-
On Design: The Process of Working with a Cover Artist
Step 1: Organize all of your information about what you want for your cover.
You may not know what you want or what will sell, but you still need basic info. Obviously, your novel itself is key – but almost no artists will read it all. So select the most important scenes from it. By Important, I mean either visually and emotionally engrossing. Even if you just want a starship – that starship must express something emotional to the reader because art is emotion. The colors of the astronomical phenoms, the speed of the stars, the texture of the image – all of those must agree with your story. There is an entire other post I wrote about this – so read that.
Step 2: Decide on your budget
I won’t tell you how to do this. Pick up a copy of the Graphic Artist’s Guild Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. Ask other authors. There are lots of gurus with advice…some of them are suspect. Just don’t over pay, and expect problems if you underpay.
Step 3: Find an artist whose work you already like AND you think will work.
DO NOT hire an artist and ask them to paint like someone else. Don’t hire an artist and then ask them to change half-way through. Too many reasons. Just don’t do it.
Ask for their interest and availability. Ask if they have standard rates and what they are. If they ask for your budget, don’t apologize, just provide it. If they can do it, great. If they can’t, move on. No stress. This is business. If you can’t find anyone you like within your budget. increase it.
Step 4: Sign a contract. Specify the budget, the copy and reproduction rights, the turn-around time, and refer to the information you provide (sometimes listed in a separate article or described as “…per the Creative Brief”). Remember that the artist is only responsible for what is written in it. When the phrase “…change may be made in writing”, know that legally an e-mail counts. So if you have a phone call and tell them to do something and they don’t – you still have to pay them. If you say something over e-mail, it will be instantly part of the contract if they agree. Do this. Definitely do this. Anyone refusing to put change requests in writing are red flags at least and criminals at worst. Also refer to the payment schedule. Unless the artist prefers a way that favors you, I always suggest a 3 part payment schedule. 1/3 up front. 1/3 after you approve their sketch. 1/3 upon completion – you must pay before the final product is delivered to you. Also know that unless the contract specifies, the artist still owns the copyright – you don’t. Usually, you will pay for “First Printing Rights Globally” or “Exclusive rights for 1 year – renewable”. There are tons of variations. If you want to own the copyrights, expect to pay over double the cost of just the artwork’s creation. Also don’t forget that “in a timely manner” is great to add – but also affects you. If you don’t respond to their requests “in a timely manner” your deadline is forfeit and probably also your budget.
This only applies if your artist is in the same country as you. If they aren’t – then you have zero ability to control anything.
Step 5: Get a copy of the contract signed by both parties.
[Pay your first third of your bill.]
Step 6: Discuss the Creative Brief and set a schedule for sketches and approvals.
Sketches usually involve at least three meetings.
Step 7: The first are the “Thumbnails”. Thumbnails are quick rough drawings that are no bigger than thumbnail or postage stamp. They are presented in numbers from 3-30 (10-12 is normal) and only show the general “character goes here. spaceship goes here and is angled like this. Tiger’s mouth is here.” kinda stuff. no details.
Step 8: After 1-3 thumbnails are chosen, they will be turned into Sketches where the details are fleshed in. They are usually pencil or pen. They might have colors blocked in to show focal points. It may still have rough elements for “sword goes here. hair is long-ish. ancient tree is shaped like this”.
Step 9: Once 1 of the sketches is chosen, the artist will do a “finished sketch” which will answer most of the final details. “The sword will look like this. the dragon will look like this. The facial expression will look like this.
[Now pay the second third of your bill.]
Note for all three sketch phases: Review the sketches on time and reply in a timely manner. Check to make sure that the Creative Brief has been adhered to.
Step 10: Review the progress of the final piece as it evolves. during this time, you may ask for “reasonable changes”. Reasonable means they will not fundamentally change the artwork or incur more than an hour or two of the artists time to correct. This should only ever be used to correct things the artists made a mistake on. If they made a mistake, it will be in writing. If you did, it will be in writing. If it’s not in writing – that’s on you as the client. If you made the mistake. DO NOT GO BACKWARDS! If the artist followed instructions and you change your mind, you owe them more money. I have an entire other post on ways clients make catastrophic requests. Ever play Jenga? There are fundamental things you might consider minor that you can’t change without incurring more costs and/or pushing your deadline.
Note for progress check: Every phase will change. The final artwork will never look exactly like the sketch. That’s the process. Never say “I liked the sketch better: because that’s you being frozen in time and not considering the differences between sketches and finished work.
Step 11: Approve the final work. If you followed this process the entire way, there will be no surprises and the work will be great.
[Now pay the last third of your bill.]
Step 12: If you purchased the copyrights, file for it. It’s only $35. Credit the artist in your book and on your site. Develop a relationship with them. You will want your books to feel consistent. You will want their fans and your fans to grow together.
See? Not really that hard.
-
1 Reply
-
Excellent advice, Lazarus.
I spent over $500 on my cover designer. It was worth every single penny and so much more.
I love where you say “Just don’t over pay, and expect problems if you underpay.”We followed all the steps you outline here. I’ve heard other authors gasp when I told them what I spent (this was with one of the top commercial cover designers in the UK, Patrick Knowles). I have no doubt the good cover design helped sales of the book, and helped positive reviews both of which helped the book gain momentum.
Log in to reply.