I'd be curious how many 'do-overs' a designer does in order to satisfy lower cost covers vs. high cost covers. I'm sure designers do both, I mean why turn away business if it take less time for a low cost cover if you have the time. Plus, that's less hours - less money vs. more hours - more money. It probably evens out on the hourly revenue board anyway.
But, I'm wondering, Do the higher end projects find more 'nit-pick' clients or generally the same in the sense of 'do it again', but 'this way' more often???
I have not paid $800 for any covers, but I mostly work with designers with above average prices for my genre.
I usually go to a designer because I like their style. So I want something with their style. But I am many books into my career. I already have a visual brand and when commission new covers, I need that same but different for both the genre/niche and my brand.
It's a tall order.
I prefer to discuss concepts before we go into design. I don't want to describe the cover and have the designer execute the PhotoShop but I don't want to have no idea what they'll craft either.
I like to talk branding and market, so we're on the same page before we commit to a design. I want to bring my specific knowledge of my brand and the market to the designer's broader knowledge. (Designers vary in how well they know the market and how concerned they are with the market. And in how much they want to innovate or take risks. Try to get a feel for this by looking at their portfolio or talking to them about the design).
IME, most designers aren't big talkers. They speak in images. Authors speak in words. If we learn to bridge the gap, we'll all have perfect covers. Until then...
Usually, if I communicate what I want, I get a mockup that is nearly finished. I might need small tweaks (for some reason, designers struggle with my author name size/placement more often than not, even when I tell them I'm religious about it), but it's usually pretty fast.
Sometimes, later into a series, it takes more effort to make the cover work, because we've used all the easy ideas. Same but different gets harder the more same you have.
If I'm asking for tons of changes, it's usually because the designer isn't really doing what I've asked. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's them. Maybe it's communication. In any case, the mockup doesn't meet my specs, and the changes don't address the problem. Either they fix the problem and create a new one or they make a small tweak instead of a big change.
I find this happens more often with cheaper designers. But it also happens more often with difficult books (mix of tones, long titles, I've already done the "obvious" covers for the book, the angle for the book isn't as clear, etc.).
Then, there are times where I hire a designer to explore concepts, because I know I don't know what I want. In that case, I expect to make a lot of changes and go through a lot of drafts, and I let the designer know.
Rebranding a cover is a normal part of the process. Even if the original cover was great and 100% on market, it will age. Authors redo covers to keep up with trends and to bring in a different audience.
I might switch out a really great cover because too many people have seen it. Or because I appealed to all the fans of couples and now I need to grab the fans of shirtless dudes (objects, girls, shirt wearing dudes, etc.). I may have to do this soon and I really don't want to say goodbye to the current covers. I love them! But this is a business and I have to do what makes money.
