59. Unlocking the art of book cover design: Expert insights w/ Katia Balab

Have you contemplated designing your own book cover, or wondered what to expect if you hire a professional? 

Joining today’s conversation is Katia Balab, who has joined the MiblArt family, a book cover design company that's based in the Ukraine. They have been helping self-publishing authors and publishers create book covers that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also an effective marketing tool.

Thanks to Katia’s expertise, you’ll learn about the science behind effective cover design practices, how to foster a good working relationship with your designer, and a plethora of online resources to help you tackle as much as you want.

Topics discussed in this episode: 

• Why book cover design matters
• Pros & cons of designing your own cover
• Establishing expectations with your cover designer
• Creating your creative brief
• Communicating effectively with your designer
• Understanding bleed size and trim
• Science behind a good cover
• Typography, don’t underestimate it
• The good and bad of AI images
• Getting feedback
• Online tools and resources
• Special offer for PWW listeners

Connect with Katia: 

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiabalab/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katia.bookcoverdesign/ 
• Website: https://miblart.com/?ref=nmy2owv 

Resources discussed during the show: 

• Learning resources: Udemy, Skillshare, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, YouTube tutorials like Bring Your Own Laptop
• Software: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Book Brush, and Affinity Publisher, Canva
• Stock images: Adobe Stock, Deposit Photos, Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay
• Fonts: 1001 Free Fonts, Font Squirrel, DaFont, Google Fonts, Font Gig
• Discount code for MiblArt: PWW10

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Join our Patreon community and access our vibrant Discord writing group to get writing prompts, participate in sprints, download free resources, and more: 
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Transcript

Erin: 0:06

Hey, thank you for joining me for another episode of Parents Who Write. Today, I am joined by Katia Balab, who has joined the MiblArt family, a book cover design company that's based in the Ukraine. They have been helping self-publishing authors and publishers to create book covers that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also a highly effective marketing tool. Katia, so much. Katia, thank you so much for joining us on the show today. I really appreciate you coming and talking to us about book design covers because as much as we always say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, let's face it, we pretty much all do judge a book by its cover. So cover art is very important.

Katia: 0:53

Hi Erin, thank you so much for inviting me for this episode and I'm excited to share about book cover design industry with you.

Erin: 1:01

Yes, because, right? Everybody judges a book by its cover.

Katia: 1:08

Right, so, uh, book covers are, um, important because it's the first point of contact between the reader and the author. Authors use book covers as a visual instrument to tell what their book is about and a good book cover has different purposes. Some of them are grabbing a reader's attention. Pick their interest and making them pick up the book to read, uh, to read more about it and eventually buy it. Hopefully, uh, did you know that it takes about eight seconds to make the first impression? So it really matters. And a well designed book cover can do this job successfully because we are humans. We consume with our eyes. So we are naturally attracted to interesting design choices or. Pleasant colors. So a book cover can either break or make sales. Um, also book cover is an important marketing tool and it's a great opportunity for authors to make a lot of different content with it. And it can, it can greatly enhance your marketing campaign. Authors use their book covers for doing like. cover reveals, posting them on social media, sending, like, doing the whole newsletter campaign, also printing out covers for, like, flyers or posters on their signing events, and some authors even decide on their whole branding solely according to the cover design. So it's important that your cover is on point, it represents the genre well, your, the content of the book, it sends a clear message to your target reader, so The book will, uh, stand out among the sea of competitors and you can find your target reader easily.

Erin: 2:59

No, that's 100 percent true. My coworker and I talk about this a lot and she said that the three top things that get somebody to decide to actually purchase a book is the cover, the title, and the back blurb. But the very first thing you're going to see is that book cover. So, yes. Eight seconds! That's terrifying. Thank you for letting me know that. Eight seconds, folks. So, um, what are the pros and cons of designing your own book cover versus hiring a professional?

Katia: 3:38

So let's start with some, um, pros about designing it yourself. If you are like if publishing books is your long term project and you are like kind of a one man show that wants to control every single stage on publishing the book. Then designing a book cover can be an essential skill to have, because as I said, you'll be totally in control of your product. And of course it will take investments in time, uh, to, uh, study graphic design, for example, or study how to make book covers. It will take, um, time and money. But, but like, if it's a long term project, then it's, um, yeah, it's, you will be in control of everything in the

Erin: 4:23

learn some, you can also have fun learning some new skills. I mean, I've worked with graphic design artists for years because I also worked as an editor for magazines and I picked up a lot of knowledge from them about Silhouetting and colors and font type and spacing, so I loved learning all of that, but I didn't actually go get my degree in graphic design like they did, so, but it, I do, I have found that to be another fun skill to have, just not one that I'm ready to make my own book cover. I'm, that is not me, but Hmm. Ha

Katia: 5:03

that's a great point, because I was actually going to say that, I myself, started learning graphic design when it was COVID lockdown. I was so bored at home, so I started just learn like, watching some courses, participating in Photoshop battles. I even like Photoshop myself as Naruto, just for fun. So it gives so many creative freedom. And then when you learn graphic design, you can also start designing marketing materials for your campaigns, or you can design, provide, start providing services to your friends or other people, other authors. So that's great skill to have. And also, no one knows what you like. No one knows, um, what you want better than you do. So, if the author, for some reason, struggles in explaining their idea, or create, uh, completing creative brief to give this work to somebody else, then it might be a great idea just to play around and see how it looks. Maybe, I don't know, you can get it at the first try or something, like, it's always fun to try.

Erin: 6:09

I've tried, and then I'm like, something looks wrong. And I'm like, the shadows are off, or the color's off, or it looks fake somehow, and I can't quite finger put my finger on it, and that's where it starts to drive me crazy.

Katia: 6:21

Yeah, that's actually, I think, the sign that you might want to hire a professional. I know I sounded it, I made it sound really fun and easy, but it's not easy at all. For example, if the author doesn't have any graphic design experience, a book cover is not something you can do in one sitting. You really need to spend years to master graphic design, because it's the whole field. To learn, people get degrees in graphic design. You need to learn typography, color palette, psychology behind color, colors, composition and layout, design for print, design for branding, so many things. So. If you are publishing the book, like, maybe one time or something, it's a good idea to think, like, do you want to invest so much money in studying something you will not need in the future, or it's easier for you to spend some, um, sorry, save some Time for writing and other important things and outsourced this job to a designer. And, uh, by the way, not every graphic designer can design a successful book cover because, uh, designing book covers is just a niche of a graphic design. So when you're hiring a professional designer, you're not only paying for their skills in design, you're also paying for their expertise in knowing the market. Like, what works best for the genre, what doesn't work, what are some trends, genre standards. Designers do an extensive research on everything. So it's really normal that person cannot be a professional in every single field. Uh, so it makes sense to hire a designer for that point. And also. Um, authors, some authors might not know what they want, or they might not know what direction they want to go. So... When they're lacking graphic design experience and experience in like, uh, researching the market, not knowing your target audience, it can cause an absolute disaster in ideas. And even if they try to do something themselves, how do they know it's good? How do they know it's, they're not being biased to their work. So when you hire a book cover designer, you'll get some, uh, fresh perspective, some fresh ideas and perspective or professional that will tell you what kind of cover will can actually sell your

Erin: 8:51

That is so true. It's very valuable feedback because you spend all this time working on creating your book baby. The last thing you wanna do is put a terrible cover on it that people are like, oh, like that took two seconds to put together. I'm gonna judge the writing based on the cover too. And so, yeah, I, I hear you on that one. Yeah. So, what tips can you offer to help writers come up with cover ideas, either from their own designs or when presenting those ideas to a professional graphic designer?

Katia: 9:26

Sure. So, uh, first thing first, you need to go to such platforms as Amazon or other publishing platforms and go to your genre and category. See what covers are best selling there. You need to analyze why. Why do they look appealing? Why are they there? Why do they sell the book? You can ask such questions as Are there any patterns between them? What colors are used? Is the composition interesting? What kind of typography do authors have on these covers? So, so by considering these things you can analyze and see what kind of design choices you can bring to your cover. For example, if you write Um, I don't know, let's say, uh, thriller novels, you might see on, uh, those platforms that, uh, those thriller covers, they use moody, dark colors and have some, um, suspenseful imagery, like silhouettes or shadows. I'm not saying copy that, exactly the same idea, because it might, yeah, like you should avoid cliches for sure, but just see, uh, what kind of elements you can incorporate, not just separate elements. Um, then, then you can, uh, start working on creating a reference list and you should put not only the covers you like, but also covers you do not like. And don't forget to write notes why you like a certain color or like, or what do you like in a certain cover or what you don't like. Um, if it helps, you can, um, also like, Aside from the reference list, you can do some mood boards with the pictures you like, and pictures that you think represent your story well, like the theme and the tone. Uh, you can browse, I don't know, Google Images or Pinterest to get extra ideas and, uh, put them in a nice collage. It will be a nice, um, addition to present to your cover designer.

Erin: 11:30

Something I want to get in there is, it's also incredibly important to do that research and identify what other books in your genre, uh, the look of those other books. It's important to do that research to figure out what books within your genre look like, what elements they have similarly, because You actually don't want your book to be completely different. People think, Oh, I want my book to be different and I want it to stand out. But the problem is that when you make your look completely different, people think it's in the wrong genre. They're thinking, Oh, this, this isn't what I'm looking for. I don't want this. If I'm looking for a fantasy book, the last thing I want is something that looks more like a romance or a thriller. And I'm like, Oh, that's, that's, that's in the wrong category. And you're just going to skip over it. So. You do want your book to stand out slightly different, of course, like you're saying, you don't wanna copy the other covers that you see within your genre, but you are looking for those similar elements because that's what tells the reader. Yes. This is the type of book I'm looking for. It's kind of like a shopping list,

Katia: 12:37

yes, exactly. Like, uh, you can browse and see some Covers with, with obvious cliches, but don't be afraid of cliches, because they're actually, sometimes they sell books. Just... Just take it as a base, and think what's something interesting you can add to this cliché, so it doesn't look like cliché anymore, and it will stand out from the crowd. So first of all, you need to be in the crowd, and then you need to think, how can I stand out from the crowd?

Erin: 13:06

Oh, fun times.. Ooh, that's, that's psychology right there. Mm-hmm.

Katia: 13:12

Yeah, but also, another thing I wanted to add, um, when you analyzed everything, like what others do, think about your story. What are some themes? Or some key elements that are prominent in your story. And you, you might want to put them on the cover, so the cover will send the message to the reader about the content of the book. For example, if, uh, I don't know, you're writing some, um, happy ending holiday romance. Then think about some objects or scenery that cause warm feelings, they, they make a reader think about summer fun or love affection. So it could be some, I don't know, imagery of the beach or, I don't know, something that evokes warm feelings. On the other hand, if you're writing, I don't know, medieval fantasy book about betrayal and misery, you don't want any elements which will, will Cause, uh, different kinds of emotions. Remember that book cover causes, should, um, should cause emotions in a, in readers, in your

Erin: 14:17

Yeah. I, uh, I was, putting together my own, um, summary for a graphic designer about what I was looking for for my book cover. And I had to start thinking about symbols that might be on the cover. And I was like, Oh, so I just started thinking about my story and a lot of the imagery that tends to pop up a lot. And it was stuff that I hadn't even consciously thought about, but bridges became a big theme in my book. And columns, broken columns, became a big theme in my book. And periwinkles, the flower on grass fields, became something that symbolized, um, redemption in my book. So I was like, oh, well, look at that! I actually do have a lot of symbols and elements that have been popping up in my book. So it's actually fun to go through that exercise and think what images pop up when I think of my story.

Katia: 15:14

That's a great analysis. I think great choice.

Erin: 15:18

So, what are your biggest tips for authors to have the most successful relationships with their graphic designers? As I said, I've worked with several graphic designers over the years, both as a writer and then as an editor, um, with graphic designers as my coworkers. So, I know that I have some thoughts on that, but please, talk to us.

Katia: 15:42

Yeah. Okay. So before starting a cooperation with the cover designer, you have to check their portfolio and the reviews never ever work with someone who isn't doesn't feel open to share their prior works or say that they will design cover for free in exchange of reviews because it's not a sign that they're professional designers. As I said earlier, not every graphic designer can can make a good book cover because they need to know the market well, so it's important to make sure that this person has prior experience designing Thanks and especially book covers in your genre. So take a look at their portfolio and see if you like their style because every designer has different style. And you have to discuss workflow questions beforehand. For example, um, how many revisions do they provide? Or, um, Are there, will there be any extra charges if you want to change something in the design? What are some like, uh, expected delivery time? Um, so in this way you can set correct expectations, uh, of your workflow. It's very important, like, and if you are in a rush, it's really important to tell your graphic designer about that. So they will be aware about your deadlines and try to adjust. Or if you are not in a rush. Say it as, tell it as well to your designer, so they will make a good plan. Um, and, uh, before you start working with a designer, it's good to do your own research. I'm not saying that you will have to teach the designer what to do. But if you know, if you've done your research, it will help you to understand the design choices your designer will present. After that, uh, um, you have to complete the creative brief. And I advise to complete it as detailed as possible. Um, not, I, some, like, there are really few designers that work with manuscripts. Most of them, they work with creative brief. So the creative brief will be the only option for the designer to get to know your book. So write about the setting, the characters, uh, if you want them on the cover, uh, time period. And if you have some ideas, that's great. Present them to your designer. If you don't have ideas, that's also okay. Just... Uh, say what kind of, uh, direction do you want to take? And as I said earlier, if you did your research, you can present the references, what you like, you don't like. So a designer can do something, uh, for the, for the first draft. I advise don't micromanage your designer because this might be really annoying. Uh, what I mean by micromanaging is sending emails every hour, asking, is my revision ready yet? When it's going to be ready? Um, Or when designer sends you a cover concept, some comments like can you please place the title quarter inch left right make sky bluish reddish. Don't get me wrong asking for revisions totally fine. It's your right. But sometimes if they're like those little things that are not really important like it's It can prevent designer of, um, looking for creative choices or it can really stress the designer if they need to make like really small changes, which are not meaningful. So I, my advice is just trust the process

Erin: 19:23

If, I just wanted to add that, um, there's a fine line between micromanaging a designer and you're telling them how to do absolutely everything down to color choices and 100 percent placement versus... giving them all the feedback that you can, the information, the creative brief, but then also trusting that you hired a professional, you did your research, they know their market, they know what you, like you said, they know what goes together to help sell a book. And so that's that fine line between having control over your book and also trusting the professional you've hired for them to maximize their skills and their knowledge.

Katia: 20:11

fun thing at Mabel art. We actually provide unlimited number of revisions. I know. Yeah,

Erin: 20:18

is risky.

Katia: 20:20

Some, some, we have some projects for like lasting, I don't know, three months or even more, but fortunately, like, our authors are amazing, and designers as well. We usually need like two or three revisions max, but there are some exceptions when we have authors who just keep asking for more and more revisions.

Erin: 20:41

And if anything, I found being on the other side of that as an editor and observing authors working with, uh, with graphic designers, if you keep going back, trying to tweak these little bits constantly over and over and over again, I think, what the author really needs to ask themselves is why? What is going on with them? Is it more the, the, the absolute fear that you're on the cusp of putting this thing out into the world, and that can be terrifying. And so we're striving for this perfection. But there is no such thing as perfection. We all know that, even when it comes to your writing, you know, look at the reason why you have revisions in books, you know, like it's going to go out. I remember reading the very last Harry Potter book and I've loved that series, but in that last book, I can't tell you how many typos I found reading that. I was like, even Harry Potter, when those books come out, they still have typos in them and then they catch them and they revise them and they, they release new revisions, so, or new editions So. If the author is really getting hung up on just constantly tweaking the cover, I think they need to take a deep breath and kind of ask yourself like, okay, where's this fear really coming from and this drive for perfection? And trust the product that you have created and trust the cover that you have, because I am a perfectionist. I'm speaking from the heart here. I am 100 percent a perfectionist when I have put together social media posts and I can't tell you how many times I've then spent, like, two hours tweaking these itty bitty little things. And I'm like, did it really make all the difference? It didn't. It was perfectly fine and ready to go at the 80%, 85 percent mark. And it was just my perfectionism that was causing stress and driving me crazy. And... It didn't really make a difference, that last 15%. So I'm not saying that people shouldn't love their covers and that you shouldn't put in the time and the effort and the love and the care and the creativity in that. But don't let perfectionism hold you back either, because it, it hurts more than it helps.

Katia: 22:55

Yeah, nicely said. I know the saying, um, I think it goes like an artwork can never be finished, just abandoned. So it means just stop at some point.

Erin: 23:08

Yes. Yes. You could keep tweaking things forever, and like at some point you just gotta be like, no, like this is it. It's done. I trust it. We've got it. Time to move on to the next step and publish. Mm hmm.

Katia: 23:24

Yes, something that can help you is like, um, also, you know, by working with a cover designer is actually the opposite of micromanaging. It's actually not giving enough feedback to your cover designer. Um, because when you, when you hire somebody, they have to know that they please you with their work. If you don't spend time on giving enough feedback and then you just say, Oh, I don't like it, it's really hard to understand what exactly the problem. Saying like it's good or it's bad it's really vague. So just take your time. If you need. some day days to consider like if you like the cover or not. It's okay just tell your designer to wait and prepare, um, detailed feedback for them. Also, if you feel that your feedback might not be valid, you're not sure if you should say it. It's. It's a sign that you should say it. You should warn the cover designer that there is something you don't feel comfortable with. It's okay to share your fears, to share your, like, what others say on your cover. Like, be totally transparent because communication is the key for successful

Erin: 24:36

I agree. In fact, here, this is where I'm going to speak from experience again. Um, Yes. Because I worked on, on other publications as an editor, um, and when authors would come back and this was their first project or whatnot, they would be like, oh, the cover doesn't feel right. And the graphic designer sitting there like, cool. Why? How? I'm like, I don't know. It's just, it doesn't capture the idea. Okay, what is the idea? Right? And so I just watched these conversations evolve. And I found over time that comments like those that, like you said, they're very abstract. The designer doesn't really know what to do. Or like, my cover's too moody, or it's too dark, or it doesn't feel happy enough. It's like, okay, do you mean like the characters? The look on their faces? Are you talking about the color scheme? Are you talking like, right? So it's, it's much more concrete if you can say. This font feels too fancy, or this font feels too masculine, or I, you know, um, The character, for me, it was my character doesn't have long, straight, black hair. She actually has, uh, curly brown hair, like me. Um, so that felt off for me. Um, you know, I liked that my cover has these silver and purple colors on it, but, um, you know, It'd be really great if we could have more blue in the cover, because blue is, is more simple, is is more what's present in the book or maybe it's what's more familiar with the genre. Right? Um, but the more concrete you can get with those, those explanations, the more helpful it is.

Katia: 26:31

Yes, right. And if you have examples of what you like or you don't like,

Erin: 26:36

Yes, exactly. So, as I've said, um, having worked with graphic designers for years, I know the terms bleed size and trim. Can you explain these in layman's terms? And do you have any advice on how to handle bleed size and trim, especially if we're dealing with people who are attempting to format their books themselves? And I, I am all for people trying to learn skills and take things on, but I, I admit the thought of people formatting their own books and not knowing what they're doing terrifies me because of how your cover can come out completely wonky in placement and whatnot. So, while I am scaring our friend who's listening to this podcast episode, um, can you please clarify those terms and the, and the tips and advice that you have when it comes to bleed size and trim?

Katia: 27:32

Yeah, sure. Many authors who are not familiar with book cover designing, they find these terms intimidating. Trim size is the final size of your book cover after it's been printed and trimmed. Um, each publishing platform has their own requirements for trim size. And trim size, um, may require different formatting choices. So it's important to, uh, know what... publishing platform you are going to use and check what kind of trim size they, they, you need to have. And as for bleed size, it refers to the extra space around the edges of the cover artwork that extends beyond the trim size of the book cover. Uh, that extra space ensures that, um, after a book cover is being printed and trimmed, there are not any white edges or borders. Uh, in, in the cover it's like, like you can treat it as the safety margin designers use. So the cover artwork will not be affected after printing.

Erin: 28:36

Thank you.

Katia: 28:38

My advice for, um, how to treat, uh, trim, size and bleed size well, I sa as I sat, you need to check your publishing platform requirements or the printers requirements. Follow their guidelines closely. Uh, they usually, they have templates so you always must to use the template and see everything is noted there. Don't place any important information too close to the edges. In this way you will ensure that your cover will not get affected and it will it will not get ugly after printing. Of course if you are hiring a cover designer, they already know those technical things And, uh, they know how, like all the process for a cover being printed. So you don't need to worry about that, but use

Erin: 29:27

Right. Especially because whatever your final page count is, is going to affect the size of your, your spine, the book spine. So if you haven't calculated those numbers correctly and then you go and print your book, you could have your, the, the, what should be the spine of your book with the name and the title on it. It could be on the back or the front or look all wonky. So that's where I get nervous where I'm like, whew, I feel like that's very precise math right there. And I, math is not my thing.

Katia: 30:02

Not mine either. Um, when, when working with the cover designer, ask if they're going to charge for changing the spine width or something. In our company, we do, we do not charge for such changes, like if the, if the author wants to change the title, the author name, or maybe they have some changes in the blurb. But just to make sure, before you start working with the cover designer, ask about this kind of, uh,

Erin: 30:28

Yeah. Do they, do they charge you if you're, if your book then all of a sudden grows an extra hundred pages? Well, yes. Okay, so what is the science behind making a good book cover?

Katia: 30:41

Right. Mm I already covered some things like having graphic design skills, know your target audience, know the genre standards. So all these things will help you to put a really nice cover, cover design. Everything starts with the idea. So if you have a nice idea, you can say that 50 percent of the work is done. Make sure you have some key element that is appropriate for the genre standards, appealing to your target audience, and visually attractive for people who are not even your target reader. They might not buy your book, but it's still nice that these people can appreciate your book cover. Um, Another thing is typography, because it's an. Don't underestimate it. Typography is equally important as imagery on your cover. Some people might think, like, why would they care about my title being visible on the cover if publishing platforms write the name, um, the name of the book just, like, There's information, all the information about the book is there. Why would they care? Well, I saw this, uh, funny image on the internet. I don't know if you saw it. It's like, uh, one message saying, I will always find you, but written in different fonts. The first one, I will always find you, it's written in like cursive font with hearts instead of dots, so you know that this is something romantic, it has some rom it would be perfect for a romance book. But another, same message, like, I will always find you, but it's written like somebody scratched it on wood or something. You will not get any romantic wipe from this font. So, Yes, . If you see the romance cover with such font, you, you don't, I don't think you will want to buy it.

Erin: 32:38

you know what? And likewise, if you had another version of that with, I will always find you and it's written in comic sans, I'm thinking, Oh, that's a message from my kid. Like, Oh, they're always going to find me. That's so sweet. Right? Like, yes. And I'll always be looking for you too. Right? Like creating that more, um, familial sensation or emotion. Yes. That more familial emotion.

Katia: 33:05

right topography is so important for convening, conveying the correct message and genre of your book. So just, uh, my advice is get in the right mood. Avoid cliches, know your audience, figure out the layout so it all looks nice. And, uh, yeah, make sure that the fonts represent the genre well and. Um, actually talking about why typography has to be visible on the cover is, uh, your book cover has to be, has to look good as a thumbnail. Like, let's face it now in a digital era, most of the readers, they find books online. So you don't want them just to scroll by your book. If it's not visible enough in a small size, you Um, there is a high risk that your book will just get lost in the hundreds of other books. So, uh, having a book cover, um, designed well as a thumbnail, thumbnail is essential for selling it, selling it in online marketplace. On the other hand, if your book is printed, then it will be most likely stored on a bookshelf and only the spine will face the readers. So this can give you some thoughts that how can you make your spine creative. Make sure that uh, everything is visible, like the title is readable, author's name. Or you might also want to add some interesting like creative design element. For example, one picture for multiple books, so it will create a nice, uh image like three spines will create a nice image or I don't know just Get

Erin: 34:50

that is really cool when you see those series and the spines come together to create that one image. That is awesome. Um. Maybe I'll do that after I finish my four books that I have planned to come out, but that's not something I'm doing right now. That'll be a re cover in the future. So just to list that out again, the key elements to look at for your book cover is the color theory, especially for your genre, the composition, genre specifics, uh, the correct typography and aka the correct font and, um, making sure that your cover design looks fantastic, both print and large and then that thumbnail size, and oh boy, that that spine, absolutely, making sure that spine stands out like you said. That's fantastic. So. We've talked about a lot of the fun of graphic designs and, uh, the things that we want to look out for to make our book covers awesome. What are some of the big fat no's in the design process? I loved talking about this with my graphic designers. Like, they would freak out at the thought of Comic Sans. As a font being used on a cover. Um, and they would also freak out if people were like, Can we add balloons and banners and all these cute little elements? They'd be like, you're making it childish. Stop it! And they'd get very upset. It was entertaining to watch them. But, um, please, what are some of the big fat no's in the design process for covers?

Katia: 36:28

Well, uh, I guess I will start with trying to show too much on a single cover. A book cover that is cluttered can be overwhelming and confusing for a potential reader. A cover that is cluttered with too many design elements can, it can make it difficult for an eye to focus on any of the elements so it can cause chaos or

Erin: 36:53

Yeah, they're probably looking at it going, I don't even know what this book is about because there's just too much going on.

Katia: 37:00

Right. A well designed book cover, it has to send a clear message, but if you do not have this clear message, then it's a, sorry, it's a fail. Uh, this can lead to a potential reader overlooking the book cover altogether or misinterpreting the content of the book. Additionally, um, such covers, they can look, um, unappealing, amateurish, unprofessional, which can turn off potential readers and make it difficult for a book to stand out in the crowded marketplace. So if you are designing your own book cover, make sure that Uh, you don't use too many design elements and choices, just have a clear focus, uh, and choose something simple and easy to read for, uh, for your readers.

Erin: 37:51

What about the issues with AI images?

Katia: 37:57

Yes, I know that AI is a really hot topic right now, and a lot of authors want to try it. However, like, if you need to prove, uh, the origin of these images, it's impossible, because how AI works is basically sampling all the images it can find on the internet. Which some images are, uh, under copyrights, and then it produces something by collecting different elements. And because AI is not a human, it's not like it takes images for inspiration and it produces its own artwork. It doesn't work like that. So I, I read about some cases that, uh, in some countries, uh, such book covers would get banned because authors couldn't prove that they have rights to using this cover design.

Erin: 38:47

I've also seen some weird stuff with AI, with hands being bent in weird directions and necks not looking quite right. Um, little fine details that you're just like, something feels off. But I didn't know about the fact that AI is also taking images that are copyrighted as well. That is a huge red flag. Last thing you want to do is get sued for stealing an image trying to make your AI book cover.

Katia: 39:19

Yes. And it also underestimates the work of people who did those images. Which is not really nice. Like, okay, uh, this is not your expertise. You write the book. But, like, now people even generate books in AI. Like, they just, I'm not sure how they do it. It's not my, my area. But I heard that they publish the whole books written by AI.

Erin: 39:45

that hurts my heart because I mean you're just taking the creativity of humanity out of the project I mean, yeah, I get that it's fascinating and interesting, but I don't know. I think one of the most amazing aspects of art and writing and all forms of creativity is that we're Tapping into something deeper inside ourselves, or wherever these ideas kind of come from, and so, I don't know, just, AI hurts my heart. I mean, it's fascinating, scientifically speaking, but to be publishing work like that hurts my heart.

Katia: 40:27

Yes, I feel you. Uh, I believe that AI, they should help us in daily life. For example, doing housework, or sending emails, or these things that we spend time and we don't want to do them. But let art be human thing, let us create,

Erin: 40:45

Yeah, or, you know, honestly, I'm okay with using AI for inspiration. You know, it's kind of like a sounding board. Even if you produce an AI cover just because you're trying to get a feel for what it is that you like and you're like, Oh, hey, this is kind of interesting. That's another thing that you could present to a graphic designer and be like, can you make it real? Um, and even with story ideas, if you're like, Oh, I'm not really sure, you know, what food people would be eating in Renaissance. I don't know, things that you're going to look up for AI, but at least they could spit out a whole bunch of ideas and be like, Oh, this is something I can now play with. And it, so that I'm, I'm completely on board with. We get our inspiration from all different sources. I have no qualms with AI being a source of inspiration as well.

Katia: 41:29

totally. It's a really good addition for your references list or a mood board. Like in our company, we do not use any AI tools. But if the author comes to us and they say, use it as a reference, we don't mind doing that.

Erin: 41:47

It's fascinating to hear graphic designers talk about AI produced artwork because they notice things that obviously somebody like me would not notice right off the bat. Like somebody was commenting how the minute they looked at the photo, they knew that it was AI produced because light was coming from all different sources as opposed to based on where the light is. Like, whatever element they had for a light, say it was a sun, where the light should be coming from in the picture, they said, no, it was coming from all over the place. There's no way that a graphic designer would ever do that. And I was like, oh, my God, I didn't even, like, you don't know what you don't know. Yeah.

Katia: 42:25

it, it might look weird for you, but you don't understand

Erin: 42:29

And that was a perfect example. Yeah.

Katia: 42:31

Actually, if I. Actually finding AI covers now, it turned to my new hobby, like I live, I live in Turkey. It's quite, it's a, it's a country with not like the best economy, you know, so I see a lot of AI covers in the stories, actually, I guess, because they're like traditionally published. So they try to cut costs. So they just generate images. But like, I have so much fun finding those AI covers. And like, if I can identify them, you know, Um, and then I can, like, analyze why this AI cover, like, there is a certain style they have for now. And also you can see, like, the eyes look wrong or there's some little details.

Erin: 43:12

Yeah. I never would have thought about the lighting one. That was really interesting. Um. Yeah, and you said you wanted to talk about something else, so please feel free.

Katia: 43:23

Yes, other fat nos in designing book cover is using low resolution images, having poor croppings on the cover, or using some overused design choices, I don't know, such as a white drop shadow on the title or something. All of these things make your cover look unprofessional, so do not do these, uh, rookie mistakes. If you don't have skills in graphic design, don't try to learn from your important project. Since readers that, I think you mentioned it earlier, like they can, um, see that the cover looks bad and they can, uh, associate your cover with the quality of the book as well. And they will might think that the story is not good as well. Of course it's the wrong assumption, but if you don't want it to happen. Just, uh, make sure your cover looks, uh, well to present your work. And when you, when you are using, uh, images, it's important to check, Uh, they are, like, if you have rights to using them, because every image is under copyrights on the internet. Some images you can use for creative purposes only and some you cannot use at all. So if you like disney castle and you want to put it on your cover, sorry, but it's not going to happen because a disney company they they hold copyrights to the disney, uh,

Erin: 44:45

Mm.

Katia: 44:47

And, and be ready that they will start a lawsue, lawsuit against you. Once you found some, uh, Stock images providers, such as, uh, Deposit Photo, Shutterstock, Getty Images, just, uh, read their rules about using the images. They usually have, like, standard license or extensive license. And you can choose whatever works best for you and buy those images to use on the cover. In this way, if Amazon or other publishing platform asks you to prove uh, that you have rights to using these images, you have proofs because you bought them.

Erin: 45:23

Yeah. Um, the other thing that's important to look up, and I didn't know this until I started looking into it, was you may find an image that you're allowed to use, but only for non commercial reasons. And so it's like, oh man, you mean I can't make money off of selling stuff that uses this image? That changes the playing field there. And it's like, ah! Um, so,

Katia: 45:50

Yes. Yeah, when you are working with a cover designer, uh, the fees you pay usually, uh, cover the cost of license images, so you don't need to worry. But bear in mind when you are starting to work with a designer, it's nice to check if they're using license images. It's your right to ask for a proof if you need it. Last but not the least, a big mistake, uh, in when you design your book cover, you think is perfect and you upload it to publishing platform right away. There should always be a room for skepticism. How do you know your cover is good? If you're not asking any feedback, as an author you might be too close for your creation So it can prevent you for from being objective on your work Once you designed your book cover just share it with friends or on forums Facebook and get as many feedback as you want. When you collect this feedback, be ready to make some changes if, uh, because maybe these kind of changes will help you to communicate the message of your book more effectively. Um, another thing to bear in mind is, who you are asking for feedback. Give preferences for, uh, getting feedback from your target audience or people who know your manuscript. Uh, if you are asking for feedback online, there are some people that just criticize everything, and they have no idea. They have no expertise to give feedback, for example. If you will listen to every single person and take their feedback seriously, you might be just like a squirrel running in a,

Erin: 47:32

Yeah, you're the hamster running in the wheel.

Katia: 47:36

Yes, yes, it'll be the hamster running in the wheel. So, yes, just bear in mind there are some, there are some nasty people on the internet who criticize everything, so don't take them seriously when

Erin: 47:49

I would also say if you're getting feedback from people, especially in writing groups, I would ask, uh, you can tell when you're getting feedback from people who are graphic designers. In fact, they usually say, hey, I'm a graphic designer. This is what I'm noticing. And I'm like, Ooh, thank you very much. But then you do, you want to find out, do they know your genre? Because you don't want to be getting cover design feedback from somebody who writes thriller novels on how they think that you should design your romance novel. Right? Like, yeah. So thank you so much for sharing that. That is. It's massively important information for people to know. Um, and then we're coming up on our last question. Are you ready? For those who want to design covers themselves, what online tools, resources, and platforms do you recommend? I know you mentioned, of course, Getty Images and Shutterstock and iStock for images. Anything else?

Katia: 48:44

Yep, sure. First of all, if you do not have any skills in graphic design, I would suggest to start from there. There are great platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, they offer, uh, paid courses. Um, and there are also tons of videos on YouTube, to be honest. Uh, when I was studying graphic design, I watched a course, uh, it's called Bring Your Own Laptop. It's a really fun course for those who want to get basic knowledge, how to use, uh, Illustrator or Photoshop or other graphic design platform. As for softwares. Yep, Adobe Products is, uh, something that professionals use. It's either Photoshop or InDesign for creating covers. As for, uh, also, as an alternative, if some people find them, um, not easy to learn, um, I, I saw people suggesting Book Brush and Affinity Publisher. But they are not free. I think there is a one time payment for Affinity Publisher. You can check that. The top free option... It would be, of course, Canva. Whenever you ask this question on the internet, everyone suggests Canva. It's great because, um, it's easy to use and they have ready templates. And if you pay for, like, premium Canva, uh, you can, you get, you get access to their, like, uh, stock images library. However, if you are using image from a Canva library without any editing or modification, just the image and the title, be ready that there is someone else doing the same thing and your cover will look exactly the same as other person's cover. And if Amazon asks you to prove ownership of the cover, it might be tricky. Like, how do you do it if the person has a similar cover to yours?

Erin: 50:34

still have to check Canva's licensing and terms and conditions to verify that you can sell using that image because you may have only had permissions for non commercial use. So, yes. I did my research on that. That was scary.

Katia: 50:53

Yes, right. Um, I've mentioned, uh, stock images, providers, uh, fonts, uh, oh, fonts, sorry, websites already. Shutterstock, Getty Images, um, Adobe Stock, Deposit Photos. Um, as for free options, I can suggest, uh, such websites as, uh, Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay. But also, like, it's at your own risk, because if, uh, you need to prove, uh, the ownership of the photographs, I think you have to mention, uh, the photograph, uh, like give credits to the photograph. Um, always, uh, read terms and conditions of, uh, such websites if you are going to use free images. And for fonts, um, I can suggest checking out websites such as, uh, font space, uh, 1001 Free Fonts, Font Squirrel, DaFont, Google Fonts, Font Gig, so many websites. You can either, uh, browse them and check, uh, their pricing policies, what works best for you, but they also have free options. But also just browse them into for your inspiration, like what kind of font you like for your cover.

Erin: 52:06

Okay. That was for fonts. Got it.

Katia: 52:08

And, okay, sorry. The last, uh, resource, the, the most amazing one. Our company provides a free cover idea, . So if you don't know what you want for a cover, just like we have a form on the website, you just fill in information about your book. And one of our designers sends you, uh, the textually textual description of the idea they

Erin: 52:31

really

Katia: 52:32

for you.

Erin: 52:33

That's really cool. Thank you for sharing that. So, thank you again for joining us on the show. That was absolutely fantastic. Um, I know that you have a special offer for the listeners of our podcast. Can you share what that is?

Katia: 52:50

Yes, I give you, we give you, our company gives you a 10 percent discount on your first order with us. Just use a coupon. Uh, so parents who write, PWW10, and yeah, the discount will be applied for your first order with us.

Erin: 53:09

That is fantastic. It's just, it's been a wealth of knowledge, so thank you again for joining us. Uh, all of your contact information is located in the show notes. People will be able to find that link to your company and, uh, along with a lot of the other resources that you mentioned. That is awesome. Thank you again. So is there anything else that you would like to share before we go?

Katia: 53:33

Just wanted to say thank you for having me today. It was fun. I hope this episode was, um, productive and interesting for people who are, who are doing their own covers or hiring cover designers, really hope,

Erin: 53:48

Thank you. Yeah, no, it was absolutely fabulous. Thank you so much. Take care.

Katia: 53:53

Thank you, goodbye.