Getting a professional book cover is essential

I have had a really bad series of book covers for quite a while now. In fact, the cover for my oldest collection of short stories – The Uneven Passage of Time – was something I designed on the original iPad. The first one (I still actually have it)! I thought it looked ok for a few months and then eventually realised it was awful. So I did what all sensible people do – put it on a to-do list and ignore it for years.

A few years ago, I thought this awful cover situation needed to change (I was changing to-do apps and saw the reminder). Kindle Cover Creator has gotten a lot better over time and so I gave that a try. I improved it slightly, I think. It certainly looked better in a list because it was the correct size. But it was still shite.

Recently, I have been writing a lot on Fiverr. It is quite a fun site and you can set your prices. I wrote about it here. I had only worked as a seller, selling articles, but I made a few hundred dollars and thought I’d have a look to see what it is like as a buyer. There are quite a few book-cover designers on there and thought I would use some of my colossal profits on getting a cover done.

The cover I designed a couple of years ago is on the left. I don’t think it is too bad but it does look like I did it myself. I am creative with words and am quite good at drawing but when it comes to design then… well, it’s not a skill I possess.

Compare it to the top image though and it is clear which one was done by a pro. For not much money either, it was surprising. The cheapest Fiverr packages on offer were, you guessed it, $5. I could have gotten the top image for just $10 but paid $30 to get 3-D images and other goodies such as a dust jacket for publishing paper books. It took a couple of days and was totally worth it.

If you are an author that self-publishes, you will know the importance of a good cover. However, you might be a lazy bastard who idiotically doesn’t bother. I really suggest you do. Whether you like either of the covers here, I think the top one looks a hell of a lot better in the store. Feel free to search for it (and buy a copy) or have a look here.

Feel free to get in touch if you like the cover I got, on thewordofward@gmail.com and I’ll let you know the lady who did mine.