I’ll only mention this once here (lest I be accused of having a “negative business model”), but I thought you’d like to know that I’ve opened a site vending pre-made ebook covers for $30. It’s Thrifty Book Covers, it’s awesome, and I’d appreciate any signal boost.
I would put a comment here about how you, Nathan, are going to ruin Lousy Book Covers with this endeavor.
However, as you have proven so absolutely thoroughly, there will never be a dearth of misguided self-publishers who – along with the overly optimistic belief that they can write, are also quite over-charitable when it comes to assessing their own “abilities” to design a book cover.
Don’t blame the self-publishers alone; there are plenty of vanity presses and scam presses that charge big bux for lousy book covers too.
Vanity presses always puzzle me more.
I can understand trying to do something yourself and just making something awful. Everyone has done that at least once (But many are smart enough to not submit them to the public like that)
But how does anyone fall for those Vanity Press scams? Didn’t they even click a second link in their google search results after they typed in “How to publish a book”? Searched for ‘Author House customer reviews’ before giving them $2000? I just searched them and have approximately $140K in CLAIMED LOSSES from authors showing.
It is genuinely baffling.
It is not puzzling or baffling to me. Some people are so desperate to fulfill their dream of seeing their work in print (or e-book) they cannot think straight. Some cannot take the ego bruise of complying with the demands of commercial publishing or they are writing in a narrow niche like local civil war skirmishes or personal family history with no commercial appeal. The vanity and scam presses lie in wait like drug dealers, pimps, or cardsharps offering instant gratification and ego boost–for a price at a cost beyond the price.
Good points. One born every minute after all.
I just cannot fathom myself doing that! 🙂
Well, gosh, Nathan. What an inspired idea. How’d you ever come up with THAT? 😉