How I ended up making my own book cover.
Hey Everyone : )
My very first blog entry is going to be about how I came to making my own book cover, the reasons for my decision and my experiences along the way.
First of all I'm a struggling writer as we all are and the thing struggling writer's lack the most is that fundamental thing called money. Yes, that green stuff that makes the world go round. Some people have lots of it, some people have very little and the rest have just enough to get by. On my journey to becoming a self-published author I knew early on I was going to need a cover and one that I really liked. Research brought me to the usual websites where I could bid on a book cover designer from as little as £5 to as much as £250 and as you can imagine the quality would be based on how much you're willing to spend. In other words I would have to lower my expectations to match my budget.
I'm a perfectionist and that just wasn't going to sit well with me - I'm a Virgo, blame the universe not me! I had in my mind what I wanted my book cover to look like and thinking about trying to convey that to a complete stranger plus paying this said stranger for something I might not even like in the end was complete madness to me.
This brought me to the conclusion I was going to have to make it myself - a daunting task indeed. Bearing in mind I'd never done anything like this before, no Photoshop experience at all or anything along those lines. But, how hard could it really be I asked myself?
So, if you're going to have to part with any money it will be for Photoshop, or if you know someone who has it already you can ask them nicely to use it. Then I had to teach myself how to use it by watching tutorial videos on Youtube, it is very time consuming I'll admit. I knew what I wanted to achieve and I had to watch a video for each move I wanted to make. What does this icon do? How do I change the colour? Why is that invisible? The smallest of things I had to look up, but after a few months I was getting the hang of it. I'm no expert, but I can handle myself when it comes to PS now which is something I thought I'd never be able to say.
If you can use a friend or family member's Photoshop and have the time to self-teach yourself on how to use it you have essentially created a professional looking book cover that looks exactly the way you imagined it would without spending a penny. Good news for many writer's out there who maybe don't have the money to spare on these sorts of things. If you do end up having to buy Photoshop I would say it's a worthy investment as you'll always need it for future book cover's and the creative power will always be in your hands.
I just wanted to share that little story because in my self-publishing journey I had to find ways of cutting corners and saving money at all times. I think tips and any little ways we can find to help one another is always a good thing.
I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas/Holiday : )
My very first blog entry is going to be about how I came to making my own book cover, the reasons for my decision and my experiences along the way.
First of all I'm a struggling writer as we all are and the thing struggling writer's lack the most is that fundamental thing called money. Yes, that green stuff that makes the world go round. Some people have lots of it, some people have very little and the rest have just enough to get by. On my journey to becoming a self-published author I knew early on I was going to need a cover and one that I really liked. Research brought me to the usual websites where I could bid on a book cover designer from as little as £5 to as much as £250 and as you can imagine the quality would be based on how much you're willing to spend. In other words I would have to lower my expectations to match my budget.
I'm a perfectionist and that just wasn't going to sit well with me - I'm a Virgo, blame the universe not me! I had in my mind what I wanted my book cover to look like and thinking about trying to convey that to a complete stranger plus paying this said stranger for something I might not even like in the end was complete madness to me.
This brought me to the conclusion I was going to have to make it myself - a daunting task indeed. Bearing in mind I'd never done anything like this before, no Photoshop experience at all or anything along those lines. But, how hard could it really be I asked myself?
So, if you're going to have to part with any money it will be for Photoshop, or if you know someone who has it already you can ask them nicely to use it. Then I had to teach myself how to use it by watching tutorial videos on Youtube, it is very time consuming I'll admit. I knew what I wanted to achieve and I had to watch a video for each move I wanted to make. What does this icon do? How do I change the colour? Why is that invisible? The smallest of things I had to look up, but after a few months I was getting the hang of it. I'm no expert, but I can handle myself when it comes to PS now which is something I thought I'd never be able to say.
If you can use a friend or family member's Photoshop and have the time to self-teach yourself on how to use it you have essentially created a professional looking book cover that looks exactly the way you imagined it would without spending a penny. Good news for many writer's out there who maybe don't have the money to spare on these sorts of things. If you do end up having to buy Photoshop I would say it's a worthy investment as you'll always need it for future book cover's and the creative power will always be in your hands.
I just wanted to share that little story because in my self-publishing journey I had to find ways of cutting corners and saving money at all times. I think tips and any little ways we can find to help one another is always a good thing.
I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas/Holiday : )
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