Gonna recommend myself here:sparklingbean said:
I know exactly how you feel. It's more important that you get published than that you put out a perfect work. Go ahead and write an imperfect first draft, with minimal (if any) editing. This will help you get it done faster, and to get it done. Then you need to clean up the spelling and grammar, after which you can submit to critique groups to improve it.sparklingbean said:
I felt this way when I found out my first book was about to be published (epubbed with a small press). Weirdly, as soon as I decided I would publish under a pen name my fear evaporated. It was like all I was really scared of was seeing the name "Carol Green" on the cover. Once it was changed to "Dara England" I was fine with it. A pen name sorta helps me seperate my work from myself. Dara is much braver than Carol.sparklingbean said:
It varies, of course, but at its most basic it boils down to good design. Genre has a small influence on it too. The images, the colors, the text all have to fit together well in a good composition that gives the person looking at it an accurate and enticing glimpse (from afar as well as close up) of what's inside the cover.sparklingbean said:
I know what you mean about the freedom of a pen name. I find I am two different people - and the author Grace Elliot is less worried about what people might think. LOL>Dara England said:I decided I would publish under a pen name my fear evaporated. It was like all I was really scared of was seeing the name "Carol Green" on the cover. Once it was changed to "Dara England" I was fine with it. A pen name sorta helps me seperate my work from myself. Dara is much braver than Carol.
One thing about indie publishing is the benefit of being scared but still having the ability to put your book out there for the world to see. No one hears you scream in private if it doesn't sell.sparklingbean said:
Well, my book cover was done by my publisher (and friend - full disclosure!) but he now offers a flat-fee service for writers going the indie route (also a package which takes a manuscript all the way to the Kindle Store).sparklingbean said:
That's a good question. I don't really have an answer because I don't know - I think there are many out there who do know the answer and have made careers out of it, But I'm not one of them
- I think some people just have a natural eye for it...
One thing - people are used to traditionally published book covers which are designed to make you pick up a physical book from a table in a book store - an ebook cover needs to be eye-catching (and, hopefully, tell&sell the story) even when it's thumbnail size (or more challenging still, black and white on a Kindle!).RonnellDPorter said:That's a good question. I don't really have an answer because I don't know - I think there are many out there who do know the answer and have made careers out of it, But I'm not one of them
Another thing that I encounter a lot is that authors want to clutter their eBook covers with paperback text. For example, "book one of the so-and-so series," or place reviews on them. No one is going to see them when they're that small, and on a kindle screen it just looks tacky (IMHO.) Many forget that the ebook cover will rarely be seen without some product description - ne'er doubt the power of the product description to handle your bits of information!Angelina Cabo said:
