I've got a lot on my mind. Here's some quick tips for both designing and finding covers. You don't have to agree with me, but keep in mind that I'm really, truly trying to help people.
\\ F O R D E S I G N E R S //
01. picmonkey → pixlr → photoshop
02. the quality of your work will always be disproportionate to how you feel about
your work
03. don't use topaz
04. learn overlay, multiply, soft light, color dodge, and friends
05. textures should be used c a r e f u l l y
06. make your own psd colorings
07. light textures should never be more than, like, 30% opaque
08. light textures aren't lighting I REPEAT, LIGHT TEXTURES ARE NOT LIGHTING
09. pirates didn't crack photoshop cs6 for you to use 4% of its capabilities, LEARN
your program
10. look at PROFESSIONAL tutorials
11. DO NOT put tutorial-inspired artwork in your examples without credit
12. learn the shortcut keys
13. thumbnail sketch your photo manipulation before you attempt it
14. download/save ALL the type files (ex. regular, bold, black, thin, oblique, book,
medium)
15. USE YOUR OWN PSD COLORINGS
16. don't fucking steal graphics or even ideas from graphics
17. treat your clients with respect
18. you're not terrible, you're not amazing, you're a work-in-progress
19. communicating information is your top priority when making a cover, make
sure the damn text is visible and able to be clearly read!!!!
20. quality is your 2nd top priority, pixels and color intensity need to be monitored
\\ F O R C L I E N T S //
01. don't feel bad about not using a cover, just tell them
02. give SOLID ideas, it's your book not ours
03. well known designers can make bad covers
04. don't tell us when you did the payment, we check our notifs, we know
05. nothing you can do or say will make us design your cover faster
06. treat your designers with respect
07. you will be denied, you will be ignored, you will be let down, d e a l with it
08. a designer who acts like YOU aren't worth their time aren't worth YOUR time
09. you will find the perfect cover
10. if you don't give us ample ideas, we come up with our own ideas
11. pay your designers, no matter what, unless they didn't even make you a cover
12. don't be afraid to ask us to fix typos
13. BY NO MEANS should you EVER private message a designer asking for a cover,
ask them if they have a shop open, if anything
14. DO NOT request a cover until you have a vision for it
15. give us anything that will help us make your cover; pictures, sketches, palettes, etc
16. equal effort !! work with your designer, contribute to the creation of the finished
product
17. a cover is as important as the first chapter
18. your designer is a human being
19. i love subtitles, but they should be 2 things; SHORT and NECESSARY
20. it's okay if you want your username on the cover instead of a pen name, find a
designer who's willing to do this for you instead of settling for someone who isn't
YOU ARE READING
The M.D.C. Handbook
RandomHow can I get the perfect cover for my book? What makes a good cover? How do I become a designer? Do I have what it takes to be a designer? Where do I even start? Start here, at Vee's comprehensive guide to the MDC. Whether you're an aspiring graphi...
