Should I commission Character Portraits for an information post about my current project?

[Trisha]

Hello! I’m a writer who has a project coming out in a couple months, but I need an opinion on something.

So, I’m currently working a thing that I will post to social media (I.e. Twitter) talking about my current project. It’ll have a small summary of the project like you would see on the back of a book, a few things to hype up the reader to get them to buy it, the inspirations for said project, and what this post is about: descriptions for a few major characters.

Now here’s my situation; along with descriptions of the characters, I also thought about putting some portraits that I will have commissioned of said characters. Does this sound like a good idea?

Something to note that is the characters are fully described in the project. From their skin, hair, eyes, all that fun stuff. That being said, should I still go for the portraits or just spend the money on getting a cover?

[Helen]

I have a project coming out soon as well. I need a painted cover - what I want doesn't exist in pre-mades - so I'll definitely be spending a bit on that.

It sounds like the summary you mention above is a bit like a chapbook (a several-chapters extract from the book) - but you could use the same book cover, perhaps presented in a different way. I'm not sure that commissioned portraits of the characters is a worthwhile spend for an unknown writer - I'm guessing at that, though. It would definitely be worth getting quotes for, but I think you'll find it's too expensive for your initial publication.

I am going to do something similar, but do the artwork myself, for my book trailer, which is basically the first (space battle) scene with voice actors. After all, I know what the characters look like, and I'm a passable artist. I did originally think I'd commission the scenes/characters but circumstances have forced me to economise. But I will definitely get a good cover - it's essential! Good luck with your project, and I hope this is helpful for you. <3

[John]

One of the ways to go would be to reach out to an Arts College and see if any students would be interested in creating these images for you as part of their coursework or for their portfolio. We did this for an event and the posters the students designed were far better than what we would have demanded from a professional - at a fraction of the price.

[Trisha]

I should probably clarify as well that the price of the portraits doesn’t matter, I just wanna know if getting the portraits is worthwhile or just skip it.