I prefer if it's art style is the same with the style in most translated novels posted in Webnovel.
But I don't really have the money to hire an artist.
I know that I don't have the skills to make an anime illustration of my preferred art style. So I'm planning to either use an avatar maker or ask permission to the artist to use their artwork (posted somehwhere) and credit them for that.
P.S.: If you know an avatar maker I can use for the illustration of my novel, please comment below.
Also, technically speaking, using an avatar maker doesn't really make me the artist. I just happened to make a combination of the illustrations provided.
How do I credit artists or the avatar maker properly?
That's all about cover illustrations for now.
P.S.: Are there other options for me?
So just google some sites that offer free cover art. Note that in the search bar, if the sites offer this setting, i would narrow the search to works under creative commons (CC) as this allows you to even use the cover art when selling your product so long as you credit the creator.
Here is a link to my preferred site:
https://pixabay.com/images/search/art/
and here is a link to an article that covers and links to sites that offer the same sort of service:
https://buffer.com/library/free-images
Otherwise? I know you said you cant afford a professional, but i dont know if thats just under the standard fees they ask for. In which case I would go to Fiverr and pick an artist you like. I had one commissioned and it only cost me around $95 which is WAYYY better a price than what you would find from most other artists who charge for every little fucking thing and ends up being upwards of $120.
This is a link to the person i ordered my current cover from:
https://www.fiverr.com/yiishii/draw-your-character-or-any-character-in-anime-style?context_referrer=subcategory_listing&source=category_tree&ref_ctx_id=7ab6dc7c-eaf7-4208-9839-3017094a543a&pckg_id=1&pos=3&context_type=rating&funnel=29b36042-e19c-453f-bbae-125febe1654c&ref=seller_level:top_rated_seller,level_two_seller
EDIT This is my cover btw:
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2983/my-sister-the-villainess/
(i just linked the novel itself since im on my laptop and dont have the image downloaded to it. Came out pretty cute, i think. i wants to huggles her~
But yeah you can search for others. I just mention this option only because its cheaper than most other professional cover creators. Fiverr has a lot of skilled artists who offer low prices in hopes of gaining more requests than they otherwise would charging the standard fees.
EDIT 2 i also remembered this :
Picrew｜つくってあそべる画像メーカー
It lets you create avatars or something? i forget exactly but the look nice and can be edited after you download them. i just dont know if they can be used for commercial use or not (like allow you to earn money from it without any legal issues) but if its just you using them for free it should be fine. Maybe check out WaifuLabs (google it) too and see if you like that. Basically it just creates some waifu portraits for you after asking your preferences, iirc.
