After the holiday meals and traveling and gift shopping, how about relaxing with a cup of coffee and your favorite romance. Your favorite romance cover, that is. Dream a little for your story!
Have you thought about the ever-evolving world of self-publishing? How could you not with the explosion of of ebook readers in the market? I know I'm feeling renewed temptation to put my words out there! Perhaps the novel length WIPs will hold out for traditional publishing, but why not give it a go with a short story or novella? More than ever before, there's some great arguments for how your shorter story can be a way to introduce your work. I won't get into all those arguments here. I don't want to argue. It's the holiday season and I just want to look at pretty pictures. :)
So I'm enthused about finding an e-cover for my shorter story. An inexpensive cover. But I don't even want to think about do-it-yourself design with software and finding stock photos. To borrow a term from Economics, there are "opportunity costs" to consider as well, which is basically the value you place on what you could be doing instead of doing something else -- like writing. Okay, that might be giving my discipline a bit too much credit. But the pre-made frozen rolls I took out of the freezer tasted pretty good, and I don't regret not making them from scratch.
So I've compiled a list of designers who offer pre-made covers (most in the under $50 range) and thought I'd move this "research" to a blog post. I had a great time browsing the covers and I hope you do too! Oh, and most, if not all, of these designers will work with you for the customized look, if that is the route you want to take now or later. (One more thing: I linked to the site's home page and not always directly to the "pre-made" page, but you'll find it.)
1. Cheeky Covers - Ebook covers at cheeky prices -- I've heard great things about this one. For an example of this designer's work, check out Donna Cumming's cover for her new eBook at her blog post: Summer Lovin': A Novella
2. RomanceNovelCovers.com by cover model Jimmy Thomas. You need to do an easy login registration for this one, but it's worth it.
3. HOT DAMN Designs! -- A tad pricier, but oh, my!
4. Razzle Dazzle Stock - lots of choices for all the genres. I've got my eye on one here.
5. An Author's Art - classy!
6. Sexy Book Covers - need I say more? Currently the pre-made section says "temporary price reduction" so you might get a deal.
7. Fantasia Frog Designs - Many are a bit more erotic than what I'll be needing...but that's just me.
8. LFD Designs - pre-made and a clearance section!
9. Quirky-Gurl Media - not strictly romance, but a small and growing selection of nice designs.
10. Book Graphics - both fiction and non-fiction so not all romance. Some are more basic designs at low prices.
11. Purple Ink Graphics & Designs - contemporary, urban fantasy look.
12. Tibbs Design - contemporary.
13. Cloud 9 Pre-made book covers -- $5!
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So that's it, for now. Feel free to leave a comment if there is a pre-made cover designer (for mostly romances) you'd like to add.
Wow, that's a great list -- thanks for doing all the research! And thanks for including my ebook. I'm so happy with the cover Carrie did for me, so I love to see it everywhere. LOL
ReplyDeleteI like that there are so many opportunities for writers and our stories right now. I've definitely been feeling more motivated lately. :) But now I'm feeling motivated to check out some of these other covers. LOL
Donna, there's definitely no harm in looking! LOL This wasn't a very difficult research assignment. :)
ReplyDeleteThe opportunites for writers sometime surprise me because so much changes when I'm not looking. Then, I'm like, when did that happen? LOL I'm sure a lot of these cover designs weren't out there a few years ago. It's kind of exciting isn't it? :)