TIPS FOR SELECTING A PRE-MADE COVER
Pre-made covers are an affordable way to get a professionally designed book cover. At times it’s more practical to purchase a pre-made rather than a custom cover, especially if you find one that meets your design needs. Still, there are some key essentials to keep in mind when considering buying a ready-made cover:
The good thing about buying a pre-made cover is you’re seeing the product before you purchase it. In essence, what you see is what you get. But, even though you may see pre-designed work that looks like something you’d want for your cover, it’s always a good idea to double check for quality.
Obvious signs of poor quality work, such as poorly pasted together and sloppily cut out images with no regard for cohesion, can be judged as substandard. This can negatively impact your sales.
Professional cover art should be clean and composed. A quality cover exhibits consistency, thoughtful image manipulation, proper use of overall typeface, and perhaps most importantly, it should all work together to create a simplistic yet eye-catching book cover.
It’s important to make sure that your designer has obtained a proper license for any images used in their designs or owns the copyright for any cover art they sell. Designers who use CC0 images that are free for commercial use, should always obtain permission from the photographer and a model release, if applicable, prior to using any of these public domain images in their work. This is especially the case if the image displays a recognizable person or place.
Cover art must be able to attract your readers, as well as provide a visual representation of your story. In some cases, depending on the category, the cover art can be very vague (think drama) but in most cases, there should be some indication of the genre in the cover design. For example, you should be able to identify a Fantasy book based on the cover art. It’s important to stay true to your genre and give your readers an honest idea of what your book is about.
Some designers will allow modifications to pre-made cover art, while some don’t. It’s always a good idea to check with the designers to see what changes they will be perform, if any, and if there is an additional fee for cover changes. . For more information on Covers in Color pre-made revision options, click here.
In general, purchasing a pre-made cover design is the next best thing to getting a professionally custom designed cover. Make sure that you thoroughly examine the design work before making a purchase and reach out to the designer for any questions before committing to buying.
Hopefully, these tips will help you find the perfect pre-made cover and get your book the exposure (and sales) it deserves!