Kaylena Radcliff's Blog, page 9

Friday Frippery: Lousy Book Covers

Even though I’m going the traditional publishing route, I’ve been spending some time in indie author groups on Facebook for tips on marketing, social media use, comparing titles within my genre, and the like. Traditional publishing certainly covers the upfront cost that self-publishing presents, but unless you’ve signed with a big publishing house, you still have to do the hard work of building your platform on your own.

That said, one of things I’m thankful for is not having to design the cover of my book myself. It seems that among the many self-published books on the market…some covers don’t quite stack up.

[image error]What is that, Word Art for the title?

Now, I have seen FANTASTIC cover art for self-published books- and that tells me the author has put not only time and effort into making their work look great, but also in making the content worthwhile. Of course, sometimes the cover promises more than the book delivers, but it got me to pick it up. Sounds like successful marketing to me!

[image error]Great cover! …It’s dragon erotica, isn’t it? *googles description* Oh…oh no thank you

At any rate, if you need a good chuckle, check out Lousy Book Covers. I haven’t checked out all the content of the actual books, but some appear to be as lousy as their covers suggest. And while the admin of the site pokes fun at the worst of the worst, he also provides some helpful tips for aspiring self-published writers to consider before designing their covers.

Enjoy and happy Friday!

Did you self-publish? Have any tips, horror stories, or humorous anecdotes to share from your own cover art process? Comment below!