A type of watermark, I believe. Stolen pic. I know I’ve seen that on pics I’ve browsed on the web but don’t recall who uses that.
The title has lots of promise (the words, not the font/layout)’, but this cover is so dull, generic, and inappropriate for the genre, I think all the demons deserted it. P.U.
I will put it this way. I am designing a colouring book right now, there are a total of 561 words in it. I did not read it.
I would think that reading an entire novel to design the cover is asking a lot from a designer. I haven’t designed a lot of covers that are not restaurant menus to be honest, but still here is what I know. I’m interested in the actual statistical answer myself actually.
Possibly the very high end custom painted covers, or really famous authors can get that, but it is doubtful. So much of what is in the book just isn’t important to the cover.
If the title has something to play with it can be easy to go with that. The blurb is often enough in those cases, or preferably the synopsis.
Often a publishing company, or the author, will have a general idea for a cover and provide that. (They often look like the covers here I suspect) Sometimes they will have a specific scene that they want illustrated, or just a particular character or object. Then a description of that is provided.
If no one that has worked on the book prior to the designer has any idea what is supposed to be on the cover, then maybe that book shouldn’t have one. 🙂
For my first book, I gave the designer the blurb, some background, and several ideas I thought might work for a cover. The idea he chose was a scene from the book. I sent him the text of that scene and other pertinent details. He made a rough draft, showed it to me, and asked for feedback. He altered the cover based on my feedback, and after my approval, he finalized it.
For my second book, I bought a pre-made cover that I felt best evoked the spirit of the work.
Another “make your own cover on CreateSpace” debacle. What’s with the plus signs?
Rank: #7,526,189
Guess no one else could tell, either.
A type of watermark, I believe. Stolen pic. I know I’ve seen that on pics I’ve browsed on the web but don’t recall who uses that.
The title has lots of promise (the words, not the font/layout)’, but this cover is so dull, generic, and inappropriate for the genre, I think all the demons deserted it. P.U.
It’s a satellite photo of a hurricane. The “plus signs” are there for measurment purposes to scale distances in the photo.
I thought it might be something like that. not really a great choice for a book cover, huh? Especially one that is not about weather!
False flag, too, no?
This might work for a book of very abstract poetry. Still boring though. How do you make a hurricane boring?
You show it from the wrong side.
I thought it was a book about sharknado or that super twister movie coming out soon. Vampires? Really?
As a thumbnail it becomes totally indistinguishable.
Im curious about professional cover design; do the designers read the book or just the jacket text?
I will put it this way. I am designing a colouring book right now, there are a total of 561 words in it. I did not read it.
I would think that reading an entire novel to design the cover is asking a lot from a designer. I haven’t designed a lot of covers that are not restaurant menus to be honest, but still here is what I know. I’m interested in the actual statistical answer myself actually.
Possibly the very high end custom painted covers, or really famous authors can get that, but it is doubtful. So much of what is in the book just isn’t important to the cover.
If the title has something to play with it can be easy to go with that. The blurb is often enough in those cases, or preferably the synopsis.
Often a publishing company, or the author, will have a general idea for a cover and provide that. (They often look like the covers here I suspect) Sometimes they will have a specific scene that they want illustrated, or just a particular character or object. Then a description of that is provided.
If no one that has worked on the book prior to the designer has any idea what is supposed to be on the cover, then maybe that book shouldn’t have one. 🙂
I think it depends on the situation.
For my first book, I gave the designer the blurb, some background, and several ideas I thought might work for a cover. The idea he chose was a scene from the book. I sent him the text of that scene and other pertinent details. He made a rough draft, showed it to me, and asked for feedback. He altered the cover based on my feedback, and after my approval, he finalized it.
For my second book, I bought a pre-made cover that I felt best evoked the spirit of the work.