How do you go about finding a Cover/Cover-Artist

[The Deposed King]

Hey there guys.  This is your very favorite and most despised The Deposed King.

Got my first book completed and so I'm dipping my toes into the water and looking for resources for finding a good cover artist.  I already looked up Deviant Art.  The one artist I saw was with a three month waiting list and it cost anything from $150 up to $250 for a single figure with an additional 50 bucks for every extra figure.

Is this industry standard.  Are there other places to go or people you recommend.  Right now I'm kind of on the fence.  I'm in Cebu Philippines for this month and maybe the next, not sure.  The local talent I've seen here isn't great and its harder to find.  However for $100-$150 I could hire a person for a month to just sit and draw until I found something I liked.

Any advice anyone?  Obviously I'm on a bit of a budget and i'm looking to go the amazon route so assuming I'm going to make 30$ a month or less i don't want to blow a whole years worth of income.  On the other hand a cover can be the the visual cue that makes or breaks you.  So for later on where do I go, what's the standard and my options.


thanks,

The Deposed King

[ccalvert]

You could try spec design sites like 99designs.com.  I'd also recommend asking around among writers who live in areas with a lower cost of living.

[LizW65]

Well, as I understand it, with conventional publishing the author has no control over the cover art, but this sounds as though it might be self-published, so a couple of cheaper options would be:
(a) finding some appropriate clip art or public domain art
(b) getting some friends or family together and doing a photo shoot, which you can then futz with in Photoshop to your hearts' content.

[Darkshore]

I know of a few traditionally published authors that used Wikimedia Commons and a Picture Editor for some E-book works with great results.

[Snowleopard]

Speaking as someone who's artistic and someone who's bought books just for their covers.
Where ever and how ever you get your art work - make sure it's as good as you can get.
I've seen covers on books I liked that just didn't whelm me at all.

[meg_evonne]

Did you try asking Prescillie?

Another site would be SCWBI.org. This is the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators. There are tons of folks with examples of their work to check out. I know they ar children's illustrators, but no artist is an island and they all have bills to pay. You might find a style you like and contact them about your work.

Also, I think that small press that i posted calling for submissions in Dec on another thread had artist connections. Those might be more pricey than negotiating with one of those on SCWBI.org.

Good luck and travel safe!

[The Deposed King]

Alright!  Well I've already put an ad in mynimo for the local talent.  But that might fall through.  If it does its on to plan B.

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support.  I might go with one of the things you guys are suggesting.  Let me just try this one first.


thanks,

The Deposed King

[Lord Rae]

Although it might have some overlap with Deviant Art you could try the Zbrush forums. I used to be a heavy contributer over there but I don't have the artistic talent most of the people over there seem to possess. If you don't like things that look too digital it might not be the place for you. But if you like some of the art you could always chat with the artists through the forums. You might even get someone to do something for free. But the level of talent over there is staggering. 

Follow through here and check the community tab or just look at the gallery...the site is for users of the program but anyone can cruise through.

[KevinEvans]

To the best of my understanding, the cover is make or break for any book. The last bulletin had an article the put the cover second only to recommendation by a friend as the reason a book was purchased. This may be even more important for an E-only publication.

My Suggestion is to hit the convention circuit, and talk to the artist guests. Over the years I have met many of the top cover artists, they have all been very approachable and willing to talk to convention attendees. As to cost, Darrel K. Sweet had $15,000.00 listed for the original for one of the Wheel of Time books. Three hundred to a thousand dollars would not be unusual.

Judging a cover is a fine art. If you can, you should attend a convention that Toni Weisskopf is attending. She has a slide show that shows the original art for the cover and then she shows the modifications made to make it a good book cover.

Lastly, go look at this site; it is amazing how many of them I have read... http://punkrockpenguin.net/waste/amuse/badcovers/

Regards,
Kevin

[FlaggerX]

The price your talking about is actually pretty darned cheap for good art.  I have a friend who charges far more for what is really a good deal of work, if done properly.

Most publishers select the cover artist for you. If you're self publishing, that's up to you but if you want a good cover you'll have to pay for it.