Collaborating With a Cover Designer

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Working with a cover designer can be a great experience. When I was traditionally published, this was part of the process that I never really got to be part of. The most involved I ever got was when I was shown the cover for approval.

As a self-published author, I really get the opportunity to discuss elements I'd like to see on my covers. I get the chance to develop new series cover ideas. And I get to make changes, if I need to.

A Tip for Making the Process Less Time-Consuming:

My cover designer is Karri Klawiter and she does a great job getting my cozy mystery covers just the way I want them. But she's very busy (her business books up many months in advance) so I want to make sure I don't waste her time or mine. I use a sort of email template to remind me of all the different components I need to include for her to be able to start work on the project. Since there are a lot of moving parts, it definitely helps for me to list them prior to reaching out.

In case it helps you to organize your thoughts and what you need from your designer, you can find my template here.

Here are a few important things to remember:

Do a little shopping around before you choose a designer. Find covers of books in your genre that you like and see if the author has thanked the cover designer on their site or in their acknowledgments (they certainly should have).  Diana Urban at BookBub wrote a post listing 12 questions to ask when hiring a designer.

We need to know what, legally, we can do with the images designers create.  The post “Do You Know Who Owns Your Book Cover” from attorney Helen Sedwick on the Book Designer site may be helpful.

Be accessible and responsive. This is another way to get the process finished faster. Check your emails frequently on your cover design day so you can respond to any questions.

If your designer is busy, remember to go ahead and get on his or her calendar again.

Since designers are freelancers, it's important to pay promptly. 

These are my tips for collaborating with a designer. Do you have any to add to the list?

Tips for Collaborating With a Cover Designer:
Click To Tweet

Photo on Visualhunt

The post Collaborating With a Cover Designer appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.