Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I Am Not an Artist--Why You Should Get Help With Your Cover Design

I have lots of ideas running around inside my head at any given moment. I've found that for me, the best way to express those ideas is to write about them. One skill I do not have is the ability to effectively express my ideas by drawing them.

So, when it comes to designing the cover for a book or short story of mine, I know that I need help. Luckily, my good pal Jeff Rodgers has known me long enough to understand my crazy ideas when I tell him what I want to do. He can also decipher my ridiculously bad sketches, and see through my four year old-style of art to the concept that I'm trying to get across in my cover.

Jeff has a fantastic eye for design, and he knows what to keep, what to get rid of, and how to bring a core concept about visually. Without his help, my covers would look like what you see to the right.

It's important to have a strong cover for your work, whether it be a short story or an epic novel. Readers will take a chance on a story just because they like the cover, and they may avoid a great story because of a lousy cover.

If you don't have the ability to create a great cover for your story, make sure to find someone who does, or you're selling your work short.

When it came to the design for Private Showing, my goal was to have a cover where the house was a character itself, and I wanted that house to create a sense of dread. Posters for movies like Amityville Horror and Hell Night were my inspiration.

 

I created the awful sketch above, talked about the movie posters and what I was looking for with Jeff, and he came back with the amazing cover you see below. Pretty awesome.




2 comments:

  1. I like the cover. He did a good job. I just finised a novel about a ninja clan and wanted an "anime" feel for the cover and thought that my cover artist and layout artist both did a fantastic job. Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Jeffrey! I checked out the cover art--cool stuff!

    ReplyDelete