A self-publisher has to wear many hats in his or her role as project manager. If you don't have years of experience, or hire someone who does, it's easy to make mistakes. Problems can quickly affect your bottom line and as with any endeavor, the best way to avoid them is with education. The book cover design will be one of the jobs you'll be responsible for when publishing your own book. There are technical, aesthetic and legal aspects of the job you need to be aware of before you begin.
The first step is to ensure you're doing everything legally. That means licensing images for commercial purposes, if you don't own the copyrights to images you can use. If you're hiring a third party to design the cover for you, make sure that company is obtaining images and fonts legally and ask if there are any restrictions on usage. Simply because something is promoted as "royalty free" does not necessarily mean you can use it for your book project and it's important that you read the End User License Agreement (EULA) yourself.
A professional designer's knowledge can save you a lot of time and trouble, because he or she should be able to recommend image companies that are well respected and be familiar enough with them to know which allows images to be used on book covers. EULAs can be very long and sometimes complicated, and you don't want to spend days reading terms and conditions when you have other things you could be doing. Many designers will include the purchase of image licensing in their fees, but think carefully before you agree to this. The benefit of licensing images in your own name is that if you choose to go with another designer at some point, you will still be able to have access to and use the image.
There are also aesthetic elements to consider. You want your book cover to look professional and to appeal to its audience. Before you begin though, spend a few hours studying what's out there now. Visit the major publishers online and see what they're doing for books in your genre. Go to your local bookstore and get a feel for the type of paper and cover stock, laminations and colors that are being used. Are illustrations or photos more prominent? Are there many text-only covers, with the focus on the title and perhaps an abstract background?
You don't want your book cover image to look like it's from a stock art agency, so avoid over-used cliches like handshakes, globes, sunsets and business people with clothing and hair cuts that are obviously from the '90s.
You also want your book cover to look polished and there are many details that a professional designer will be familiar that can help you. Small things like curly quotes, as opposed to the straight quotes, which are actually the symbol for feet and inches; em dashes and en dashes instead of hyphens; even kerning (the spacing between the letters); and the avoidance of "visual vibration" (a combination of colors that makes your text almost impossible to read) are just a few of the elements that can, when properly done, that take a cover from adequate to great. They also help build a solid foundation of professionalism that will sell your book.
Then there are the technical aspects of book cover design. Measurement of the spine and bleed (the part that gets cut off once the book is printed and bound) is essential. Your barcode needs to scan properly, so the color coding needs to be correct. Most printers will not print "full saturation" black covers because they take longer to dry, can promote curling of the cover, and resist lamination, so you will need to be aware of how to mix your colors within the design program to produce the effect you want. A professional designer, particularly one who has worked in a print house or with many printers directly, will easily handle all of these details for you.
Whether you're working as a project manager and have hired a professional book cover designer, or you've decided to create your own, the best thing you can do for your book is research.
The designers at http://www.image101coverdesign.com/ have decades of book cover design experience and have worked with hundreds self-publishers and traditional publishers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cat_Wagner
By Cat Wagner
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