‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a nice saying, but it’s not realistic. Because everyone judges a literal book by its cover. Including me. It’s often the reason I pick up a book at the store or click it online. The storytelling starts with the cover. It draws you in.
I’m in the process of obtaining the perfect cover for my latest book. It will be the 17th book cover I’ve contracted out for design. I’ve learned a lot over the years through the process, but I’m still making mistakes and am often unhappy with my ultimate cover design. Sad, but true. (Keeping it real here.) But sometimes, I use the covers that I’m not in love with because of my budget. I don’t have unlimited amounts of money to keep throwing at designers hoping, that eventually the perfect cover will land.
The other day, I received an email from a newsletter subscriber who was angry that I had the “audacity” to charge $5.99 for an Ebook with only 194 pages. This person let me know that she was outraged and unsubscribed from following me. Blinking back my surprise, two things came to mind. One, I was glad the subscriber was gone, and two, I was reminded about how much people underestimate the costs associated with publishing a polished book. The cost for the Ebook—or in balance, the royalty I would receive from it— is less than a cup of coffee. For a paperback – I’d earn only a bit more.
I believe we’ve become spoiled by all the free books and promotions out there, which can make readers believe that books should only be Free or $.99 – or maybe even a $1.99. But if the author sells their book for those prices, after costs, he/she is either making nothing, or literal cents.
I bring this up because it relates to the budget issues and a limited amount of overall resources. Cover design can range from $1,000 (or more) to as little as $30. You can imagine the disparity in quality between the high and low range. You can literally see it too. I’ve purchased cover designs in various ranges on the cost spectrum, and I’ve used several design studios and artists.
For my latest book, I thought I would give a go to running a contest on Vista Print’s 99 Designs platform. It’s a cool idea where an author can pitch their book, vibe, style, etcetera and either supply a little or a lot of details about the book into abrief and then open up a contest to the designers who partake in 99 Designs. The beauty of a contest is that if many designers enter – each would bring their own unique take on what that book cover for your story could look like. A cornucopia of original ideas!
But, naturally, there are purchase tiers -Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The prices (as I write this) are respectively: $199, $329, $529, $799. I won’t bore you with all the tier details, but you get the mid- and top-level designers for the $529, and only top-level designers for $799. The $199 gets you 30 designs, the $329 gets you 60 (no guarantee of what tier level designers will enter – but one can hope).
In choosing the silver tier for $329, I reasoned that with all the creatives out there, if I got 60 designs, surely there would be something interesting. And you can ask the designer to tweak their image to get it right. I didn’t want to spend $529 or $800, because I still had thousands of dollars to spend on editing, proofreading, interior formatting, and then—BIG, HUGE GULP—Marketing.
The results from the design contest were a disaster. In my brief to the designers, I told them absolutely no use of AI. Many entrants ignored that. And almost all the covers were of a single image with simple text overlaid. Something I could have done for myself in Canva. Although my brief stated that the book was contemporary psychological suspense, there were covers with people in scullery maid clothing from the 1800s, Salem witch trials vibes, lots and lots of naked man-chests, some horror covers with teeth bared, and incomplete sketch designs of witchy-type women.
The inferior quality was shocking, and I reached out to 99 Designs for help. They said that I was locked in, but they would extend the time limit on the contest so I would hopefully get more designs. I did get more, but they continued to be off-the-mark and awful. 99 Designs apparently has no control or vetting process for the designers and the system.
The next step in the contest was to pick five finalists. I picked three – because there were only three I would conceivably even work with. I had some hopes for one particular design, and after choosing it as a finalist – I reached out to the designer to ask for tweaks. This was a standard next step for all designs. The designer never responded. So, an unfinished cover that had possibilities was out of the running. Ultimately, due to the rules, I was forced to pick a winner. I did. The designer sent me the files, and I asked—just to double check—if the image rights were cleared for commercial use. They assured me this was done.
But then 99 Designs reached out and said that, unfortunately, the stock image was not paid for, and the winning designer lied to me (my words) about the rights. 99 Designs suggested I purchase the image from the place the designer found it.
The fact that I paid them $329 and received no usable product for that price was the last straw. I asked for a refund, wanting to wash my hands and step away.
Nope. 99 Designs said no. I guess Vista Print doesn’t have enough cash lying around to make my issues right. They did offer to give me credit for the $329 to use for my next project. Like I want to work with them again. They suggested I could run a new contest!
So, the silver tier was a nothing-burger. Live and learn?
Maybe. Maybe not.
It doesn’t sit right with me, and I want to give a heads up to other authors searching for book cover design to stay clear of 99 Designs. Or, if they want to pay $529-$800, they may, may, come away with something interesting. Just don’t get the silver package for $329.
All of this is a glimpse into the backend/administrative part of book creation which happens after the creative process. Which is the fun part. Writing a good story. But the admin tasks absolutely need to be done. Many hours of precious time away from the creative process will be spent on other duties in order to bring the vision of a story to life and to market.
The other day, I was the featured author at a book club. One of the ladies present said that she and her friend bought a paperback copy of my book and shared it, because (big eyeroll from her here), it wasn’t in the library for free. “Why was that?” she asked me with narrowed eyes. I nervously smiled and said that, unfortunately, I only have so many hours in the day and couldn’t afford a personal assistant to help with the too-numerous-to-count efforts that bringing a book to market requires, in addition to my job and personal life. Getting my book into the library was just another one of those time-consuming things. She walked away from me, never offering a compliment on the book – like she was still pissed.
It hurt. More than it should have, but I’m human. Sensitive to criticism and vulnerable when presenting a piece of creativity up for judgement. The other day I saw an interview with Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie). She was shown a pretty picture of herself in a gown, holding some important award (Golden Globe? – not sure). The interviewer asked Edie about how she felt at that moment when the picture was taken and what a great achievement it must have been. Edie frowned and said that what she remembered from that image was that Joan Rivers slammed the dress and voted Edie worst-dressed. Edie said (paraphrasing) something along the lines of it shouldn’t have mattered or taken away from the joy of that image, but the criticism hurt.
So, I’m in good company. Not overly sensitive. Just a human, telling a story, and working hard to package it as best as I can with the resources I have.
A cup of coffee, or a kind word for all that went into the journey of bringing the story to market just doesn’t seem like too much to ask. I’ve counseled myself that I’m not writing for accolades and royalties. I’m writing because I can’t not write. It’s who I am, and who I always have been. A reader first. A wide-eyed, emotional young girl soaring on the pages of a story, to the adult I am today still experiencing the joy of reading. And writing too. I’ve been writing stuff for as long as I can remember. For good or bad, or for what purpose I cannot know, but reading and writing are in my blood, and at the end of the day, it is me.
Turns out this blog is more about therapy than a cautionary review of 99 Designs. Sorry. No. Not sorry.
Keeping it real. Annabelle out.