Books Covers and My Experience with 99 Designs

How Do I DecideWhether you’re self-publishing or working with a publisher, creating an effective book cover is extremely important. I’ve worked with publishers on hundreds of covers, and now I have the experience of working with designers on the cover of my own first e-book. From my perspective, the single most important thing to understand about book covers is:
 
Getting a powerful, appealing, and appropriate cover design is vital, and it’s more difficult than you might think.
 
Why is it so hard? First, it’s so subjective. One person’s great design is another’s “fail.” Second, it’s more than just creating an image you like—you should take into account the psychology behind what makes a cover appealing to the intended audience. Third, you (the author) may have been living with a particular image in your mind for months or years, but your publisher may disagree and/or your designer may be unable to capture it. Fourth, the book cover can be a highly emotional element of the publishing process, and it’s supremely disappointing if you don’t love the finished product.
 
You’re going to deal with this whether you’re working with the publisher’s designer, or you’ve hired a designer on your own. The harrowing cover-design process is all-too-common. And my latest experience with my own self-pub book only reinforced this.
 

What I Learned by Using 99 Designs 

 
Authors frequently ask me where they can find a good designer for their self-pub books. I’d been hearing of 99 Designs for the last few years, and didn’t want to keep recommending them until I’d tried them myself. So I signed up to see if I could improve upon the original cover of my e-book, How Do I Decide? Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing.
 
How Do I Decide?How it works:
 
With 99 Designs you pay a flat fee ranging from about $300 to $1200. Numerous designers submit designs, and you go through a process of feedback and eliminations until you (theoretically) end up with the design you want.
 
My original cover is here to the right, and the final winning design from 99 Designs is above. Here’s my experience and what I learned:
 
→ I opted for the least expensive package, which costs $299 and predicts you’ll receive 30 designs.
 
→ Thirty designs sounds like a lot and seems like it should be plenty from which to find a good one. Reality check: it’s not. A majority of the designs submitted weren’t even close to being right.
 
→ 99 Designs offers a money-back guarantee, so that if the process doesn’t yield a design you can use, you can get a refund. However, one way you can get more designs submitted is to turn down the possibility of a refund and guarantee you’ll pick a winner. Since this means a designer will definitely win and get paid, more designers will submit, and work hard to adjust their designs according to your specifications so they can win the contest. I chose this option and it definitely seemed to increase the action on my page.
 
→ A 99 Designs contest runs seven days, and it’s crucial for you to set aside ample time during that week to devote to the contest. If you want to end up with a design you love, you’ll need to interact constantly with the designers who are submitting.
 
→ When you set up your contest, it’s important to give the designers detailed instructions, making your requirements as clear as possible. Explain what your book is about, and the tone you want to convey with the cover. What is the feeling you want to evoke? Do you have specific images in mind? Mention anything you wish to avoid.
 
→ Once you begin receiving designs, take the time to give detailed feedback to each designer. This can vastly improve your chances of getting a final product you like.
 
→ Once you have several designs you like, 99 Designs makes it easy for you to run a poll among your Facebook or Twitter friends, or on your blog. Your friends can vote on the ones they like, and leave feedback on each design. This can be confusing (as people’s opinions can be so varied) yet also illuminating and helpful.
 
→ 99 Designs also makes it possible for you to work one-on-one with individual designers. If you run a contest and find a designer you like, then in the future you can choose to work specifically with that person. Or, you can browse the work of the designers on the site and choose to work with one designer without ever having run a contest.
 
By the time my contest was over, I’d received 104 entries, but I honestly couldn’t say I loved any of them. I may not have given enough instructions and feedback, and I probably didn’t explain my book well enough, so I take responsibility for it. I have seen some terrific book covers come from 99 Designs, especially for fiction.
 
I’d definitely use 99 Designs again, following my own advice (above) to increase my odds of success. And I definitely recommend the service to authors and others looking for any kind of design.
 
Anything to add from your own experience with 99 Designs or hiring a freelance designer? Any comments or questions about this process?

Comment below, or by clicking: HERE.

 
TWEET THIS: Agent @RachelleGardner discusses book covers and using “99 Designs.” 
 
 

Rachelle Gardner

Literary agent at Gardner Literary. Coffee & wine enthusiast (not at the same time) and dark chocolate connoisseur. I've worked in publishing since 1995 and I love talking about books!

57 Comments

  1. Roy Miller on April 30, 2015 at 1:41 AM

    Well it sounds great but I will say on my experience that never trust big sites. Alwys use startups like designhill.com and others . Because with startups , they give you good quick response and they try to understand your mission and vision . So always use startups who are good in service.



  2. Mel on April 2, 2015 at 1:40 AM

    “Getting a powerful, appealing, and appropriate cover design is vital”

    So hire a designer and pay them properly. Look at examples of their previous work, communicate with them and treat them as a professional. Just as you would expect to be treated yourself.



  3. Mel on April 2, 2015 at 1:37 AM

    I visit 30 doctors in one week. The one whose diagnosis I like best I will pay for the appointment.



  4. Mauro Azzano on March 16, 2015 at 4:28 PM

    My first book’s publisher came up with three covers from which I was to choose. Two sucked. One was marginally acceptable. When I switched publishers for the same book I needed to keep some continuity in cover ‘look’ so I designed a cover that was not dissimilar from the original.
    When I wrote the sequel, I had a blank slate, and I think the resulting cover was devastating. The third book cover, to be out next month, is even better, I think.
    If this keeps up, there’s a miniseries in the works…



  5. Writers Roundup | ellenbooks blog on March 1, 2015 at 1:08 PM

    […] she got 104 potential designs, “I honestly couldn’t say I loved any of them.” Don’t just read about her experience, read the comments. In some ways, they’re more enlightening than Rachelle’s original […]



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  7. The 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2015 on January 19, 2015 at 5:12 AM

    […] Post you’ll like: Book Covers and My Experience With 99 Designs […]



  8. Ghost of Designer on January 2, 2015 at 12:22 PM

    11 reasons for designers to stay away from 99
    designs.

    Dear
    friends. In December, we decided to research crowd sourcing platform 99 designs
    for honesty, openness and competition for designers. The results obtained by us
    is staggering. If you are a designer and you want to earn extra money with you
    ideas and hard work, 99 designs pack your ideas and throw you out.

    Naked facts:

    1. You just
    registered and open profile on 99 designs. You does not have access to all
    competitions. You are given only the poor pieces from the main cake .

    2. The
    stated price competition does not coincide with the real. For example at the
    moment one African company announced a competition for the logo and corporate
    identity. You have a list price of $ 740, and if you go to the site
    unregistered you will see that the price of the competition is 1400 GBP. Not a
    bad difference! In 1000 dollars.

    3. You are
    not available for all competitions with your level. What does this mean? 99
    designs, have several levels for designers. Simple, certified designer and
    Platinum designers. How to get the platinum status, we don’t know. I think that
    its only 99 designs stuff. In this case,
    you have no right to participate even at the simplest level in all
    competitions.

    4. All your
    unique ideas placing in an open competition,
    will be copied by other participants and moderators don’t care.

    5. We
    participated in only guaranteed financial contests by website. What does this
    mean. The client leaves a deposit to 99 designs and if you manage to get to the
    finish line, you will get the price from 99 designs. But, actually it’s much
    worse. You develop the work and to the date of expiry of the competition, the
    client suddenly extends it, and then do not choose any designs. You will be
    left behind as a stub in the garbage. And no one responcible.

    6. 99
    design support is not responsible for your queries if you’re a designer, but if
    you’re a client, everything happens the other way round.

    7. 99
    designs to spit on you, on your rights, on the law and on the personality of
    your idea. At any time you can be blocked and usurp all your current works. The
    reasons may be different, for example, the type of your design do not comply with a 99
    Designs Code, which prohibited the copy images from clip art. We agree with
    that, but not the way how 99 designs use this rule. So it happens to us. We
    were accused, we have inserted clip art picture to our design. However, we are
    pro and knows well how to draw in vector. As a result, our picture turned out a
    lot better than the one with which, we were compared. But none of 99 design moderators
    didnt understand that our work this really our work. They sent us a similar
    picture as a reason of our blocking, and
    told us, our work is exactly this
    clipart.

    8. Despite
    the fact, we were accused of plagiarism, we won in this contest. And what do
    you think? Any decent website should immediately deal with the charges and at
    least suspend the contest to find out the truth, but not this resource. They
    finished the contest, the client got the design. What exactly got the customer
    copy or real unique design? It does not matter. Most important thing, as usual,
    is money.

    9. Any your
    competitor can write denunciation on you, lie and slander you. Then you will be
    kicked from the site. Its our case. We were accused of plagiarism by our
    competitor contest. But customers love our job and did not want another. As a
    result, this lying piece of shit started spamming with denunciations 99 designs
    administration. And what happened? You think 99 designs care? Definitely not!
    The just suspend our profile.

    10. Many
    contests expose you for 1 or 2 hours before the end of that just deprives you
    of the opportunity to take a part in.

    11. The
    main reason to stay away from the resource 99 designs! Even if you win the
    contest, 99 designs does not guarantee the payment. Its simply pick up your
    prize and block you. Than they just need to ignoring you. We won the
    competition on December 22. Today is January 1, and we have not seen the money.
    I think that will not.

    This is the
    first 11 reasons why you should stay away from the resource 99 designs. The next
    11 reasons we will publish later. Dear friends, do not believe these
    fraudsters. You are just slaves for this recourse, but they forget that without
    designers such resources do not live. We will published all facts in 99 designs
    social networks profiles. Follow us.

    The Ghost
    of Designer



  9. Andrew on December 28, 2014 at 5:48 AM

    Request a book cover, pay for it & get it.Spend weeks designing & tweaking a book cover & get nothing.



  10. Caroline Madden, MFT on November 30, 2014 at 3:11 PM

    I have had a lot of success with 99 designs for book covers and I wish I had done it for my professional logo. You get several different creative ideas. Going with one designer you give them $500 and if you don’t like any of their designs you are just out of luck.



  11. darbtype on October 5, 2014 at 3:53 AM

    I used 99 designs for a few graphics jobs this year, and ended up giving up. The concepts good, but here’s what I thought:

    1. A lot of the submissions were from rank amateurs. Some seriously, seriously terrible stuff.

    2. Some of the designers get really nasty if you eliminate their designs from the contest. One even called me a “fucking cunt” for eliminating their design

    3. I seemed to spend a lot of time writing emails to calm down designers who begged for my help when other designers accused them of plagiarising work

    4. When I awarded the contest, one of the losing contestants emailed me to show me that the winning logo was pinched straight from one of Chrylser’s vehicle logos. 99 Designs gave my money back. I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

    5. Out of 33 submissions, 5 designers had their accounts closed by 99 designs for plagiarism or threatening me.

    6. I suspect these designers simply register under a different name once they have been booted: winning a contest is big money if you live in SE Asea or some of the eastern European countries like Albania.

    At the end of the day, I now get my eBook covers done by a contractor on Fiverr.com. It costs me $5 for a 2d cover, and extra $5 for a 3d image, and another $5 for a wraparound cover suitable for Creatspace.

    Sometimes, paying big sums (my contest was a Gold package) doesn’t get you value. I’ve been let down by ODesk and Elance, 99 designs, and now I find that the best value lies with the very cheapest contractors on the web in Fiverr.

    If you use any of these services, familiarise yourself with Google reverse image search and the Tinyeye website (both free) to make sure you are not paying for a plagiarised image. I did, and saved myself a nasty Cease and Desist letter from for using the Chrysler Plymouth logo. I also saved myself a few hundred bucks that would have been wasted on my Trademark application.

    Just be diligent with buying “original” images!



  12. Jodi Mesrobian Soper on September 28, 2014 at 1:47 PM

    Your key points are good. The more direction you can provide, the better. I tell my clients to screen shot other logos. I have them look for 3 things…. Color examples , font styles, and design elements. They need to then say one brief sentence why they like the picture they captured. I bet you could apply this to book covers as well. 48hour logos is much cheaper. I would inquire about book covers for self publishing individuals. We also use this as a starting point to shorten the timeframe and costs of more expensive agencies. I’m working on ideas for Michael Dow’s completed manuscript book 1 of Dark Matters, The Chosen. Great article Rachellle Gardner. I’d love to connect with you if your going to be in DC this November for the conference.



  13. Dennis on September 4, 2014 at 2:52 PM

    Three big negatives about using services such as 99 Designs.

    1.
    Unlike a professional design firm/designer you
    do not get the option of saying I like the font on version A, the picture on
    version B and the background color on C because they are separate individuals.

    2.
    A professional firm/designer will license and explain the legalities about the images used on your book cover. 99 Designs is not responsible if the cover used on your book is plagiarized or just simply the image is not legal to use. The lawsuit to settle will be on you.

    3.
    Production, production, production!!! While many 99 Designers submitting may make an awesome cover design. Many(not all) do not understand how to supply it for press or electronic output. Image size, dots per inch, offset or digital print, file format, the list goes on…99 Designs may refund your $299 but missing your press date, ticking off your agent can be far more costly.



  14. […] Rachelle Garner – book covers and my experience with 99 designs […]



  15. Tanya Dennis on April 22, 2014 at 5:44 PM

    I used 99designs for my website logo/header. I loved the experience! Three years later, I am still very happy with the design. The way some of the artists interpreted my request pleasantly surprised me. They were a very talented lot.

    While overwhelmingly positive, I could name two negative aspects of the experience.

    First, when I advertised the contest to friends for feedback, some of them then entered the contest with sub-par submissions and genuine confidence that I would select their work. This put me in a very awkward position.

    Second, one of the contestants blackballed another. This came immediately after I gave high marks for the submission and left public comments about what I liked. This not only made me nervous about leaving honest feedback (lest the one I liked best be kicked out of the competition) and led to a bit of drama between the two that continued through the final round of “competition.” It grew uncomfortable. In the end, one bridge was burned and another won the contest.

    All in all, I would very happily use 99designs again.



  16. The Origin of Numb’s Cover - John W. Otte on April 22, 2014 at 6:31 AM

    […] I also learned a few lessons about working with 99Designs. Literary agent Rachelle Gardner wrote an article about working with 99Designs, and it’s worth a read for authors thinking of publishing on their own. I want to add two […]



  17. Me on April 9, 2014 at 1:52 PM

    I was introduced to 99 designs by another blogger who recommended that you take the submissions and run a test by buying Facebook (or whoever) ads. You can do it a couple of different ways, but basically you see which cover gets the most clicks / votes. This is a benefit to 99 designs, especially if you make it a ‘blind’ contest (where the artists can see the other designs), where you can get several different ideas and then see which generates the most interest. Since the cover is so important, this process is worth the money spent on it, IMO.



  18. Gerrit on April 1, 2014 at 12:50 PM

    99 designs is the modern slavery. Write us a story and send it to us. The winner gets published, those who lose, don’t get anything. Sounds great?



  19. Book Cover Designs | HiStoryThruTheAges on February 6, 2014 at 9:23 PM

    […] Whether you’re self-publishing or working with a publisher, creating an effective book cover is extremely important. I’ve worked with publishers on hundreds of covers, and now I have the experience of working with designers on the cover of my own first e-book. From my perspective, the single most important thing to understand about book covers is:   Getting a powerful, appealing, and appropriate cover design is vital, and it’s more difficult than you might think. Click here to learn more. […]



  20. Joannah Miley on January 29, 2014 at 10:24 AM

    Thanks for sharing your experience, Rachelle. I went with 99 Designs for my Young Adult fantasy novel, THE IMMORTAL GAME. It was a great, though time intensive, way to go. I love my cover and I get many compliments on it. You can see the final result here: http://www.joannahmiley.com/the-immortal-game.html



    • Christine Tryon on January 30, 2014 at 8:22 PM

      I LOVE the cover of your book. Thanks for sharing it. I have been trying to get ideas for the cover of my book. I am currently in the process of proof-reading what I hope and pray will be the final draft for my memoir.



      • Joannah Miley on January 31, 2014 at 9:49 AM

        Thank you, Christine!

        If you go with 99 Designs I would suggest having a pretty good idea of what you want and to take some time drafting a clear explanation of what your vision is. Of course, it’s always fun to be open to new ideas as well!

        Good luck with proof-reading your memoir. I ended up doing a total of eight drafts of THE IMMORTAL GAME, including two complete rewrites of large sections. It was painful at the time, but SO worth it in the end! Now I’m on to book two… 🙂



        • Christine Tryon on February 1, 2014 at 10:12 AM

          Congratulations on book two! I am going to be spending this afternoon getting a few ideas for the cover of my book. I have a couple of ideas in mind. I have heard that simpler is better.

          I have edited my book eight times. My oldest son (a self-proclaimed grammar-Nazi), almost completely edited it the ninth time before he started student teaching this week. I completely edited it and proof-read it twice during the past week. I finished at one thirty this morning.



    • Chase Webster on February 13, 2014 at 10:21 PM

      I followed your competition and liked several of the designs submitted. I’m hoping I can achieve similar results. More than that, I’m hoping to meet a designer I can build a future repertoire with. That’s the ideal payoff with 99designs – networking.



    • Debbie on March 21, 2014 at 7:38 PM

      Nice cover!



  21. Leanne Hardy on January 28, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    I have used a graphic designer who shares my taste and values and has way more skills! She also charges less than 99 designs and I know I have her ear. I guess the challenge is finding that person you click with.



    • Sharon Salu on February 7, 2014 at 9:23 PM

      I agree, Leanne. Finding a designer you click with is what has worked for me. I haven’t tried 99 designs. Yet.



  22. Tony Faggioli on January 28, 2014 at 10:41 AM

    Thanks for this. I’m still deciding on whether or not to take my book down the self-publishing path but if I do I will give 99 Designs a shot.



  23. Dan Erickson on January 28, 2014 at 6:42 AM

    Honestly, if I had $1200 to spend on creating my book covers, it might mean I actually sold a few thousand books. I use CreateSpace and they have a cover creator that is free. It may not be perfect, but I think I did okay on my covers so far. You can see them at http://www.danerickson/store.



  24. April on January 28, 2014 at 6:03 AM

    For what it’s worth, even though you didn’t love any of the entries, I think your new cover is a hundred times more appealing and professional-looking than your old one. I think it was worth your money!



  25. Anna Labno on January 27, 2014 at 9:23 PM

    Thank you all for your input. I’m so happy to see writers these days aren’t confined to one thing. We have so many options to choose from.



  26. Kristine ward on January 27, 2014 at 5:56 PM

    I used 99 designs when I had a website designed and was considering self-publishing. I love it and hope I get to keep it when I’m traditionally published. For a few hundred dollars, I got a book cover and my logo that you see here.



  27. Peter DeHaan on January 27, 2014 at 5:15 PM

    I recently realized my e-book has the wrong title and hence the wrong cover. Completely wrong. I now have the right title and need a strong cover to match.

    Great tips and a helpful recommendation. Thank you!



  28. Dineen Miller on January 27, 2014 at 4:21 PM

    If I may, I’d like to give you the flip side of 99Designs. In addition to being an author, I’m a graphic designer by trade (and professionally trained with 30 years of experience) and actually went through the process of signing up on this site as a way to get more work. It’s getting harder and harder to earn a decent living as a freelance designer. I did one job and decided I couldn’t endorse this site anymore. I presented designs for a job and wound up one of two designers the client chose to continue with the last two days of the “contest.” At the end, the other designer actually plagiarized part of my work and they won the job. I wound up with nothing, which I knew was a possibility. But even if I HAD gotten the job, I would have earned less than minimum wage for all the time I put in for this project.

    As authors, we would like to earn a decent living with our work. Designers do too. My heart is to help authors in this industry because I am one of them too. But this site, I’m sorry to say, makes it very difficult.



  29. Dianne E. Butts on January 27, 2014 at 4:13 PM

    Thanks for this, Rachelle. I’ve hard of 99 Designs but haven’t used them. (Frankly I forgot about them, but going by the fees you mentioned, they would have been out of my budget anyway.) I’m in the process right now of getting covers for my new e-books on writing topics. I put in the order just this morning. I won’t get my first glimpse for a few days. I’m spending a lot less. Looking forward to seeing what my designer comes up with though.



    • Dianne E. Butts on January 27, 2014 at 4:13 PM

      PS: I love your new cover.



  30. Phyllis Wheeler on January 27, 2014 at 2:44 PM

    A very timely topic for me! Thanks, Rachelle!



  31. Robin Patchen on January 27, 2014 at 12:52 PM

    I love the cover you went with. It looks very professional. You and 99 Designs did a good job.



  32. Ed_Cyzewski on January 27, 2014 at 11:37 AM

    I’ve self published a few eBooks, and I think that a novice can come up with a decent cover if you stick to:
    1. minimal design
    2. a high quality image (as in, pay for it!)
    3. a professional font
    4. several drafts of the cover.

    I did a lot of searching for book cover fonts, and I found that there were several relatively standard fonts for each genre. Getting the font and image together made a huge difference for a simple eBook.

    When I self-published a book as both paperback and eBook, I hired a college student from an art school. He did an amazing job on the cover for A Path to Publishing, giving it a far more professional touch that I could have achieved on my own.



  33. rebeccaluellamiller on January 27, 2014 at 11:18 AM

    I have to agree with Leanne. I would much rather work with a designer who is willing to take my feedback into consideration and tailor the cover to my concerns. I was fortunate to have a friend who does book cover designs–the very talented Rachel Marks.

    Perhaps a page of cover designers’ links would be in order somewhere. I really got a taste of how important covers are when I got feedback on mine–things like “the cover alone is worth the price of the book.”

    Becky



  34. josie downey on January 27, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    It’s an interesting an idea, but I think there are better ways to get the cover you want. There are thousands of free lancers who are willing to work hard to create a great cover for you. I work with http://www.ebook-coverdesigns.com/ This artist designed the cover for my novel A Time To say Goodbye (see my icon) and she charged me half the price you paid and would change the cover the until I was satisfied.



    • Anna Labno on January 27, 2014 at 8:34 PM

      I love your cover!



  35. Xenia on January 27, 2014 at 11:09 AM

    I understand what you say, Rachelle.
    Now, since this is such a good practice, why don’t you adopt it yourself: submit your own works to potential readers, stick to their opinions, keep changing your writing until they say it’s ok, and make do with whatever they feel your book is worth?
    I don’t know you, but it sounds ugly to me.



  36. Angela Brackeen on January 27, 2014 at 10:21 AM

    I’m glad you brought up the subject of cover design, Rachelle. This was one of the most enjoyable aspects of self-publishing for me. I do have graphic design experience, so that made the process easier and gave me confidence that the cover I designed with the help of Westbow Press would be successful. But, as you say, it’s subjective, and I have recently received a bit of criticism for my cover. Still, over 1200 people registered to win a copy of my book over two goodreads giveaways, and I believe that the cover was part of what drew them in. My take is for an author to have fun with cover design if given the opportunity to give input, and let it represent what he or she thinks the book is about and his or her own creativity!



  37. R. D Peterson on January 27, 2014 at 8:52 AM

    Great post Rachelle. I’ve used Create Space/Amazon twice* and have been satisfied, but I was very careful to fully document what I was looking for and what would not be appropriate. They are not as flexible as your 99 approach (at least for the pkg. I purchased) but I was able to work with them thru 3 designs to the targeted cover I had envisioned. R. D. Peterson *
    (Deniable Justice and The Syndicate’s Church)



  38. Lisa M Airey on January 27, 2014 at 8:13 AM

    I love 99 designs. I used them to come up with my current website design. (www.lisamairey.com) The process is easy (and fun) and the talent at their fingertips (and yours) is off the charts. Highly recommended!



    • Anna Labno on January 27, 2014 at 8:39 PM

      Lisa, you got a great website design! 🙂 I loved it.



    • Me on April 9, 2014 at 1:44 PM

      Love your website. Very original too.



  39. Misty Wagner on January 27, 2014 at 7:51 AM

    This is really good advice! I’m in the process of doing the cover for my self published book now. I hired a graphic designer who took my notes/vision and came up with absolutely nothing like what I was hoping for. Ideally, call me a gluten for punishment, I feel that (since this is my first book) I’d kind of rather try that route (different designer) one more time, before throwing in the towel… It’s good to know though that there is this option. Ideally I do want to LOVE my cover, but when I don’t LOVE it now, I guess what do I have to lose…



  40. Richard Mabry on January 27, 2014 at 7:32 AM

    Rachelle, Thanks for sharing your experience. In the ongoing dialogue about self-publishing vs. a contract with a traditional publisher, one of the things sometimes overlooked is the effort and expense put forth by the publisher in producing a cover for the book (which may or may not be one the author likes). Thanks for highlighting this particular process.



  41. Chapin Garner on January 27, 2014 at 6:48 AM

    Great topic, Rachelle. For my first self-published book I chose to work with the designer who I was most pleased with from my other previously published books. Tobias Becker of BirdBox Graphic Design has now done two covers for me and I am very pleased with them both. Great guy, timely response, very affordable.



  42. SharonALavy on January 27, 2014 at 6:38 AM

    I do love your new book cover!



  43. Leanne on January 27, 2014 at 6:33 AM

    Rachelle while I always love your posts I won’t be retweeting this one. This sounds like an onerous task that sends a number of working professional designers scrambling to earn a few bucks. While I’m sure there’s a time and place for 99 Designs, I have had great experiences working one on one with graphic designers of my choice to get exactly what I want. They can be surprisingly affordable and this creates a more respectful, two-way working relationship. In today’s marketplace, graphic designers are struggling to make ends meet and will work within a budget. I’d suggest you might be looking at a bit more than $300 but less than $1200 to achieve the same results. In saying this, I have to admit I live with a graphic designer and have watched him struggle with this. With the advent or WordPress, etc. graphic designers, with experience and professional training, have to compete with free let alone the discounted rates of 99 Design. As creatives we have to support on another. 99 Designs is a great place for new graphic designers to get experience so I’ll give it that. I just want to ensure that writers know there is another way to achieve better results.



    • Angela Brackeen on January 27, 2014 at 10:36 AM

      Leanne, I so understand what you’re saying. Although I had a lot of input in the design of my book cover, I still needed professionals who understood the latest graphics software to combine the two images I’d selected into one. (I chose to overlay the casings of a window over the image of a woman outdoors). Not only that, the pros chose for me another image for the back cover of my book that was so appropriate and surprised me with it!



  44. Layla on January 27, 2014 at 6:14 AM

    Great post! I’d been wondering about that site as a possibility for cover designs and your tips are super-helpful to keep in mind.

    I think the cover you ended up with is really good 🙂