Here is a recent cover I did for “Robots of Ashbylan” by Thomas A. Wilson.
Its a wonderful look at the potential of the current world and the mistakes we may make with AI.
At it’s core it’s a story about rebirth and how often the paths we take are not always chosen by us, but how we can take hope from the fact that with the right help and support we can move onto a better path.
I really enjoyed working on this and I finally got the opportunity to adapt a study I did in watercolour way back in 1988 (it was a scene from a path I would walk down every day in Heaton park when I walked my dog).
This was me trying to work out how we depict the monsters of the Cosmic Horror genre? What images have you seen and who were those talented artists that created them? Let me know.
Just realised I’ve never published these covers I did for the excellent E.M. Foner’s Living series. It’s a gently comedy sci-fi series that studies the relationships between humans and aliens living under the shadow of vast a.i systems. Finished The cover for “Double living” just this week. Check out all his books here: https://www.amazon.com./E-M-Foner/e/B00JQLOP8M/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk
Of course I’m also feeling the influences of Chris Foss, Chris Archilleos, Peter Elson, Roger Dean, Rodney Mathews and even the great Frank Frazetta, but hopefully I ended up with something that is essentially “me”
Give your book a great and professional first impression for only $249.99! The price includes customized typography on the front, back, and spine. Contact me now to buy and complete your next masterpiece! Ask to Join my mailing list to get an additional 10% off and early access to these images. Email : keithdraws@gmail.com
Savannah Cordova is responsible for Content Marketing at Reedsy where she is focused on helping Authors. She has contributed posts about writing and publishing to Writers Helping Writers, DIY MFA, IndieReader, and many more sites in the industry.
Congrats! You’ve finished your book, polished the writing, and you’re ready to get it into the hands of your adoring readers.
There’s just one last obstacle standing in your way — creating the perfect cover to, quite literally, bind it all together.
In the self-publishing world, you’ll often hear how important it is to hire a professional editor. Today, however, I’m here to convince you that hiring a professional cover designer is just as crucial to your book’s success, if not more so! Without further ado, here are three reasons why you shouldn’t tackle your cover on your own.
1. People will judge your book by its cover
The cliché advice to not judge a book by its cover is rarely followed by readers. And to be honest, can you blame them? If a book’s cover looks sloppy and rushed, it’s human nature to assume the same about the contents within. Luckily, the reverse is also true: a clean, professional book cover will draw people in and give them an instantly positive impression of your writing.
So how do you come up with just the right cover for readers to judge? Though you, the author, know your book best, you should ultimately leave the execution to your designer. By all means, work collaboratively and give them some ideas for your final cover — if your talents stretch to art and photography, you could even provide some possible images for them to include — but it’s best to let a professional handle most of the details.
Remember that your cover should signal the genre of your book and offer some additional hints as to what it’s about, through everything from beautiful artwork to catchy taglines. Of course, as an author, you’ll likely be familiar with the general look of covers in your genre, but it’s the job of a professional cover artist to incorporate specific trends that will actually sell your book. They’ll know how to include the essential elements of your story on the cover without making it look too crowded, striking the perfect balance of genre-indicative and attractive.
2. Ebook covers need to stand out even more
With platforms like Amazon KDP, it’s easier than ever nowadays to write and publish an ebook. But as exciting as this is for self-publishing authors, it also means that competition is on the rise, with estimates stating that up to one million books are being self-published in the US each year.
As a result, you’ll need a cover that really stands out, even to people scrolling through pages upon pages of options. This cover doesn’t necessarily have to be brightly colored or experimental, but some eye-catching elements are vital to catching readers’ attention — especially if you’re writing in an extra-saturated genre like romance or thriller.
In terms of ebook cover effectiveness, you should also keep in mind that thumbnail images shown online are much smaller than the covers you’d see when browsing your local bookstore. This means your cover needs to work not just as a full-size image, but also in thumbnail form! Even if they can’t tell exactly what’s on the cover, people should be able to read the title and register the aesthetic at a glance.
A professional cover designer will understand how to do all this while sticking to the trends within your genre, and will be well-versed in the rules and guidelines of all the various self-publishing platforms to ensure you have no trouble when uploading.
3. Your cover is your number-one marketing tool
A strong cover will also do wonders for your marketing campaigns — it doesn’t matter how great the copy in your listing is if the book itself looks unappealing. You want something that will halt even the most dedicated Instagrammer scrolling through their neverending feed and intrigue them enough to find out more.
A professional cover designer is your best bet for achieving this. After all, you wouldn’t expect a director to design billboards and posters to advertise their movies; why should this be any different for authors? From nailing the color and composition of your cover to designing suitable ads for the social platforms of your choice (this will cost extra, but it’s worth it), a designer can make your marketing journey go much more smoothly.
With all that in mind, hiring a cover designer ought to be a no-brainer when it comes to publishing your book. Whatever you decide to do, hopefully this post has given you a bit more insight re: just how much work goes into a strong cover — and even if you don’t hire a designer, remember to get friends’ feedback (and encouragement!) so at least you won’t be going it alone.
I was thinking about what it must have been like for the people on watch to spot an army approaching. It’s called “STANDING WATCH”
Purchase for $149.99 and get a further 10% discount by joining my mailing list! Email me at keithdraws@gmail.com when you order and just let me know what typography you need on this and I’ll supply that too. If you want some customization such as adding dragons or giants or something else just let me know and I’ll see what can be done.
As usual the work of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee, Brian Froud, Rodney Mathews, and Peter A. Jones filled my mind and I hope I channeled it into something that was more me than anything else. Of course LOTR and Game of Thrones were in my in my mind too just because of the great imagry.
Please like and share on social media.. Every little helps.
I’m selling this as a ready made wrap around cover. This time I ended up creating an image of Faeries and a Shellycoat (the creature in the water) meeting with an Elf in a forest.
Purchase for $149.99 and get a further 10% discount by joining my mailing list!
Email me at keithdraws@gmail.com when you order and just let me know what typography you need on this and I’ll supply that too.
As usual the work of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee, Brian Froud, Rodney Mathews, and Peter A. Jones filled my mind and I hope I channeled it into something that was more me than anything else. Of course LOTR and Game of Thrones were in my in my mind too just because of the great imagry.
Please like and share on social media.. Every little helps.
I decided to make this a ready made cover. You can purchase for $149.99 and get a further 10% discount by joining my mailing list!When you order, just let me know what typography you need on this and I’ll supply that too. email or message me-.
As usual the work of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee, Brian Froud, Rodney Mathews, and Peter A. Jones filled my mind and I hope I channeled it into something that was more me than anything else. Of course LOTR and Game of Thrones were in my in my mind too just because of the great imagry.
Please like and share on social media.. Every little helps.
It’s loosely based on Corum’s return to castle Erorn the book “the Knight of the Swords” by Michael Moorcock. The image was purchased by Chris Northern for an upcoming book cover.
The Burning Castle. Cover 1027 (sold)
As usual the work of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee, Brian Froud, Rodney Mathews, and Peter A. Jones filled my mind and I hope I channelled it into something that was more me than anything else.
Please like and share on social media.. Every little helps.
This art has been sold. More will be available soon.
I’ll also put any text in the style you require on the cover. Simply Email me at keithdraws@gmail.com with the information you would like to see on the cover and any text including title, author/band name and any additional text.
Cover 1025
As usual the work of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee, Brian Froud, Rodney Mathews, and Peter A. Jones filled my mind and I hope I channelled it into something that was more me than anything else.
Please like and share on social media.. Every little helps.