: Re: Are there any free sites for testing beta 'book cover' designs? The LONG road to publishing a novel is nearing an end. But writing a novel is actually only the beginning; editing, formatting,

@Kaufman555

Vote Up Vote Down

This is not particularly an answer but may be close.

The cover is indeed incredibly important. I have duplicates of a couple books, with different covers, and absolutely cringe when I see the bad cover, even though the text is identical to the other copy.

Here are some covers from the book Lolita, which has been redesigned any number of times. (Some covers in this google image search are other titles; most are Lolita.)

Compare any two of them, you probably have a different response between them.

To answer your question, no, I am not aware of a website that helps with cover design. You can use your beta readers of course, and there are online critique groups (I just joined a few and writers in general look to be a helpful group.)

Here is the advice I received at a seminar - Don't try to do it yourself, it will look amateurish. Hire someone reputable. I can dig up a name I was given, if you are interested, someone in Texas. Cost is about 1200 dollars. I haven't vetted it yet.

But additionally: (Not that you asked...) There is a debate about whether or not the inclusion of people in your cover image makes a difference. There is research to suggest that this may be the case. Here is a blog post to get you started, about what specific elements may affect the buyer on the other end. I generally don't like poorly drawn people (which is often what I see, the proportions are often off) but, the well-drawn suggestion of people attracts me to titles. (Faces are the worst, so hard to get right, and maybe at odds with the reader's imagination, plus ... diversity!).

I personally find the top right image above to be the most compelling one for Lolita. No faces, but clearly a person, a child, black and white, somehow a threatening feel.

This is not really an answer, certainly not to your question, but was more than a comment. I upvoted your question because although it isn't a writing question per se, it is part of the process of getting writing into the hands of readers.

(0)

Login to post a comment!