Hello readers. As we continue the series, this blog I’m going to share my experience of getting a cover for A Forever Summer, and why I decided to hire a designer rather than do it on my own. Now, I’m not against creating your own cover. We all have our own opinions about D.I. Y or hire a professional designer. There are pros and cons for both sides. Some people wanted to create their own to save money and some rather spend money to get a cover made. I'm not here to argue if you should do one or another. What matters you decide what's best for you and your story.
Let me get straight with you. This is not my first time publishing a book! I’ll explain that story in next week’s blog since this is about a book cover. I didn’t publish a physical copy but an ebook. Short stories.
Rolled back in 2018 to 2020, I published three ebooks, one is about fairies and horses, second a retelling of Anastasia and last a biblical historical fiction. There were three illustrated covers I drew. I love drawing, especially people. I’ll leave three covers here for you to see. I had fun creating these covers. Sadly, none of these are longer available on any retailers.
I have always wanted a photograph cover. A character from a book. I have several books and remember telling my Mom I would like to have a cover like that. Well, that dream came true.
There were many changes in this cover for A Forever Summer. Before I even hired a cover designer, I tried to create my own graphic cover. Because of my lack of graphic skills, I didn’t feel confident. There were things I couldn’t do and limited to certain things with fonts and photographs. Many photographs and fonts cost money because they are copyrighted. I would have to buy them. There is a saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and that’s not true. People do judge by covers. That's one reason why I decided to search for cover designer. I went on Facebook and asked a group of writers for recommendations for cover designers.
After looking at the recommendations, I contacted Kayelle Allen on Fiverr. She has done covers for two authors I know on Instagram. She had excellent reviews and ratings. Soon enough, she began my cover. I’ll leave a couple pictures of the process.
If you asked me where I got inspiration for this cover, then I would say Becky Wade. Why? It started with her series called A Misty River Romance. They had a pretty colors scheme, swoon font, and sparkle covers. Look on the left, you will see her covers. Now you know where I got an idea.
This the final version of A Forever Summer's cover.
I can’t thank the cover designer enough for the beautiful cover, and close friends giving honest input and feedback during the process.