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Kindle covers

by Pserah
39 replies
Hi,

I'm a newbie to the forum. I have been working on an ebook that I want to put on Amazon Kindle but noticed that I don't have a cover. Would I need to hire a graphic designer to design one or is there a piece of software out there that creates them on the fly? And how would that work anyway?

Thanks,
Pserah
#covers #kindle
  • Profile picture of the author Pserah
    Thank you so much! Exactly what I was looking for...
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    • Profile picture of the author aprilm
      I also use someone on Fiverr. There are a couple of really good sellers. Just search by "top rated"
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    There isn't any real tool to designing an awesome ecover, they all have a question mark.

    I prefer to use adobe shop, once you know the basics of designing the rest will be based on your imagination.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Go look on Fiverr and see what they have to offer. There are people on there who do excellent work.
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  • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
    Pserah,

    Based on my experience outsourcing 20+ covers to Fiverr people, you should think clearly first about what you want on the cover. Provide examples of what you like and don't like. If you can suggest the theme of the graphic image you'd like, that tends to work better, too.

    A good designer will take your suggestions and punch them up to look better than you could have sketched yourself.

    Good luck,
    Marcia Yudkin
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    • Profile picture of the author shermancox
      Marciayudkin is right...find a good fiverr designer....then go find some covers that you like. Give the designer the image that you have the rights to...and then tell them to follow the style of your examples....

      I usually find a public domain image or from one of those stock image places. I then find a designer with good feedback...

      before I gave them examples, I always ended up with a pretty poor looking cover...after giving examples, I always ended up with something acceptable..sometimes the covers ended up looking almost as good as the examples....
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  • Profile picture of the author Hrvoje Livnjak
    use the pro. who understands the market and see your needs upfront. that's not the way too go if you're on a budget.. but if you are serious in business take someone who will design it for you with the high standard and will convert more then those fiver 5 bucks gigs..
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  • Profile picture of the author kevinfar
    I would definitely say that fiverr is the way to go. Find someone who has a lot of positive reviews and be specific about what you need.
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  • Profile picture of the author intergen
    Use fiverr to have them create 5 or 6 different covers. Get them up on Amazon and see which one gets you the most sales. Once you figure it out - kill the other covers and have a pro do a kick-a** cover of the winner.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco P
    Look on fiverr for a Top rated e book cover creator,you will be amazed of the quiality of work you can hire in this website!
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Moore
    Fiverr.com has some great people who could design one for you for $5
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Kindle covers are just plain pics - they aren't the artsy pics of actual books that you see on salespages.

    I'm no artist - I just used a combo of OO draw and Irfanview - then sent it around to people I knew would tell me the truth about it. I figured if everyone hated it, I could pass it on to someone else to do.

    One thing I did first though is look up kindles in my niche and see what had already been done. Then I did something different to make it stand out from the rest.
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    Sal
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I'll go against the grain here. I would never use fiverr. Why? Because it's highly unlikely your designer is going to purchase the rights to images they'll use. That leaves you with the possibility of having a pirated image and a lot of liability.
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    • Profile picture of the author shermancox
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      I'll go against the grain here. I would never use fiverr. Why? Because it's highly unlikely your designer is going to purchase the rights to images they'll use. That leaves you with the possibility of having a pirated image and a lot of liability.
      you purchase the image and supply it to them...
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by shermancox View Post

        you purchase the image and supply it to them...
        Everyone doing this, please raise your hand.

        Hmmm... I only see a couple of hands.
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        • Profile picture of the author shermancox
          Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

          Everyone doing this, please raise your hand.

          Hmmm... I only see a couple of hands.
          lol....well I do..it only adds a buck to the cost...

          If you use fiverr you better do this!

          Incidentally...it usually looks like crap unless I tell them exactly what I am looking for....
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    • Profile picture of the author alpinewood
      Banned
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      I'll go against the grain here. I would never use fiverr. Why? Because it's highly unlikely your designer is going to purchase the rights to images they'll use. That leaves you with the possibility of having a pirated image and a lot of liability.
      Very good point. Never risk using a shady designer only to discover that the holder of the copyright images is filing a legal complaint against your product, it's happened quite a number of times before
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    • Profile picture of the author shermancox
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      I'll go against the grain here. I would never use fiverr. Why? Because it's highly unlikely your designer is going to purchase the rights to images they'll use. That leaves you with the possibility of having a pirated image and a lot of liability.
      you purchase the image and supply it to them...I also doubt you can get a decent picture and a design for 5 bucks....But when I supply the image and give them the five or six covers to mimic it looks pretty close...now I probably could have done it myself, but it never looks as good....

      I have also used odesk as well...in every case I always supply the image that the cover is based on for this very reason...
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    I would also NEVER ever use Fiverr for a book cover.

    Think about this...a book cover can make or break your book and you want to trust that to someone in who knows where who is going to give you a "custom" cover for only $5?

    Secondly, You can pretty much expect that any image a Fiverr person uses for your cover is a copyright violation which could end up costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

    Fiverr may be good for some things but definitely not things like book covers, images, video, music, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I'm wondering why people don't just take their own pictures - at least in the States almost everyone has access to a camera.
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    Sal
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelplies
    Elance is great to find the best designers. But if you're on a budget and just looking for a simple cover just use Fiverr
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  • Profile picture of the author Alessandro Zamboni
    Hi Pserah, you can look on Fiverr for Kindle cover creators, otherwise if you have a graphical software like Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or similar you can design it on your own.

    Just use these sizes:

    Amazon: 600x800 pixel
    Amazon Catalog: 1562x2500 pixel

    These value are what I use for publishing people ebooks, and consider first value as width and second as height!

    See you soon,
    Alessandro Zamboni
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  • Profile picture of the author Kinaesthic
    Didn't know Fiverr was so popular, might take a look into that.

    However; The hire section on this forum seems alright?
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  • Profile picture of the author DerekMadden
    I would HIGHLY advise you to not go cheap with a book cover.

    book covers are simply the number one sell-point.

    A crappy cover will simply not convert. You need something that will stand out,
    you can try Fiverr, but you need to know what you want going into it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Fiverr, Fiverr, Fiverr.

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    • Profile picture of the author fayepeanut
      Hi Pserah, I have created many high quality ebook covers. I actually just posted to the Warrior ads for my service. I'm looking for a few people to leave reviews of my service. I will do a custom cover for you for $10, and it will be MILES better than anything you will find on Fiverr. Please email me at miranda at cpaz dot net if you're interested. Thanks!

      Miranda
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  • Profile picture of the author SurrealPSD
    Horrified by the number of people willing to represent their business and their book with a five dollar design. Indicative of the book's contents perhaps?
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    • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
      Originally Posted by SurrealPSD View Post

      Horrified by the number of people willing to represent their business and their book with a five dollar design. Indicative of the book's contents perhaps?
      In Kindle, people are forgiving; they have to look somewhat professional but really not that much work needed. Have a look at this:



      It has been among the best sellers in fantasy (free) for a couple of months now. It is just an image with some words on top. it looks good enough and not much work there.

      Here you have the best seller in fiction (all fiction)



      mmmmmm

      Sandra
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      • Profile picture of the author SurrealPSD
        Originally Posted by Sandra Martinez View Post

        In Kindle, people are forgiving; they have to look somewhat professional but really not that much work needed.
        mmmmmm

        Sandra

        Interesting points Sandra.. So you're saying go with the lowest possible quality because people will tolerate it? In regards to your examples.. Ruth Nestvold and Janet Evanovich have been writing a long time, and have established fan bases - brand equity is their sales drive.

        It's a matter of conversion.. In fiction, the cover is paramount and can literally mean the difference between ten or a thousand sales.

        Ive been working for a top tier publisher over the last two years and know this to be the case. With new authors, who don't have a name to accelerate sales, this factor is even more relevant.

        Something to think about for new authors
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        • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
          Originally Posted by SurrealPSD View Post

          Interesting points Sandra.. So you're saying go with the lowest possible quality because people will tolerate it? In regards to your examples.. Ruth Nestvold and Janet Evanovich have been writing a long time, and have established fan bases - brand equity is their sales drive.

          It's a matter of conversion.. In fiction, the cover is paramount and can literally mean the difference between ten or a thousand sales.

          Ive been working for a top tier publisher over the last two years and know this to be the case. With new authors, who don't have a name to accelerate sales, this factor is even more relevant.

          Something to think about for new authors
          thanks for the information. I was convinced that promotion was far more important than the cover. But I guess everything helps.

          I´m getting into fiction now actually. Funny how people can publish a book a month, I have been writing this for a year. Quality DOES matter to me.
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          • Profile picture of the author SurrealPSD
            Originally Posted by Sandra Martinez View Post

            thanks for the information. I was convinced that promotion was far more important that the cover. But I guess everything helps.

            I´m getting into fiction now actually. Funny how people can publish a book a month, I have been writing this for a year. Quality DOES matter to me.
            It's crazy how much influence the cover can have on a release, especially within the fiction market. Much respect Sandra, I hope your book does well for you
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            • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
              Originally Posted by SurrealPSD View Post

              It's crazy how much influence the cover can have on a release, especially within the fiction market. Much respect Sandra, I hope your book does well for you
              Thanks

              It is an interesting challenge. Specially because I am not a native English speaker.

              Non fiction is easy if you know what you are talking about; but I had never written fiction in English before, only in Spanish.

              Last year I got a book from a friend; she published through the big channels. I found myself proofreading and editing it; it made me realize that I was ready... (call it fool´s optimism )
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              • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
                Originally Posted by Sandra Martinez View Post

                Thanks

                It is an interesting challenge. Specially because I am not a native English speaker.

                Non fiction is easy if you know what you are talking about; but I had never written fiction in English before, only in Spanish.

                Last year I got a book from a friend; she published through the big channels. I found myself proofreading and editing it; it made me realize that I was ready... (call it fool´s optimism )
                Go for it, Sandra. A couple of months ago I met a gal on Twitter, an author from Brazil. I checked out her blog. Her native language is Portuguese. Her blog posts were excellent. She also had a couple of sample chapters up from a fiction title she'd published. Great stuff.

                You might not be a native English writer but you're still far better at it than most native English writers.
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                • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
                  Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

                  Go for it, Sandra. A couple of months ago I met a gal on Twitter, an author from Brazil. I checked out her blog. Her native language is Portuguese. Her blog posts were excellent. She also had a couple of sample chapters up from a fiction title she'd published. Great stuff.

                  You might not be a native English writer but you're still far better at it than most native English writers.
                  Thanks! On it!

                  re: language... I do ok, I guess... if it not were for those prepositional verbs... rrrrrrr
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Kindle covers have to accomplish two things. They have to look really good and author name and book title also have to be readable in the teeny tiny thumbnail view. Achieving both of those goals isn't always the easiest thing to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Caden
    You can create your own book covers and save some money. Go to Laughing Bird Software on Facebook to get a free copy. It's For Logos, but can be used to create book covers. Look for authors who are into book marketing and get on their list. You can attend some really great webinars. I got on one that showed you how to create professional book covers with this software.
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