# Cover Images



## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 24, 2012)

How do publishers handle the cover art for books? Do they make recommendations, or do they choose it outright, or do they leave it all to you?

I'm not quite near the point where this will matter, but I figure it's good information to know.


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## Cornelius Crowe (Oct 24, 2012)

Most publishers have an art director who will assign an artist to design the cover.  The author seldom has any input.


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## sunaynaprasad (Oct 25, 2012)

If you want control over your cover, self publishing might be the best route for you.


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## empresstheresa (Nov 8, 2012)

After getting 18 "sorry, bud"  responses from literary agents for my novel  _Empress Theresa,
_I decided not to submit another query letter until I had a cover design for the book to include with the query. 

Rationale:  these people get five hundred queries a week.  Obviously they don't have much time to pay much attention to any of them.
But,
if you include a picture of a cover design,  they should immediately get a idea of what the book is about, even before they read a word of your query letter.

I'm painting my own cover.  

It has:
--  Theresa standing in a short skirt looking straight at the camera with a big smile and holding a volley ball sized "Earth" in her hands.  ( Hmm.  What's that about ? )
--  there's a picture of the White House on the lower left.   ( Hmm.  What's that about ? )
--  there's a picture of Big Ben on the lower right.   ( Hmm.  What's that about ? )
--  there's a picture of a five star general's 5-star insignia over the White House.  ( Wait a minute! There hasn't been a five star general since the death of Omar Bradley.  Who's the five star general? )
--  there's a picture of a jet fighter on the left.   ( Hmm.  What's that about ? )
--  there's a picture of a Boeing 747 on the right.   ( Hmm.  What's that about ? )
--  there's a red ball hanging over two concentric circles with gaps in them.  ( What the heck is that about? )
--  there's what looks like a deep canyon with might be a stream of huge numbers of people moving along the bottom of the canyon, except that the walls of the canyon look like waterfalls, not rock.  ( What the heck is going on there? )

If you saw this cover in a bookstore, your curiosity would be aroused, wouldn't you say? 

If I don't get a positive response from a literary agent in the next year,
I'll use this cover design on Amazon's KINDLE.  

Betcha it sells.


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## shadowwalker (Nov 8, 2012)

From discussions on other boards, with published authors, it seems that the publisher handles cover design with input from the author. It might help to realize that most authors don't know what a _marketable _cover really is - it's not just something "nice looking" or "artsy", which is why publishers have artists who do understand what will help the book sell. 

As to including a cover design with a query, I wouldn't. Agents and publishers aren't interested in looking at artwork from anyone; they're interested in finding a good story. Follow the guidelines - nothing shifts a query into the dead pile faster than sending stuff the agent/publisher doesn't want or need. (And 18 rejections really is a drop in the bucket.)


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## joshhuntnm (Nov 10, 2012)

I have 4 books published. They always did it. I imagine they would be open to suggestions but I never asked.


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## Jeko (Nov 10, 2012)

In the end, I think our writing should be what conveys what we want the cover to be like. The cover artists should tap into that, as well as their ability to market your story.



> But,
> if you include a picture of a cover design, they should immediately get a idea of what the book is about, even before they read a word of your query letter.



I doubt it'll help. If anyone's going to judge a book by its cover, it won't be the agents.

Also, it possibly tells them you want to bypass another person's job by doing it yourself... also, I don't think it'll help you sell your work.

Also:



> If you saw this cover in a bookstore, your curiosity would be aroused, wouldn't you say?



Honestly, no. There's too much going on. I already feel like you're _trying _to get my attention, so you haven't got it.

Your writing should sell your writing to the agent. The cover is part of what sells it to your audience.

I'd invest more in your query letter than presenting your ideal cover. For me, it feels unprofesional, amateurish. Wouldn't be beneficial, not in my mind.
On the other hand,_ artwork _might help sell your work to an agent. I wouldn't declare what you use as the 'cover'; it might be more effective to use artwork to demonstrate your imagination, and the feeling of the story. What you said was your cover would make a very nice poster to go on my wall... I imagine it A2, all the elements jumping out in one way or another. It does excite me - but not as a cover.


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## shadowwalker (Nov 10, 2012)

Cadence said:


> On the other hand,_ artwork _might help sell your work to an agent.



Um, if I were an agent, I don't think I'd be impressed by a writer who used artwork to express themselves. Just sayin' ...


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## Jeko (Nov 11, 2012)

> Um, if I were an agent, I don't think I'd be impressed by a writer who used artwork to express themselves. Just sayin' ...



It could show a diversity of talents...?

You might be right.


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## shadowwalker (Nov 11, 2012)

Cadence said:


> It could show a diversity of talents...?
> 
> You might be right.



But are they interested in diversity of talents - or how well one writes? I think one has to bear in mind that agents/publishers are inundated with query letters and manuscripts. They don't have time (and probably not patience) to look at/critique/try to understand what artwork has to do with the story. Spend time on writing the best query one possibly can and not on cover art that almost assuredly won't be used anyway.


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