What eBook Cover Designers Hate the Most

You are one great book author!

You know how to write amazing and effective ebooks/books that you want to rock. Of course knowing what it takes for a book to sell in the publishing industry have something to do with content and cover design.

Yes, a great story and a catchy Book Cover to stand out with many aspiring buy me titles out there!

So how far will you go as a book author to pimp that book cover? Most Book Cover Designer only hopes you consider one vital aspect to succeed in the Publishing industry.

And that is – TRUST.

Trust people within the industry who are expert in certain fields.

Book authors who cannot trust others is what Book Cover Designers' hate the most.

Why?

They make progress slow and unproductive.

You are an author not a book cover designer. You finished a great book, now let them design the cover.

What Goes Behind A Book Designer’s Territory

One of the biggest drawbacks in a book designer’s daily life is an impossible book author who throws tantrums and demands the impossible for their book cover. Surprised?

Here's a sneak of how a book cover designer’s life start and end daily.

ü  We deal with forced objectives on book covers.

ü  We deal with non-stop revision and changes on layout based on book authors’ ever changing demands and requests.

ü  We deal with “I thought you are fast and good...” statement once the final cover is done, that is of course - after an over-extended timeline due to book author's heavily ladden “ideas”.

You see why most publisher never lets the book author work with their cover designer?

Now You know. Book authors have great ideas of design, but most, just don’t – no one will admit to that flaw though. They are just not aware.

If you are wondering what requests and demands most cover designer hates and spoils a good title, read along.

For a more subtle approach, we will label it as your Do's and Dont's for a book cover design.

            You have specific photos You TOOK that You WANT on the cover.

This is so common of a request. But you can't.

Why?

û  You are not a photographer (unless you are!)

û  You don’t understand the CC's or the Copyright Commons (unless you do!)

û  You probably don’t have an amazing SLR camera (again, unless you do!)

           

            You WANT a specific photo that is ALREADY ACCESSIBLE ONLINE on the cover.

Another common request. Unless it is yours, meaning you OWN it – then the cover designer just MIGHT consider.

Why?

û  Published and Downloadable photos in the internet is not original. Your book cover wants to be the ONLY one with that branding, and it means exclusivity of design.

û  Infringement and Copyright concern is not going help launch your book.

            You WANT certain FONTS you think will look good with the graphics of the cover. Yes there are a lot of fonts online that you can choose from, but believe it or not – a good book cover designer can come up with a more unique better looking font for you.

Why?

û  Fonts are universal. Everyone use them and they are over-used at some point.

û  They can make or break a good front graphic.

û  It has something to do with colors, boldness, and opacity when the overall layout is concerned.

            You WANT a photo of a certain PERSONALITY or ICON. This just won't do. Do not put Brad Pitt's stolen shot on a romantic novel cover!

Why?

û  First, it is stolen.

û  Unless you as a book author was hired to write his Biography, you cannot take, copy, duplicate and publish his photos for commercial use.

            You WANT to leave EVERYTHING to the cover designer's RELIABLE HANDS. This is the opposite of being demanding, which won't work too.

Forcing a clueless cover designer to work on your book nor presenting her with dozen amazing ideas, with neither a wrap up or a book description will work.

Why?

û  They don't have time to read your novel.

û  They only need to know what the book is about, is it erotica, is it a teen romantic novel, or a kid's book.

û  They do not know what you want to convey to buyers. Your cover tells a story without trying too hard.

û  You have a totally different personality, unknowingly, it is evident in everything that you do.

û  Too many ideas create clutter and over-extended deadline.

            You WANT MODELS and certain poses with different angles. Of course you can, as long as you can pay for a photographer and a model.

Why?

ü  Photoshop can only do so much.

ü  Not everything can be fake on CGI and 3D.

ü  When the designer says it will look crippled – do not push it.

            You THINK the finished design is perfect, BUT you WANT to make sure it is. You need to get a survey first. It is normal to ask for opinion, but not to the extent of not finalizing due to being undecided.

Why?

ü  You don't need to please everyone. A writer writes without restrictions. That is one power you have as a book author.

ü  You want to launch the book on time.

            You LOVE the design so much and you will print out Promotion materials USING the book cover. That is really appreciated – that you love the cover design, however every designer have terms for the produce.

Why?

û  The design copyright may not be exclusively yours.

û  You may be on an expanded license only.

û  You have not made initial discussions of the terms of your designer's services.

You WANT it DONE IN 3 DAYS, or a week max. If this is want you want to happen, you should look for a cover designer who do not have clients at all.

Why?

ü  It is simply impossible.

ü  There are waiting lists, having your cover designed at an early time prior to your expected book launch is WISE.

ü  It takes trial and error, revisions or edits.

ü  There are certain process like initial design draft, final design draft, design for approval, design test and layout and then the final design for print.

On a Brighter Side...

You see, these are just the common stuff book cover designer deal with everyday. Overall, these requests and demands are instantaneous to a book author’s lack of trust. It helps if both collaborates with realistic expectations and respect in each others’ expertise.

Sometimes, when a book author is too involved, the whole process becomes more toxic and unsuccessful. For a starting book writer, find a cover designer who is twice as experienced. If you are already a renowned book author, surely you already have a goto book cover designer whom you started with for years.

It is a long term relationship. Find a book cover designer that you can work with in many years to come.

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