Cover Designing

One of the things that comes up with self-publishing authors is the fact that we have to do nearly everything by ourselves. There's little that we can send off to others to do--mostly because of the fact that we don't have the time or the money to pass on some responsibilities. And we want to keep a tight hold on our babies since we've been working on them for so long.

Something that I've had to learn how to do is to design my own covers. It isn't the easiest thing to do--even though the platform that I am publishing through has a wonderful cover designing template--since you have to get everything just right. There's spacing issues and a thousand other things that have to be considered when you put together a book cover.

More than anything, it has to fit the story that you're trying to tell. It has to draw attention and make the reader want to pick up the book to read it. And that's something hard to do, especially when you're so tightly attached to your book that you don't know how to step back and make it new and interesting.

I have to admit that I loved designing the new cover, though. It was a new skill that I could pick up and a good way for me to find a new angle to think about my story. I had to step back and figure out what was really important about the book. What was so unique that I had to put it on the cover? And how would I make it look?

There was some trial and error involved, but I think I finally got it right in the end. Sure a professional could have done something different, but I think what I've got is a pretty damn good try for a newbie. And I think it makes a great connection to the way that the story goes.

I've already started looking at the covers for the last novel in the series and the cover for my newest series. With a sister like mine who can help to pull the graphics together, I think it'll all turn out just fine.