How to Get Custom Cover Art or Illustrations for Your Book?

Books are often overlooked in today’s society, and the way to make them stand out is by designing unique cover art. As an author, your cover is your marketing and it communicates the main idea of your book to readers. However, where do you get such cover art? In this article, I’ll explain step by step how to acquire such art.

Preliminary Understanding

Prior to making an approach towards an artist or a designer, always be sure to know exactly what you are looking for from the artist. Start by analyzing your book and decide what its major theme, genre and the target audience will be. Review some underlying cover designs within the same genre. Imagine how your book would look like, sketch a few ideas, or write a concept brief to help explain your vision to any professional artist you meet.

Research Artists and Designers

Now that you have a picture in your mind, you will need a painter who will help actualize the vision. A good starting point would be Behance, ArtStation, and DeviantArt, which have an extensive collection of combined art portfolios copies. You can also find some interesting art on other social media like Instagram or Pinterest. Always remember to check whether an artist’s works relate to your ideas.

Besides, try to network with other authors or join writing groups. Most authors are willing to provide contacts of illustrators they have worked with, which can be great leads.

Determine Your Financial Applicability

In terms of the development of the design that the author needs, the artist's experience, and their requirements, the price for the cover art would differ. Estimate the amount you would like to spend in relation to this as part of the launch of your book. Even though it is very appealing to pick the most affordable cover, keep in mind that other aspects may be more important in getting readers. If $200 seems reasonable, you should definitely prepare to spend upwards of $2000 for both the artist and the intricacy of the work involved.

Make Contact With The Artists

When you have narrowed down a few drafts, try contacting the artists and give a professional yet casual introduction. Be brief providing a distinction of your book in terms of its genre, who the readers will be, and what kind of artistic direction the book entails. If you have reference pictures or other covers that motivate the direction you envision, try to provide them too. Quite a few artists love to communicate where their instructions come from the client clearly.

Assessing the Portfolios and Proposals

As the artists start submitting their inquiry to you, it is important to assess their portfolios and proposals keenly. Think about the following issues:

Style: Do their past pieces of work complement your style?

Experience: Have they designed covers for these types of genres?

Feedback: Check out his/her client’s reviews on their level of professionalism and heeding to timelines set.

Collaborate and Provide Feedback

Thereafter, once an artist has been designated, it all starts to take place. Many of the artists will first come up with rough sketches of the book illustrations according to the brief you have given them, at this point in time, it’s alright to direct them. Always mention the highlights of what you liked in the quote and what you want to be altered. The purpose is to improve on the initial piece until it encapsulates what you want the scroll to be about.

Finalize and Format

When the art has been approved, ensure that the files are sent in their respective dimensions, both for the satisfaction of print and the installation aspects. Primarily, JPEGs and Tiffs are most appropriate. Also, make sure that the unequivocal clarification of usage rights is done so as to enhance the potential of the artwork being applied in different geographical backgrounds while marketing the book

Conclusion

Creating custom cover art should not be stressful for anyone. It is often the result of proper artist comprehension, artist search, and appropriate dialogue at every stage, which is more than worth the efforts as you get a beautiful design that reflects the heart of the story while captivating readers. Spending money on good graphics is an important step in the publishing process – one that may have great significance on the performance of your book. So enjoy designing!