|
Back when MoeJoe was around we used to discuss cover art pretty frequently. I'm to the point now where I would have rec'd sxc.hu and dafont.com for the go-to site for anything you need to create the cover of your dreams, but with adventures in stock photography, you can really see how the same PD/royalty free image gets burned out over the years.
When in doubt, follow the KISS algorithm. If you're nice and make friends on deviantARt you may be able to find someone you can commission cheap to design a cover for you (think $50/cheap), but that's getting a little bit harder to get lucky with as the ebook revolution takes the interwebs by storm. The suggestions to check out what everyone else does right are excellent. If you've got a lot of patience, you may be able to learn vector art and use inkscape to design your own images, if not, there's always the gimp, which I've used a lot lately and still haven't figured out.
Most of my mockup covers are done with stock backgrounds of scenery and stuff, getting the characters and anything that isn't a pretty mountain or desert sunset are really hard for me at the moment. =)
Wikimedia Commons is also your friend for links to useful stuff.
|