken. Any suggestions?

 

[AlinaX]

You can get stock images from Shutterstock etc., if you feel confident enough in your image editing skills.
Or there are lots of people who offer to design covers, and usually have a set of generic designs to choose from.

 

[Ada Stuart]

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone can help. I am thinking of publishing a book on Amazon but I'm unsure where to go to get a cover photo taken. Any suggestions?

I download photos for free from freepik.com and make the book cover using the templates available on canva.com (free tool).

The result is better than many of the covers available on Amazon, so I guess it's good enough for my level

You can check my covers by searching for "Ada Stuart" on Amazon. Basically it seems that the more naked skin, the better the sales, LOL.

I hope this helps

 

[Ian_Snow]

I tend to use premade covers for mine. A good cover sells a book better than any blurb, so it's worth a little extra. Rocking Book Covers, Book Cover Zone, and The Cover Collection are among my favorites. If you're on Facebook, there are a ton of different pre-made cover groups and artists there as well.

 

[lovecraft68]

If you're looking for an image to add text to, or you have enough photo shop skill to change or merge images you can use stock photo sites like Bigstock or depositphotos, or 123RF...you can usually get a credit package for around $30-40 and most pics are 4-6 credits(deposit has a $29 a month and each image a buck so you can get a lot of pics)

But if you want premade here's a site I've used for a couple of my novels-including the one in my AV- Prices range from $19 to $250 and most will do PB as well as e-books

https://thebookcoverdesigner.com/shop/

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

If you're looking for an image to add text to, or you have enough photo shop skill to change or merge images you can use stock photo sites like Bigstock or depositphotos, or 123RF...you can usually get a credit package for around $30-40 and most pics are 4-6 credits(deposit has a $29 a month and each image a buck so you can get a lot of pics)

But if you want premade here's a site I've used for a couple of my novels-including the one in my AV- Prices range from $19 to $250 and most will do PB as well as e-books

https://thebookcoverdesigner.com/shop/

Photoshop is SO expensive. I tried it and loved it, but the fun went away when the free trial expired. Does anyone have recommendations on a less pricey alternative, even if it's less user-friendly? I'll ask in the AV forum, too, but I wanted to know what non-AV people are using, too.

 

[lovecraft68]

Photoshop is SO expensive. I tried it and loved it, but the fun went away when the free trial expired. Does anyone have recommendations on a less pricey alternative, even if it's less user-friendly? I'll ask in the AV forum, too, but I wanted to know what non-AV people are using, too.

I suck at all that, the covers I made for my first e-books would be an image I slapped some text on, and that was it.

I think there's that program..."Gimp" that's free and Microsoft has some picture editing features in the newer versions of windows/office but not sure what they really do.

 

[AnnieLit]

Just a note on pictures from free sites: check and recheck that these images are really free, because many times they are stallen from shutterstock and other pay sites. Which means that there is a good chance that you might have to pull that cover soon after you publish it.

 

[AlinaX]

On the Mac & iPad, Affinity is professional grade and not expensive.

 

[Monikafotze]

Maybe by me?

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone can help. I am thinking of publishing a book on Amazon but I'm unsure where to go to get a cover photo taken. Any suggestions?

Hi,
maybe i can draw one for you? Would be glad to try it.
Greets
M

 

[Blind_Justice]

Gimp is a pretty good Photoshop alternative. Incredibly powerful, but a bitch to learn.

I've had some luck ordering images on Fiverr. As a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author, I simply can't plaster some random boobs on my book cover and call it a day. Usually commissions are horribly expensive. On Fiverr and provided you put in the legwork to find an artist who a) paints good art and b) is willing to make NSFW pictures, you can come away with something decent for around 20-40 dollars. You'd best bring patience though, because the feeling-out process and revisions can eat a few days or even weeks.

 

[The_shadow_rising]

I just spoke to Shutterstock on the phone and by email. They said that their photos cannot be used with erotica because it is pornography and has to do with humans having sex.

The same seems to go for the other big stock photo companies from what I've read of their agreements. And this applies even if there is no recognisable faces on the images, and when they have 'sex' and 'erotica' as options to search for in images.

So it looks like that avenue isn't available to us. Thank you for suggesting it though, I appreciate it. I'm trying to go with an artist to draw me a cover art piece instead. Hopefully that works out. Otherwise speciality photos/cover art is the only way to legally get a cover.

 

[KeithD]

I just spoke to Shutterstock on the phone and by email. They said that their photos cannot be used with erotica because it is pornography and has to do with humans having sex.

Sometimes it's not a good idea to ask directly. Company policy requires an answer to a direct question that the company doesn't adhere to if they don't have to state a policy. A lot of what gets published at Amazon, for instance, easily attests to this. You can see this right here on Lit. in what is stated in the rules and what you can actually find at Literotica (and that the site owners damn well know is here).

My publisher uses images from multiple photo depositories for my published erotica. He pays for the photos and unless the listing for the individual photo itself limits what the photo can be used for, he doesn't raise his hand to ask about further limits that are formal site policies. (And everyone involved in the transaction is happy.)

 

[SyleusSnow]

Unless you're skilled in graphic arts, it's much faster, cheaper and infinitely easier to buy a pre-made cover.

A good cover makes all the difference on Amazon and better places.

Some good and inexpensive ones:

https://bookcoverzone.com/
https://thebookcoverdesigner.com/
https://goonwrite.com/ (my favorite. His fake title names are hilarious)

And when you hit it big and need to make cool 3D mockups of your book:

https://diybookcovers.com/3Dmockups/
https://3d-book-css.netlify.app/

 

[yibala2]

I just spoke to Shutterstock on the phone and by email. They said that their photos cannot be used with erotica because it is pornography and has to do with humans having sex.

What KeithD said. I've had a similar experience with pro cover artists. I'm not even sure how Shutterstock could apply or enforce that policy.

-Yib

 

[Paul_Chance]

Thanks Folks - a lot of good information I didn't even know I needed here. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

 

[PennameWombat]

Sometimes it's not a good idea to ask directly. Company policy requires an answer to a direct question that the company doesn't adhere to if they don't have to state a policy. A lot of what gets published at Amazon, for instance, easily attests to this. You can see this right here on Lit. in what is stated in the rules and what you can actually find at Literotica (and that the site owners damn well know is here).

My publisher uses images from multiple photo depositories for my published erotica. He pays for the photos and unless the listing for the individual photo itself limits what the photo can be used for, he doesn't raise his hand to ask about further limits that are formal site policies. (And everyone involved in the transaction is happy.)

Don't ask questions if you can't handle the answers

 

[Black_and_White_Writer]

Photoshop is SO expensive. I tried it and loved it, but the fun went away when the free trial expired. Does anyone have recommendations on a less pricey alternative, even if it's less user-friendly? I'll ask in the AV forum, too, but I wanted to know what non-AV people are using, too.

I don’t sadly. If you draw there is Inkscape – a brilliant Vector program.

Myself, I just create my own covers. As it’s easier than “trying to find someone who’ll let you use their art to be slapped on the front of a ‘smut book’.” as my friend described it. Thanks Suzie!

 

[Black_and_White_Writer]

What KeithD said. I've had a similar experience with pro cover artists. I'm not even sure how Shutterstock could apply or enforce that policy.

-Yib

Copyright? and their ‘policy’. If they say you can’t do something and you do it, and get caught (very unlikely that you won’t) you’ll be in trouble.

 

[Black_and_White_Writer]

If you're looking for an image to add text to, or you have enough photo shop skill to change or merge images you can use stock photo sites like Bigstock or depositphotos, or 123RF...you can usually get a credit package for around $30-40 and most pics are 4-6 credits(deposit has a $29 a month and each image a buck so you can get a lot of pics)

But if you want premade here's a site I've used for a couple of my novels-including the one in my AV- Prices range from $19 to $250 and most will do PB as well as e-books

https://thebookcoverdesigner.com/shop/

That looks a great option.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I tend to use premade covers for mine. A good cover sells a book better than any blurb, so it's worth a little extra. Rocking Book Covers, Book Cover Zone, and The Cover Collection are among my favorites. If you're on Facebook, there are a ton of different pre-made cover groups and artists there as well.

I’ve used book cover zone and it was great. I’ve also used goonwrite.com - not bad. Cheaper, but yo get what you pay for. I’m no artist and predestined covers are pretty good. Harder for me to find good ones because I want Asian themed ones but for anyone else, a lot easier.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone can help. I am thinking of publishing a book on Amazon but I'm unsure where to go to get a cover photo taken. Any suggestions?

I designed my own covers. It's really not that difficult, whether you create the imagery yourself or find something on the Internet to use.

For my first book (His Daddy's Car), I found an image online and asked the owner for permission to use it in return for an acknowledgement inside the book. He readily agreed. I did the same with my second book (Courtship by Proxy). I created the images for the rest from photos or stock images I found online.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I designed my own covers. It's really not that difficult, whether you create the imagery yourself or find something on the Internet to use.

For my first book (His Daddy's Car), I found an image online and asked the owner for permission to use it in return for an acknowledgement inside the book. He readily agreed. I did the same with my second book (Courtship by Proxy). I created the images for the rest from photos or stock images I found online.

Deviantart can be a good place to find images too.

 

[Bebop3]

GermanCreative on Fiverr

She's very affordable (ridiculously so) and very talented.

 

[gordo12]

I just had a custom one done by SelfPubBookCovers.com $135.

It was so fkn awesome, I had a 3x4 foot poster created from it, and it's sitting on the wall beside me now. About two weeks total time.