For those of you that have visited my Facebook fan page at http://tinyurl.com/64p4yux you will have seen that next Sunday (22nd) I will be unveiling the cover for my novel Children of G.O.D. on the fan page.
I very much see the cover as my first major hurdle in self-publishing. I am still learning the ropes when it comes to the Adobe suite of software. I also had to take a major look at image usage rights.
So that others don't end up falling into any of the easy traps that you will come across when doing your own cover here are a few pointers:
1) Know your limits.
It's easy to have a bold vision in your head but, as sad as it is, many potential readers will judge your story by it's cover. If it doesn't look professional many will be turned away as they will assume that the content within is riddled with mistakes - many won't even give the sample chapter a try. If you aren't going to do it justice then seek the help of a good cover artist.
This is especially true with fantasy and science fiction novels where the colour and imagination of the world is sold on the cover. When i was on the verge of publishing my fantasy novel I contacted Geoff Taylor and he was very forthcoming with his method and results, his portfolio makes some good viewing (www.geofftaylor-artist.com) He has even contributed to the artwork of the Games Workshop.
Another artists I contacted, this time for Children of G.O.D., was Stuart Bache (www.stuartbache.co.uk). The feel of his covers is much more gritty and stark than Geoff, something that comes across with the type of novels he is selected to work on.
In the end I decided to do it myself.
This mostly came from seeing an image on iStockphoto that was exactly what I had been looking for. I was willing to spend hours learning to do the artwork that was beyond my ability in order to use it.
This led me to the second potential pitfall.
2) Understanding the usage agreement.
I'm fortunate that in previous jobs I have worked a lot with photographers and how liberal some can be, and how protective others are.
As a result I contemplated the extended usage agreement that iStockphoto offers for some time. Once I ploughed through the small print of the standard agreement I saw that images from iStockphoto could be used as cover art for books without extending the agreement. This only changes at 500,000 purchases, at this point the author is expected to pay the original photographer 1p for each sale after that. I was very glad I didn't spend the 10 extra credits on extending the agreement.
If, however, you wish to sell t-shirts, posters etc with that image on then the usage agreement needs to be extended (you can use them for promotional use without extending it). Just bear that in mind.
Just in case you think taking an image from Google is a good idea the same photographers I used to work with have informed me recently that Google has invested in software that allows photographers to search for their image using it's unique code. You could run the risk that this news was rubbish, or that it's true but the photographer is too busy to search or you can pay £15-£30 and have piece of mind that you will not be chased for a percentage of your earnings.
Understanding usage agreements is just as important when hiring an artist to create your cover. From experience it is a good idea to negotiate the extent of the agreement before you hire them.
A self-employed artist will be reasonably flexible with these rights to snare the work. This is your chance to obtain global unrestricted rights. That enables you to sell on the cover rights to a publisher if you go down that route in the future. It also enables you to print t-shirts, posters, postcards and anything else with it on and sell them.
It's useless trying to negotiate it after as chances are they will want more money to extend the license as it could be a while before they get more work! Also, if they don't want to negotiate the terms of the agreement they will simply say no but still offer to do the work, you don't really have anything to lose.
3) Once it's done - leave it!
With an artist they will send you several versions so they can determine what you're looking for. They will then artwork a version that you can make suggestions on. You need to be honest straight away with these guys as they will eventually tire of being told to make minor tweaks.
Have a good idea of what you're after and then when you see something you like accept it and leave it. You will forever see things you want to change, minor things you're not happy with - deal with it. Get to a stage where you aren't physically repulsed by it, see that it represents the book well and then show it to the world. Once it's out there it can't be take away and you will begin to like it for what it represents; Your story.
I hope this helps a few of you. If you have any questions or want tips on how to tackle this mammoth, and very important obstacle in self-publishing, drop me an email.
As always, stay safe.
