I was dismayed (as much as I could muster which admittedly wasn't a lot since I'm still under the weather) to see the comments from yesterday's post about covers. I am o'er washed with a feeling of sorrow to see anyone limit themselves.
I never designed a cover before Impossible Charlie. Yes I was a photographer, so yes, I was exposed to composition early in my adult life. You can find sites where artistic or photographic composition is explained with many illustrations. You can look at great art. You can study covers. You can learn. You can grow.
This is a moment in history when writers should be feeling empowered. Try to expand your skills. Try to create a cover. It took me probably 8 hours a days for about 4 months to become somewhat competent in Photoshop basics. I did the tutorials online, I researched every question until I had the answer. All knowledge is power.
To be brutally frank, far too many writers feel quite confident and empowered to be publishing their work with no reason to be so pleased with themselves. I've never yet heard (I was a creative writing teacher for a while) a writer express doubt that the work was good enough and they just didn't have what it took to keep going. Even when that was so obvious to everyone who read the material.
Have you ever seen the American Idol auditions? Does anyone try-out thinking they didn't put in enough effort? That would be a big no.
So maybe our commenters are 100% correct in their assessment of their design capabilities. Not everyone can design. Not everyone can write. Maybe a cover designer is needed. Maybe an editor is needed.
But I'm still going to be encouraging those brave souls to take everything in their hands and give it a whirl first. The great thing about ebooks is you can change them endlessly until you get it right.
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| The golden rectangle in artistic composition |
Learn More About Artistic Composition
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