When you’re a new author and you want to self-publish your book, there comes a time where you will have to think about your book cover. If you’re publishing a children’s book, or a collection of poems, you might also need an illustrator for the inside of the book. Or you might just hire an illustrator and put the book cover together yourself.
If this is your first time, you might not know anyone in the field, and it might be hard to find an artist with a style that corresponds to what you have in mind, and who’s doing book covers, and taking commissions at a reasonable price. The platform Fiverr might be an easy way to find an illustrator and/or book cover designer. It is what I used for my first book’s cover, for the hardcover’s inside illustrations, and I’m currently working with a new book cover designer for my second book, via Fiverr.
Here are a few tips I can share with you now I’ve used Fiverr a few times :
- Always check their reviews, what people have said about working with them.
- Check their portfolio, be careful because I’ve seen book designers use templates from Canva and this is not a good sign.
- Don’t be afraid of asking questions. There’s something you don’t understand in what they’re offering ? Ask ! Don’t wait until it’s too late and you end up with something you’re not going to use or something that’s not what you thought it would be.
- Don’t order right away, send a message first. Explain your project, what you need, too check first with them if this is a project they’re suited for. They can also make you a custom offer then, which is most of the time better and well better ajusted to your needs than the regular packages you can see on their page.
- Stay on Fiverr. Don’t go around accepting to work ‘privately’ with them, or through social media. Fiverr is protecting you, and it’s also protecting them, so that the transaction can happen without any trouble. My very first illustrator from Fiverr lost her account and she contacted me via Instagram so that we could still work together on my next project. Guess what, it didn’t work well. If they lost their account, it is for a reason, be careful about that.
- Make sure that edits are included in the package, and make use of it. You’re hiring someone to bring to life what you have in mind, it’s not the right time to try to please others, okay ? Don’t say you like it if you don’t, don’t say it’s okay if it’s not. It might be details, but if they need to be changed, say it.
- You can leave a tip at the end if you want, just so you know. It is not mandatory, of course. I was quite surprised the first time, I didn’t expect that. It was the first time I saw this on a professional platform, and I guess it is more of a cultural thing than anything else. In the US it’s normal to tip, in France it is not. You negociate a price at the beginning and that’s all. So it’s up to you, just think about it.
No matter what people might say, Fiverr is a great platform, you just need to be careful about who you hire. It is your responsibility to check the profiles and reviews carefully, to talk with the illustrator/designer as much as you can and as best as you can so that there are no mistakes. I also have to add that it’s the best way to find an affordable cover for your book, without doing it yourself. I mean, if you have the means to make a cover that’s worth it, great. But most of us are no designers, so it might just be better to hire someone. How your book look is going to be super important to promote it later on, so please don’t be stingy here.
Have you ever used Fiverr ? How was it ?
I hope you all have a lovely day, and see you next week !
Marie.
Marie K. Ricci - Author | Translator 