The Top 3 Cover Design Mistakes: Part 3

In this last post in this series I’ll cover the third cover design mistake often made by self-publishers.

Of all the cover design mistakes, this one is probably the most damaging to your sales goals. Cover Design Mistake #3: Designing a cover with a poor illustration. This mistake happens when an author hires an illustrator before hiring a cover designer.

Sometimes a well-meaning author will provided illustrations created by a beginner, or drawings created by a friend who may like to draw or paint, but who isn’t a professional illustrator and who doesn’t know how to prepare artwork for printing. This creates the unwelcome effect of tying your designer’s hands, because once you purchase an illustration, we can’t do very much for you…we’re stuck.

Your cover designer is trained as an “art director” and as a “creative director.” This mean that we can brainstorm with you to decide what to put on the cover, what style of art is most appropriate, what colors to use, etc. Then, and only then should the search for an illustrator begin. We can also help you evaluate the skills of various illustrators to determine which one can best bring the cover to life.

See the self-published book below and the bestseller beside it. See the difference?

Hiring a book designer first, and then hiring an illustrator, will result in a much better book cover than choosing an illustrator without the benefit of proper pre-planning.

Is your cover free of the Top 10 Cover Design Mistakes? you Find out at http://covers.1106design.com. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design