Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [book-cover]

Use for questions about book covers. This can be about the approval process, creation, paper considerations, differences between digital and paper versions, finding an artist, etc. Use in addition to [artwork] if the question is about the artwork for a cover.

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What matters more when it comes to book covers? Is it ‘professional quality’ or relevancy?

This is a sort of follow up to my previous question. It is generally understood that covers matter a great deal in terms of getting people to click on a fiction eBook and check out its blurb and contents, and covers are the main marketing tool of an…
user394536
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Is a tag line useful on a cover?

I am playing around with cover art ideas and have some that are quite interesting. I have added a brief tag line, not quite a subtitle, to the cover to indicate the genre. Frankly, the artistic photo of the guns that I am thinking of using should…
Rasdashan
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Outsourcing people to make a cover

I need some very specific art for my book cover and will probably not be able to find a generic one on a website, so do I hire someone for it and what's the average hourly wage for hiring one? How do I make sure he's the one who gets into legal…
user36239
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Is it true that a great cover is enough to sell many copies of your book?

I've come across podcasts and internet articles about self-publishing in which they basically say that books with fantastic covers and interesting blurbs tend to sell lots of copies even if the actual writing is substandard. And there is also the…
user394536
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Are there any free sites for testing beta 'book cover' designs?

The LONG road to publishing a novel is nearing an end. But writing a novel is actually only the beginning; editing, formatting, compiling and marketing the novel makes the initial task of writing seem easy at times. But I am the type who enjoys the…
Richard Stanzak
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Is SelfPubBookCovers.com a good website to buy book covers?

The saying goes to never judge a book by its cover, but let's face it: a cover is a very important part of a book. However, many people don't have access to an illustrator, or cover designer. I myself don't have the skills to design my own cover,…
Abram Frost
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How do existing covers compare to possible new ones?

I have a fairly large collection of titles on Amazon, and I'm wondering whether I should by my own efforts replace them with covers I've made myself by services like canva.com. I have an MFA friend who teaches photography and would probably give me…
Christos Hayward
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Can the title of a book be slightly modified on the cover?

For example, the real title is "Cooking vegetables: Beans, carrots and spinach". But on the cover that would be graphically punchier as: Cooking vegetables: Beans Carrots Spinach No comma and no "and". I would want the full title - "Cooking…
plugincontainer
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Do published authors have rights to use their own book cover images?

With the caveat that I'm sure it varies based on publisher, genre, etc., but -- generally, if you were an author who was published and the book cover was designed by the publisher, but you wanted to do marketing on your own -- would you be able to…
Dani
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Cover image formatting for books published on Amazon?

When outsourcing work for a cover image for a book published on Amazon, what should the format of the image be? I have a collection of poems written in a language other than English on Amazon, and I want to outsource the cover image to a freelancer,…
user36239
3
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Use of stock image on book cover

My book was published by a now defunct publisher. They returned my records to me (locked, and I could not open any of the documents) and I've since re-published my title under my own name. However, my question is ... can I still use the same…
Author
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Can I use an old painting of Lilith as my book cover?

I'm working on a book of poetry, and I want to use John Collier's (1892) painting of Lilith as the cover. I won't be selling the book though; giving it away for free. Can I legally use the painting as the cover?
Morgan Valentine
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Story by two people, but written by one... whose names go on cover?

My friend and I conceived of a story, a world, and set of characters. We started an LLC partnership so that this IP is split evenly. We then decided person B would write a book based on the story we talked about. Would both our names go on the cover…
Two guys
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Could I draw my own book cover?

I'm a person that is usually trying to save as much money as possible. If I draw my own book cover, is it okay? or do I really need to hire an artist?
Unknown
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How many pixels' margin to the right should my 5"-wide image be on a 300dpi KDP paperback to be centered?

How many pixels' margin to the right should a 5"-wide image be on a 300dpi cover, for a 6"x9" KDP paperback, to have the front cover centered on Amazon.com and print books? I calculated based on a 6"-wide front cover plus .125" for bleed on the…
Christos Hayward
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