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Old 05-01-2010, 01:13 PM   #1
delphidb96
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So does anyone have sources for better cover art?

"Net Assets" is currently up at Amazon and Smashwords, and the cover's "okay", but it's *my* personal attempt using Photoshop CS4. And when we (me and Carl Bussjaeger) release it in trade paperback version we'd like to have a better piece of cover art. Plus, as Carl's already written 23 short stories, we've got an anthology in the works and *it* needs a cover - currently titled "The Anarchists".

Any help would be appreciated.

Derek
www.nearspacepress.com
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Old 05-02-2010, 01:55 AM   #2
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I have no clue about cover art, but you may want to try posting in the Writers' Corner for suggestions from the other authors.
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Old 05-02-2010, 01:53 PM   #3
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I've been able to accomplish decent results using photo source sites, which can be very reasonable in cost depending on what you are looking for. When combined with a little Photoshopping, they can make quite nice covers.

Of course, you might want to consider more abstract cover designs... sometimes, they can be much more effective than trying to strive for photo-realism. Try spending more time with Photoshop by itself... you might surprise yourself.
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Old 05-02-2010, 02:39 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Steve Jordan View Post
I've been able to accomplish decent results using photo source sites, which can be very reasonable in cost depending on what you are looking for. When combined with a little Photoshopping, they can make quite nice covers.

Of course, you might want to consider more abstract cover designs... sometimes, they can be much more effective than trying to strive for photo-realism. Try spending more time with Photoshop by itself... you might surprise yourself.
Yeah... Well, I've created a piece using Photoshop and here's what I *managed* to come up with...

Derek
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Old 05-02-2010, 06:24 PM   #5
Steven Lyle Jordan
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Originally Posted by delphidb96 View Post
Yeah... Well, I've created a piece using Photoshop and here's what I *managed* to come up with...
Right. I'm suggesting you're using the right tools, but need better quality images to work with.

Of course, sometimes you're not the best person to develop graphic concepts for your own novel. Have you considered hiring the work out? Or at least having someone help you with the basic concept before you put the art together? That might help.

Then there's surfing through sites like http://covers.fwis.com/, The Book Archive and others for inspiration.
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Old 05-02-2010, 07:14 PM   #6
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Go the vector route if you're going to do book covers as they are resolution independent and you can export any size to a raster format whenever you like. Rely on styled text more than photographic images as bitmap/raster images don't magnify well. Remember that if you're going to print, it's CMYK not RGB and you have to take that the colours you see on your screen aren't going to match the colours you will see on a printed cover (if you're using photoshop/illustrator this shouldn't be as much of a problem).

I personally prefer Inkscape as I'm running Linux and, well, it's free.

Here's the cover I've been working on today in Inkscape for my indie publishing venture just to give you a taste of what's possible with free tools. Remember that if you use vectors they are resolution independent, they will look just as good at postage stamp size all the way to billboard size.
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Old 05-03-2010, 07:41 AM   #7
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Cover Art

Thanks for the advice Dusty. I am a Linux groupie too, (still wet behind the ears though). I have just d/l Inkscape to have a play with it.
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