The Truth About Authors & Book Covers! 

Yikes. I'm a graphic & website designer, so this is terrifying to me. I need full control over everything visual to do with me. Self publishing just became more attractive. Then again, they could do something far better than I'd think of. At least I'm prepared now, Thank you!

I actually met an author (won't name for privacy reasons) who had published multiple books of hers over the years and one of her prettiest covers was one she really hated because it depected a swoony romance (you know the one, with the two faces of the main characters gazing at each other all seductively, but the colours and swirls made up for it), even though it was about an abusive relationship. It was very misleading and made reading the book really uncomfortable because there is a picture of lovestruck adults mooning after each other on the cover and you reading about how he pushed her down the stairs into a mirror... I know that the people of the industry may have a better idea on what would sell better but they should have taken the author's synopsis in consideration at the least...

This was, by far, the most gut-wrenching video of yours that I've watched. I keep thinking about the cover for the book I'm working on and I guess it will probably never come to fruition :(

My novel was inspired by a drawing I made so if I ever get published I will be very disappointed if parts of that drawing doesn't make it onto the cover. I'm not an amazing artist so I don't expect them to use the exact drawing (and I don't want that either), but I want the same feeling and story-telling. It makes me sad that I might not have that control.

I have to ask: do you like your own covers?

What if you are an artist and designer who also writes. Wouldn’t it be considered a package deal especially if my book is hopefully published with my illustrations? Especially if my work as an artist is intertwined with the novel? (In the same vein as Scott westerfeld in laviathan)

This is exactly why I don't want to publish traditionally. Yes, they're the experts, but it irks me to have pretty much no say in what my cover looks like. I don't think I could handle it.

Really interesting video! So true about marketing to the reader rather than pleasing the author. I do know some authors who have had a bit more say in their cover designs, but I think it really depends on the publishing team. If you're in the UK, Waterstones have the same power that Barnes and Noble do in the US when it comes to covers. I still can't decide if that's a good thing or not, but as a cover designer, I do find it a little unsettling that one of my designs could be rejected at such a late stage.

Nowadays the cover trend seems to be: A colour, big flashy/swirly/fancy text of some kind... maybe a medallion like type of artwork if any. OR: A photomanipulation of some kind. And that's soooo boring! I love painted artwork for books, especially for fantasy. I love it when the cover shows me something from the book. Characters, or a scene that's happening. I remember loving the pretty and cool covers of the old Shannara books, the interesting art of the Dark Elf Saga and Dragonlance books, Ravenloft's cool, dark images. I want that. I don't want some monochrome flat background with golden fancy text on. First off because today, it wouldn't stand out, secondly, it tells me NOTHING about the actual book. And I don't want a photomanipulation either, mainly because I write fantasy, and these things don't really exist to take photos of, and way too many seem to take poor and hastily done photomanips as acceptable! It makes me so angry, and they also look uninteresting to me for the most part.

With the story I’m writing, I have honestly never even thought about the cover. I was procrastinating it until the end. Maybe if it gets accepted, I’ll be able to see how I feel with the covers they generate

First of all, thanks for this channel! I've been picking up a few tips thus far and I hope they might be useful someday as an aspiring YA author who's looking to publish through traditional means. However, I find it somewhat disappointing that I (probably) won't have a whole lot of say on how the cover might look. At the same time, I'm actually rather curious about how the cover of my book might turn out. I'm sure, graphics-wise, it would be better than what I can come up with versus my rudimentary skills in Photoshop. Regardless, I guess I'll have to get used to it somehow. Side topic: Do authors have any say on the audiobook versions of their own novels? For instance, my WIP novel has a few characters with names that can be tricky to pronounce, and it would kind of irk me if I heard the names of my characters pronounced way off. Also, would I get to provide a preference for the narrator(s) of the book? There are a few narrators that I love listening to regardless of the genre as their voices can make a somewhat mediocre book sound like a hot deal!

Just wanted to drop a line to tell you I love your channel! Thanks so much for all your work and sharing so many invaluable insights into writing and publishing!

This is kinda of a relief as I was DREADING making a cover. I'm a good enough GIMP user, but I cannot do book covers, I'm just bad at it.

Hi! Could you possibly do a video about your editing process? Do you use beta readers? Love your videos :)

I believe it was one of the Earthsea books but in one of them all of the characters were described as being brown/non-white. But on the cover the characters were depicted as white. I think Le Guin spoke out about how upset she was at the cover doing this. And tbh that’s what I worry about. I’m currently writing a nonwhite man, and I don’t want my story to have a white man on the front, confusing my readers into thinking that they’re getting yet another historical British fantasy with white characters.

I have a question, should my book have a cover and ready to be published before I send it to literary agents.

I will debut this year, gradually quiet clad now that I chose self-publishing. And since I am also a digital artist, i am doing my own cover. I know, I know - everbody and everywhere that I've heard says that DON'T. Still am, sorry.

There was a kindle book I got a few years ago (not available on Amazon anymore) that was an erotica called Con Job, and the book said that the main character had curly blonde hair, but the woman on the cover was black.

I won't publish unless I get to decide on the cover. That's a 100% dealbreaker for me. I will happily never *get* published if it means I don't have to give up cover rights.

The idea of not having final say on the cover turns my stomach inside out.

i was wondering, how do u get beta readers?

I'm sorry but "your publisher is an expert" when I see every single YA fantasy cover have a woman in a ball gown running from or towards a castle is a bit of a stretch, Alexa.

Damn didn’t know that about Barnes and Noble

What if you have your own cover (either commissioned or drawn by yourself), do you think you'd have more leverage for at least the vibe of a cover?

You should make a vid about the 5 most powerful lit agents you've heard of... Idk if that would be spilling too much tea. Lmao

potentially stupid question but....what happens if the cover is blatantly false advertising? eg, showing a man and woman looking lovingly at each other despite it being f/f or m/m romance, or showing white people despite it being a tale where the main cast aren't? can you tell the publisher to change that so as to not deceive your potential readers?

I can think of one that was a great cover but didn’t represent the book inside. I don’t remember the name but it had an amazing dark haired cover model on it. Nothing sexy or overly sexual, just his face and fully clothed shoulders. The problem was that the book was an artistic license story of Alexander the Great and Roxanne. Being the “hero” of the book was blonde the cover was kind of a head scratcher. I kept waiting for this dark haired hero to show up before it became clear what the direction of the story was. Ironically, I loved the cover more than the book itself and tore the cover off to use as a book mark. 🤣

I would die of joy if Charlie bowater did my cover...

I feel like this is different if you are an illustrator or designer yourself! There were many books I read that we're illustrated by the author

Here's the reason I'm hesitant to go traditional publishing. I'm writing m/m romance that deals with men in the bear community. These men are husky, chubby, not muscular, and cuddly. The issue I have is that every m/m romance that states there is a 'bear' in it, is a muscle-bear. I'm concerned that the cover artist will use that as a guideline for what my character will look like on the cover. I feel that this disingenuous to my readers to see a half-naked muscle guy and those inside are soft and cuddly. That's just why I'm nervous about traditional publishing. If I have no say, then they have all the power. I'm okay with ideas, different covers, but not if it's something that is specifically against what I'm trying to say.

You’re so lucky with your gorgeous book cover

I'm an artist first and foremost, I sell some of my art online and even printed on things like bags and notebooks (and I feel fairly successful at it, I've sold hundreds of items) Do you think it could be possible if an artist were to get a traditional publisher, they could design their cover (or multiple covers, so there's more of a compromise)? I haven't written my book yet (i've just been worldbuilding and conlanging and working out details for at least 6 years - in fact, the languages came before the story) - my book will be fantasy, and I've done an incredible amount of worldbuilding and thought behind it all... I even got a degree in linguistics (during which I took multiple university art classes) to make my languages realistic and useable I think it would be really cool if I could put parts of my languages on the cover, and certain items or ideas I have I feel could work really well.... and if this could be possible, would it be a good idea to present cover ideas immediately after someone likes my draft (so they know) or wait until later? I'd be okay with a designed cover someone else does as long as it stays away from certain things, like I don't want any real person's face on the cover (I really want readers to be able to picture the characters themselves), stuff like that Since I am primarily an artist (that's how I earn money right now), I plan on making my art my focus for the next few years while I continue to flesh out my world and figure everything out I'm starting a youtube channel for my art (this is my personal account) and I'm planning on illustrating lots of pictures based on my conworld.... so things like making botanical watercolors for the plants, basicaly documenting everything the way things are documented for education - a picture and a written explanation So by the time I'm actually finishing writing my book, I'll have greatly improved on my art (a lot of it now is abstract/geometric or, currently, I'm working on portraits because I'm faceblind and it's something I've always wanted to do) and I'll have (hopefully) built some sort of online presence, at least enough that you could find me and my style online easily. This is just the biggest thing keeping me from 100% committing (at least just in my plans for the future) to traditional publishing... it won't be relevant for several years but it's still something I've thought about

I went from one side to another on this. Since I am a graphic designer and illustrator myself, I thought: why can't I use my own drawing? But at this point, I'm like: thank you for publishing my work: do your magic.

to self-publishing, I go!

If your name can be a considerable influence to a reader's impressions, a cover, the first presented visualisation of the book, must be a large influence too, and that logically could cause massive disconnect to the material. Yeah, they're experts, but don't you think that sort of know it all intrusion appears in their editing requests?

Thank You!!!!

did you like your covers?

Power of Veto? Do I sense a fellow big brother fan!!??

What pisses me off is this notion the publisher's marketers are infallible geniuses and the writer knows nothing about design or aesthetic and should shut up while they photoshop some generic actor that doesn't remotely look like the mc on the front with daggers and a cloak just because its a book about assassins. They are not infallible and make mistakes all the time. Writers should stop being cowards that let idiots tear their work apart then make more money off YOUR hard work than you ever will.

A *lot* of publishers are boring and unimaginative.

I am a freelance artist can't i suggest myself :'D

what if you describe to them the exact opposite of what you actually want it to look like! :D

You were saying people would ask if they can have a say in their cover. To put it in the contract. I say I’d do what ever they want I don’t want to mess up my chances of being sighed

Why wouldn't Barnes and Nobles like a cover?

every self published book ive seen LOOKS unprofessional so that's one reason i would go with trad. publishing

what? I have 100% control of my covers because I made it!

I don’t know why this would be a big deal. I have no vision whatsoever on how I would want my cover to look. I’m a writer so I would hope my publisher knows what they are doing when hiring the artist 😂 Edit: actually that’s not true. I know what I don’t want. There are three main characters and if they make it look like it’s a love triangle I’d be furious because it is definitely not.

Okay I’m not gonna publish my book if there’s gonna be two naked men on it (the typical gay romance covers)

Tell your cat that I said meow

"Publishers know what they're doing." *Slow clap* Good job on you... You one sided yourself.

So what you are saying is your publisher will F you regardless if you have cover aproval in our contract? Yeah, that's a resounding endorsement for traditional publishing. NOt.

Publishers are not experts. They have no idea wha they are doing. If the dydi, more than 10% of authors would ear out their advance. Get real. Stop shilling for the failures of traditional publishersers. then you say the designer has not read the book? really? How on earth does a publisher expect to marke ta owrk when the designer of the cover hasn't even read it? A good example of wy they fail and fail again.