I need a custom ebook cover designer

[ramsey_isler]

Hi Gregg,

I've found from personal experience that the best way to find the right designer for you is to look at a LOT of covers other ebook writers have commissioned. One site that offers a useful tool for this is: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/...design-awards/

The Book Designer blog has a monthly eBook cover design awards, and the artists are listed. It takes a little time to filter through a couple years worth of work, but it's a great tool to discover a lot of designers.

I hope that helps,
-Ramsey

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Nancy. I checked out Najla's stuff. Very nice. But I couldn't find the cover and cover design section on Kindle Boards. (I even searched for e-book covers and it brought up individual items.) Could you be a little more specific in how I might find it?

Kindleboards Yellow Pages for Authors

(Please note that after March 7, Kindleboards.com will change to a new domain name.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by ramsey_isler

Hi Gregg,

I've found from personal experience that the best way to find the right designer for you is to look at a LOT of covers other ebook writers have commissioned. One site that offers a useful tool for this is: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/...design-awards/

The Book Designer blog has a monthly eBook cover design awards, and the artists are listed. It takes a little time to filter through a couple years worth of work, but it's a great tool to discover a lot of designers.

I hope that helps,
-Ramsey

Thanks Ramsey. That's a super helpful site. I came across it a long time ago and lost track of it. It condenses a lot of stuff, which is awesome. Appreciate it.
Gregg

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

Kindleboards Yellow Pages for Authors

(Please note that after March 7, Kindleboards.com will change to a new domain name.)

Thanks Nancy. I have no excuses for not finding it now!

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Nancy. I have no excuses for not finding it now!

Now, we are a creative bunch, I am sure we can come up with some.

[mrickert]

Gregg,

I see you are in suburbs of Chicago. I am too. I found a local young artist to do my book cover via Craig's List. I wanted hand drawn as well. She was able to meet with me, I bought lunch, discuss what I wanted, do two sketches and turn one into PDF. To see her style, her webpage with portfolio is http://lindseydarter.weebly.com/portfolio.html

[promo link removed - moderator]

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by mrickert

Gregg,

I see you are in suburbs of Chicago. I am too. I found a local young artist to do my book cover via Craig's List. I wanted hand drawn as well. She was able to meet with me, I bought lunch, discuss what I wanted, do two sketches and turn one into PDF. To see her style, her webpage with portfolio is http://lindseydarter.weebly.com/portfolio.html

[promo link removed - moderator]

Thanks mrickert. I checked out her stuff. Very talented. I don't know if I want to go with a drawing at this point, but I will keep her in mind. I appreciate you passing along the info.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Now, we are a creative bunch, I am sure we can come up with some.

I think I dismissed Deviant Art too quickly. I went back and looked at it again. There's a lot of great stuff there. But I was a little bit unsure of the whole thing because 99% of the stuff was not in ebook form. So if it's just a drawing, is there some way of transforming that into an ebook cover? And then I would have to get a graphic artist to do the graphics, right? I guess it seemed like more work than just hiring somebody to do a cover. Got any experience with that sort of thing?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

I think I dismissed Deviant Art too quickly. I went back and looked at it again. There's a lot of great stuff there. But I was a little bit unsure of the whole thing because 99% of the stuff was not in ebook form. So if it's just a drawing, is there some way of transforming that into an ebook cover? And then I would have to get a graphic artist to do the graphics, right? I guess it seemed like more work than just hiring somebody to do a cover. Got any experience with that sort of thing?

No, what you do there is find a person whose style you like and then contact them about the cover you want. I think they use the term "commission" over there.

I have not gone that route, but others here have and speak well of it.

[Nancy Fulda]

So if it's just a drawing, is there some way of transforming that into an ebook cover?

By 'drawing' do you mean a physical drawing, as in graphite or paint smeared across the pulped remains of heartlessly slaughtered trees? If so, then the answer to your question is, 'Yes, but you'll lose some image quality during the scanning process.'

If you're talking about an electronic image created in a graphics suite like Photoshop, then conversion to ebook format is as simple as changing the resolution and image dimensions. Any beginning artist can do it. Adding title and byline text is a bit trickier, at least if you want it to look good, but in my experience most artists who accept commissions do a very good job with the typography.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

No, what you do there is find a person whose style you like and then contact them about the cover you want. I think they use the term "commission" over there.

I have not gone that route, but others here have and speak well of it.

Makes sense. I just want it to be so cut and dried (and easy!). Thanks, man.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by B.K. Wright

I highly suggest Fiona Jayde at http://fionajaydemedia.com/. Her covers are the best in my opinion and right at the price you are wanting. She is very easy to work with and will do the very best to make you an outstanding cover. She also has some premade covers on her site, but custom made is what she prefers. She designs full time, so is available anytime.

Personally, I don't care for her covers. It's not the subject matter, it's just something just doesn't look right.

[Steven Lake]

If you're still looking for a top notch cover designer, I highly recommend Don Semora. His covers are top notch, plus he's done every single one of mine (save for the self cover I did for EF1) and I'll keep using him for all future books as well. He's also won numerous awards for his cover art too.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

If you're still looking for a top notch cover designer, I highly recommend Don Semora. His covers are top notch, plus he's done every single one of mine (save for the self cover I did for EF1) and I'll keep using him for all future books as well. He's also won numerous awards for his cover art too.

Thanks for passing that along, Steve. Appreciate it.

[sarahdalton]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

Check out the yellow pages at kindleboards.com. They've got an entire section on covers and cover design.

I've been really happy with Najla Qamber's photo manipulation work. I don't know whether she's still taking commissions, though.

I second this! Naj created the cover in my sig. She's amazing.

Her website is here: http://najlaqamberdesigns.com/