This is part 4, and the last blog, on Designing a book cover that is unique for your book!
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| Official Website of The White Wolf Prophecy Trilogy |
Here are the links to the first 3 Parts of my 4 part blog
So far, I have discussed choosing a background photo, using photos for the concept design, and photo shoots for the book and website.
Next, it's time to finish the bookcover! It you have even a basic concept of Photo Shop, even you can do this.
The requirements for the photo. My publisher, Michael Kiser, ISOTUT Publisher Page of The White Wolf Prophecy , asked that I use these parameters.
I was to save my photos at 8.5 w x 11.5 h, and to save the final rendition at 600 dpi so the cover would look good.
Let's review:
1st - I chose the background photo.
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| Original Photo |
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| Part 1 - Splitting the Photo into two parts |
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| Part 2 - Splitting the Photo into two parts |
2nd - I chose my temporary concept character photos:
3rd - I put these on my first concept cover:
Now, it looked pretty good, and I submitted it to Mike. He liked it, but told me the problems with it.
- My characters faces would be carried over to the spine of the book
- Cordone (at the bottom) would also be cut off which means the wolf would be as well
But, at the time, it's all I had. It was time to go back to the drawing board.
I kept my background, of course, because I loved it. It is of Echo Lake near Idaho Springs, CO, USA. After the photo shoots, I had to decide which photo I wanted for my cover. I particularly liked the one that I originally chose with Cordone in the tank top, but I needed one in color. As for Kaitlan, I had all kinds of shots. But, which one to use?
For Kaitlan, I decided upon these for my choice
I thought all three of these by Erica Boniface were the ones most suitable. I altered them, took out the backgrounds, and placed them on the book until I decided upon the final one. And, this was the photo. Her face is just so beautiful!
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| Final Photo Chosen for Kaitlan |
Now, Cordone's was easiest, because I only had about 7 to choose from. This was my final decision for him.
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| Final Photo Chosen for Cordone |
Now, for what I considered the fun part! Well, at least I thought it was!
1st - I had to get rid of the backgrounds. Since I really didn't know how to do that, I had to learn on the job - and fast. But, I managed to figure it out, and here's how they looked. (I had forgotten to save Cordone without the background, so I cropped it out of the book so I had it).
Second, I was ready for the FINAL cover concept! This was the first one. I have to admit, I was PROUD of it! I didn't notice my mistake until I submitted the "final" cover.
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| Full Photo |
So, what was wrong? Michael sent me the final concept of the full cover photo, and that's when I saw my HUGE error! As I showed you above, this was the original background photo. Do you see what my mistake was?
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| Back was the front |
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| Front was the back |
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| Oops! |
If you do, congratulations! You figured out that I really goofed up! If you said that I had placed the characters on the BACK of the book, you would be right ! Look at my concept above, then look at the above split pics. Do you see what I did? I huffed. After hours upon hours of working on my cover, I had put my characters on the LEFT side of the photo which would be the BACK of the cover!
Not going to lie to you! I was above angry with myself for such a really, stupid mistake! I was so tired, I half-way considered just letting it go, but only for a split second. I knew that wouldn't fly, so I notified my publisher, and he was really kind about it. I backed off for a couple of hours before I began again.
I took my time to make sure I had it right. After I submitted my finished cover, I had to alter some things just a bit, but I finally had the photos right! I didn't notice the black line above until I was done, but I took care of that easily after the fact.
The final stage was to put the name of the book and my name on the front.
So, finally, I was finished! Yes, this time I really was!
My purpose in these 4 parts is to show that anyone can design their own book cover. It doesn't matter whether or not you do it yourself. For me, it was just as easy for me to make my own cover, and it saved me megabucks that I just couldn't afford. And, I know there are a lot of authors who are in my same boat. You just don't have all the money in the world.
Some would argue that your cover isn't important at all, while others argue that it is most important.
I argue that a nice cover will make a reader at least pic up a book to read the synopsis. Once a reader does this, then he/she will be more likely to buy that book. I also pay attention to the covers of best-sellers, and I made a discovery. In almost every case, their covers were consistent. They might change the colors, or the pictures, but the basic layout is the same. So, I also argue that if you have a series of books, you should make sure the cover is as consistent as your story. You don't have to make the same cover, but you can alter it with different photos, but in the same format.
Not only is my book 5-Stars at both Amazon & Barnes and Noble, but it is on the shelves at B&N in Rogers and Fayetteville, AR. I was totally overwhelmed when I found this out!
So, that concludes the 4 part series on making your own cover. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's time consuming. Yes, you can make errors. But, in the end, and the long run, the book will be completely your own creation!
And, isn't that what writing is all about? Making it unique and yours?
Thank you all for reading my blog on this subject. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!
Links to my book.
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