Should I draw my own cover?

MissPaige36

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I personally think I’ve gotten decent enough to at least depict what I want my characters to look like. And I’ve seen how even the most popular stories doesn’t have the best art on their covers, but are still very appealing.

I’m currently drawing my main character and thinking of making it the cover. I’ll add stuff of course and I’m not done but mind giving suggestions? Not sure if I was going to put this on artist general or author general since I want both audiences…
7A4CBCAA-F340-4F13-ABFE-E29983845A20.jpeg
 

Mr.Grey-Cat

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if you feel like it, just draw it. after all, it's your novel, so just do what makes you feel right. and concerning drawing, it's normal for an author to think about drawing his covers. especially someone that want to feel proud, and doesn't want to depend on someone else's work.
 

MissPaige36

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if you feel like it, just draw it. after all, it's your novel, so just do what makes you feel right. and concerning drawing, it's normal for an author to think about drawing his covers. especially someone that want to feel proud, and doesn't want to depend on someone else's work.
So it doesn’t matter very much if you do or not? Got it
 

SailusGebel

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Figured that was the case but everyones giving different answers…
Yes, it's because everyone is trying to be nice. It's rare for someone to say the truth here. Different answers are different ways to sugarcoat what they think.
 

EternalSunset0

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Not sure what I can suggest if you're trying to attract people via covers since people have different tastes when it comes to art and coloring styles.

But if you want to do your covers, go for it. I think everyone on the thread has a point one way or another.

If you want to make your cover? Go for it.

People judge books by covers? Of course.

Readers won't care who makes the covers? Yea they likely won't. What matters is if they like it or not.
 

tiaf

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Depends on your audience. I have readers who never bothered to look at the full-size version of the cover. :blob_teary:

While you can bait with art, people will only stay for the story. Others might not agree and say a cover is everything, but that's not it at all.

I know the standard of my target readership and I want to believe I do good in that aspect. But will there be people who get turned down by my covers? Certainly, there will always be people who don't like the style. But I still like what I draw. I also like my old stuff although it's lacking in comparison to my current standard.

As a reader, I see covers with bop art, but then see the synopsis and tags...not what I'm looking for, so nope. A good cover can do wonders, but only to a limited degree. And let's be honest: EVEN THE QUALITY OF MY BANNERS IS HIGHER THAN SH COMPRESSED COVERS!!!

Hit me up on discord and I give you some anatomy advice and you will be good. Seriously, we can make your ikemen shine, there isn't missing much. People who say otherwise can shut up.
 

MissPaige36

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Depends on your audience. I have readers who never bothered to look at the full-size version of the cover. :blob_teary:

While you can bait with art, people will only stay for the story. Others might not agree and say a cover is everything, but that's not it at all.

I know the standard of my target readership and I want to believe I do good in that aspect. But will there be people who get turned down by my covers? Certainly, there will always be people who don't like the style. But I still like what I draw. I also like my old stuff although it's lacking in comparison to my current standard.

As a reader, I see covers with bop art, but then see the synopsis and tags...not what I'm looking for, so nope. A good cover can do wonders, but only to a limited degree. And let's be honest: EVEN THE QUALITY OF MY BANNERS IS HIGHER THAN SH COMPRESSED COVERS!!!

Hit me up on discord and I give you some anatomy advice and you will be good. Seriously, we can make your ikemen shine, there isn't missing much. People who say otherwise can shut up.
Hahahah I really like this response. Yesss let’s work hard to make my ikemen shine! I’d love to get advice, should I dm you here?
 

K5Rakitan

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Go for it!

The alternative is to pay someone else to draw for you, which is something I do since I've decided not to bother cultivating my drawing skills. Personally, I'm planning to drop about $200 on a cover when I find the right person for it. You're definitely not there yet, but I would pay you $5 to illustrate a chapter for me if you want some more practice.

Carlo.jpg
 

BlackKnightX

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I personally think I’ve gotten decent enough to at least depict what I want my characters to look like. And I’ve seen how even the most popular stories doesn’t have the best art on their covers, but are still very appealing.

I’m currently drawing my main character and thinking of making it the cover. I’ll add stuff of course and I’m not done but mind giving suggestions? Not sure if I was going to put this on artist general or author general since I want both audiences…
View attachment 9912
Cover really does grab my attention whenever I decide to read something. But, more than that is the premise. Cover can be anything, stick-figure is also okay, but not the premise. If the premise is not interesting enough, then I’ll just move on.

Your drawing looks nice, though. Just use it.
 

tiaf

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Hahahah I really like this response. Yesss let’s work hard to make my ikemen shine! I’d love to get advice, should I dm you here?
discord or here, although I'm more active on discord
 

MissPaige36

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Go for it!

The alternative is to pay someone else to draw for you, which is something I do since I've decided not to bother cultivating my drawing skills. Personally, I'm planning to drop about $200 on a cover when I find the right person for it. You're definitely not there yet, but I would pay you $5 to illustrate a chapter for me if you want some more practice.

View attachment 9913
Aw that’s really sweet! Sure, I’ll work harder so that you’ll increase the value of my art! :blob_upset::blob_hmph:
 

K5Rakitan

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Aw that’s really sweet! Sure, I’ll work harder so that you’ll increase the value of my art! :blob_upset::blob_hmph:
Cool! Just pick a chapter that's not illustrated yet and let me know if you need any reference pics :)
 

ElijahRyne

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I personally think I’ve gotten decent enough to at least depict what I want my characters to look like. And I’ve seen how even the most popular stories doesn’t have the best art on their covers, but are still very appealing.

I’m currently drawing my main character and thinking of making it the cover. I’ll add stuff of course and I’m not done but mind giving suggestions? Not sure if I was going to put this on artist general or author general since I want both audiences…
View attachment 9912
If you decide to draw it yourself, make sure to draw it in the proper size. If you don’t you will probably need to resize it latter…. Don’t do what I did.
Original
1FFC0303-F384-48FF-92B1-A78EF1577247.png

Resized
42875464-1104-42A4-AFEB-EA584D8A9A03.png

The resized version becomes blurry compared to the original.
 
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