A few years ago I made this epic list of 300+ fonts to use for every genre. But the truth is, I rarely use those anymore, and some are even cringeworthy. So recently I spent a lot of time going through my collection and choosing NEW fantasy fonts I love. Keep in mind: most of these have decorative swirls or …
Read More »Search Results for: cover design
The best book cover designers for indie authors (that are massively undervalued)
Book cover design has changed a lot over the past few years, and I’ve seen a rise in high-quality covers for a much lower price than what was available in the past – however, some of the best designers aren’t well known, are booked out a year in advance, and only sell through Facebook (often a cover is bought minutes …
Read More »Crazy awesome flowchart to book cover design resources
Tari Akpodiete made this awesome chart of cover design resources. Click the image to view the PDF in Dropbox, then zoom in to see all the links and content. Follow Tari on Twitter SELL MORE BOOKS (without spam). I wrote a free book with all my best book launch and marketing tips - if your book isn't selling and …
Read More »Book cover design is NOT subjective
I see a lot of authors asking for feedback between a few cover design choices. This always has mixed results, since people on Facebook don’t know anything about book cover design, they probably aren’t your target market, they probably aren’t ideal readers of your genre, and they aren’t designers. So what inevitably happens is, authors think, “The results are pretty …
Read More »60 fonts you should never use on your book cover design
All rules are meant to be broken, and I won’t swear that I never use these fonts (I even included some in my genre-based lists of fonts you CAN use). But you can only break the rules if you learn them first. If you’re not a designer, steering clear of these overused (and gag-worthy) fonts is the safer bet. I …
Read More »Everything you need to know about book cover design in one graphic
I talk SO MUCH about book cover design, but I thought it would be easier to just see all the important stuff in one simple book cover design checklist. So before you publish (or if you see someone’s hideous cover and want to gentle encourage them to make a better one) please share and use this graphic. If you don’t …
Read More »Reflections on book reviews, cover design, and the inequality of publishing
I noticed something interesting in the book store last night. I’m pretty familiar with YA books, because that’s my genre and I stalk them on Amazon. So I know which ones have hundreds of 5 star reviews and which ones have under 100 reviews and a four star average. I’d been assuming that most people buy their books online, which …
Read More »How to find the best stock photography images for your cover design (and check that nobody has used them!)
UPDATE: I wrote a long post with best stock photos for book cover design HERE. This video was just to show you how to browse Google for “similar” images, and also checking to make sure that nobody else is already using them for a cover. It’s a great way to find new images, get book cover ideas, and check to …
Read More »Can Hugh Howey teach us anything about book cover design?
Today I saw that Hugh Howey had posted an article on book cover design. “That’s cool,” I think. Hugh Howey is one of the most successful self-publishing authors in the world. He started out with pretty unprofessional book covers that embody the design tastes of most indie authors (they focus on scenes and symbolism and details, instead of being simple …
Read More »A new reflection on image copyrights and legal issues with book cover design
Today I saw this post about Richard Prince taking other people’s Instagram photos without permission or warning and selling them in a New York art gallery for $90,000 each. It’s not his first offence: he’s previously taken photos from magazines or from other photographers and changed them just a little bit (like cutting out and swapping them figures). He’s been …
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