I’m always a little nervous when I buy covers for my novels. I’m a writer, not a graphic designer, and so the selection of a visual element for my book is always a bit weird.
Add to that a very shoestring budget, and there’s a lot of pressure on the choice. It needs to look unquestionably sci-fi, ideally use the colour red very prominently, and tie into the story somehow if possible… and all this with the added wrinkle that it comes from a pre-generated book cover artist.
I have a guy I really like (hi James!), and so I’ve used his service basically exclusively since I started self-publishing my work. Considering the (rock-bottom) price of the covers, he actually does really good work… I think you can tell from the covers I have selected that they’re not really “professional” covers, but they’re pretty good, and since a professional cover costs about 20-30x as much as I can pay, I have few complaints.
This new cover I’m getting is more blue than usual, but the starship that features very prominently is pretty cool looking, and that’s important. Cool-looking spaceships above a cool-looking planet… a good combination!
Anyway, I just want to be ready for when the book goes live, and that’s one more thing off the list that I don’t need to worry about.
Now, if I can just get my English exam finished…
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!