One unexpected side effect of becoming an indie author, is discovering the fact that I enjoy designing book covers. In fact, scrub that, I don't just enjoy designing covers, I love it!
I first started designing covers out of financial necessity. Have I mentioned that I'm poor? There are lots of amazing cover designers out there and some that are enormously good value, but still, I have to make savings where I can and I do enjoy to do it myself. KDP does give writers access to stock images and though the options are limited, I still think that you can come up with some interesting covers for no pounds and no pence.
So here are the latest examples of my cover designs. The first three are for books already released and the last two are for books that I'm currently writing. Here's the link for "The Nemo & Co" series so far...if you're interested?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091QCR6XW?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tkin&binding=kindle_edition
As you can see with "The Nemo & Co" series, I've tried to create a theme through the different covers. Each one features a different version of the mysterious suited figure, who is supposed to represent the secretive, rogue corporation known as "Nemo and Co."
I did do a wee bit of research concerning what attracts people to books visually. It was really interesting to see how readers have different expectations for different genres. Nearly all genres feature figures on the front, us humans are narcissistic creatures aren't we?
Also, brightly coloured covers tend to be more attractive to readers than black and white ones, though this doesn't always follow. I found when I altered "The Vanishing Office" cover from yellow to green, more people downloaded it than before. So, I do think there's an awful lot of truth to the statement that an eye catching cover can make a vast difference to the fortunes of your books.
One last thought on cover design. A very clever designer and author, Morgan Wright, animates the cover of your book for a very reasonable price. So far, I've only had "The Vanishing Office" cover animated, but am hoping to have the others done too in time. She does a brilliant job and here's what she was able to do with my cover...It's great isn't it?
Here's Morgan's site if you'd like to have one of your own covers animated. I highly recommend her!
https://www.morganwrightbooks.com/
Tatty b for now!
Can’t wait for the two in progress! Love all your covers - and even more what lies between them!