Welcome Cover Artist Carey Abbott

Yesterday, Troll-y Yours, Book 2 in the Centaur series, was published and is now available on Amazon, Smashwords, and soon Barnes & Noble.

It got me thinking about my cover...and how HOT it is. So I asked my cover artist Carey Abbott to stop by.

Take it away, Carey!

Sheri was kind enough to ask me to be on her blog. Thanks Sheri, it is really nice to be here. I hope I can help new authors understand the process of the cover art business.  I recently had the pleasure of making two of Sheri’s covers. One for Troll-y Yours (above) and Portals of Oz (below). 

Both turned out amazing and hopefully Sheri will be kind enough to share them with you today. 

But I’m going to take a slightly different approach. Originally, I was going to walk you through my process but I didn’t think that would really be much help for the newbie author having a cover made for the first time. You can get all that info in a few clicks on my website. The real question is what to expect as a first timer.

I will walk you through the four steps to making a beautiful cover.

1)    The Vision

Writers, cover artists need a very detailed account of your story. Giving your cover artist as much info as possible makes the process easier on you both. I don’t believe you can give too much info. The more info, the easier it is to create the perfect cover.

As a cover artist, we--in most cases--are working blind, and it is up to the author to fill in the blanks. Without author provided details, we don’t know where to start.

Don’t expect your cover artist to read your book to make your cover. If I read every book I created covers for, I would be doing more reading than cover art. It would just be way too time consuming.

So, it is left up to the author to provide all the details and it is up to the cover artist to listen very carefully.

But the author also needs to be flexible and take the cover artist’s opinions seriously. We aren't trying to blow your vision to bit and pieces. But for the most part, the cover artist knows what will and won’t work.  Through trial and error we have learned the good, the bad, and the ugly.

       2) Pictures

The right picture can make or break a cover. The best pictures have bright eye catching colors. This is what you want. Make the reader stop and take notice.

But there is a fine line between eye catching and just too busy.

Simple and straight to the point is the best plan of action.

I don’t recommend black and white pictures because they tend to fade out when in thumbnail.

Remember: you don’t need every aspect of your story to be present on your cover. That’s what we have blurbs for.

My opinion on pictures is to pick one aspect of your story that is important and stick with that.

3)    Font

Your font needs to be clean and readable. Not just in full size, but in thumbnail as well.

Sometimes bold block letters are the best option, but it all depends on the cover. I have used all types of fonts. But listen to your cover artist if they tell you the fonts just aren't working.  Most cover artists know the font needs to be readable. Remember, we have the author’s best interest at heart while making a cover.

I just can’t stress how important readable font in smaller size is.

4)    Final Product

The author should love their cover and be jumping for joy when it is done. If not, then something along the way went wrong.

If you feel the cover needs to be tweaked, then tell your cover artist. This is the cover that will garner you sales or get you passed over.

A good cover artist will listen to the author and make the changes they are asked to, or explain why they think the changes won’t work. But even when an author has asked me to make changes, I usually just show them and we both have peace of mind.

Remember: the cover artist works for you. You should be treated with respect and kindness during the cover making process.

     5)  Final Thought

You really have to trust your cover artist to give you a beautiful cover that reflects the story you have poured blood, sweat and tears into.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I will try to answer any questions anyone might have.

Below you will find links to check out my work, both pre-made and personalized.  I make covers for all genres. From horror to children’s books.

Pre-Made Covers (Right now I’m having a huge sale on all Pre-Mades.)

http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com/p/pre-made-covers-for-sale.html

Sold Cover Art

http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com/p/cover-art.html

Thanks Sheri for having me! It was a blast!