erotic ebook covers

[chaste_tease]

Hello all

I'm interested in designing my own cover for my erotic romance ebook but I don't know which stock image sites I can use to buy photos from. I emailed shutter stock and they told me I can't use their photos so now I am unsure. Anybody had a similar problem and found a good site?

Thanks

 

[sr71plt]

Your problem might have been in directly asking rather than just buying and using. My publishers have used Shutterstock. They also use Depositphotos and Dreamstime. There's a hole in the market for such images, though, that's begging to be filled by the porn movie industry. An erotica photo service. Not necessary hard core, but they take a whole lot of photos that are tamer and they could be renting them out for book covers.

 

[lovecraft68]

123rf and bigstock have great pics and they are less expensive than Dreamstime. Personally I've never used shutterstock, but have heard good things about them.

 

[AlwaysHungry]

You can find free cover images on Flickr, by doing a search like this one. Just be sure that it says "commercial use allowed" in the upper left, and that you meet the requirements listed for the individual image -- usually that means putting a link to the photographer's Flickr page in the acknowledgements for your book. You need to make certain that the image is big enough as well -- ebook publishers like large cover images that will be hi-res. You'll have to hunt through the images to find ones that you like, and probably try other search criteria.

 

[chaste_tease]

thank you everyone, that's really helpful

 

[CeasarBoobage]

Another option is to go the DIY route. Yes really.

Today's smart phones have remarkable cameras, and TV commercials keep touting their quality. Even cheap(ish) digital cameras are good enough to do the job.

With some basic editing, it shouldn't be all that hard to get the scene you're looking for. The best part is that you can arrange the photo to be part of some exact scene from your story. You don't have to rely on some random swimsuit pic just because they have a cute (dime-a-dozen) body. Besides, isn't the 'amateur' scene popular these days?

If you don't know someone who will pose, advertise on Craigslist or backpage. You never know what kind of fun can come from doing a photoshoot. You could easily meet some people who would totally get off on their photo gracing the cover of a dirty book. Because of most store policies, they won't be show nude, but it can still be a fun experience for all.

Just an idea...