The Self-Publisher Book Cover Design Guide

The standard belief is your book cover draws the reader in and your back cover makes the sale. Most book sales, however, are not made in brick-and-mortar stores any more. But while the kind of cover you require for your book depends upon many factors (including “Where and to whom are you selling it?”), it’s still the best idea to put your best foot forward when it comes to cover design. Who doesn’t want to make a really good first impression?

Ideally, you want to appeal to everyone, but the reality is the self-published author may need to cut back on certain design aspects on a first title. Cover design is one you should not cutback on, however, if you can’t spend money, spend some time investigating the hows, whats and whys.

There is free cover design content to be found on the Internet. Before using it, take care to examine the rights being released in the download-able agreement. One such location is http://www.sxc.hu Most of the agreements clear the user for book cover use, but still take care to read the agreement.

If you decide to actually hire a designer, there are places you can arrange for lower cost cover artists. http://elance.com is a good source. While it’s best to pay the big bucks for great graphics, if you don’t have the big bucks, you’ll do what you can.

There are always templates available that can be used, along with royalty-free cover content, to create a good quality cover design. If you don’t have an artistic sense yourself, you may well have a friend who does. Be sure to observe the technical demands of any market you’re seeking to sell in. Whether you’re going to only sell online or target bookstores, you will have to address different requirements.

Book Cover Pro is a good example of book cover design software which might make for a good investment.

Looking to find the best deal on self-publishing, then visit http://newpublishblog.com to find the best advice on cover graphics design for you.