Here are 20 helpful resources for writers who are ready to start promoting their books and for those of you who are searching for that perfect cover artist or book editor.
Suppose you're still in the beginning phases of writing your novel and need some tools to improve your grammar, or you need a fun map generator. In that case, I recommend you stop by my other blog post.
Book Cover Mock-Ups
Adazing can be used to create an ebook mock-up of your book covers, so you can see what the finished product could look like and market your book on social media. This product they offer is not for free. You can upload your images to the site and see the results, but if you want to use any of them for social media, you'll need to pay a fee and give them your email address.
You have to pay for Photoshop, but it's an excellent investment for those who want to create their own book covers and mock-ups to use.
Canva is FREE! Canva is a drag-and-drop format that provides access to over a million photographs, graphics, and fonts. There are templates that you can pay for, but they have enough variety that you don't need to purchase anything if you're low on cash.
The Image Apothecary has an extensive collection of stylized stock photos for any genre. Some of their templates will acquire Adobe Photoshop to use correctly, but they offer assistance if you don't have the software to insert them yourself. Please check out their FAQ's page for more information and prices.
Purchase Professional Book Covers
This man's cover art is impressive. He's created book covers for several series that I enjoyed reading.
Hampton is a book cover artist and graphic designer who works with your budget.
MoorBooks Design is a design studio that specializes in making custom book covers.
Book cover design services for indie authors, email support, and iterative design.
She's an affordable cover artist for writers on a budget. I purchased a cover from Mulan once before. She was easy to work with and had quick responses.
Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. They can offer much more than just graphic designs.
Similar to Fiverr, this platform also connects graphic designers with clients on a budget.
Reedsy has professional designers with experience in every genre. They also have editors and marketing professionals that are excited to work with you. I highly recommend this site.
Books made awesome, specialist book cover designs for bestselling books.
Beautiful ebook and print cover designs.
Need a cover design on a budget? You can customize template book covers for your story.
Book Editors In The Instagram Community
Whitney and her husband Travis are more than just teammates; they're published authors who want to see your books succeed as well. I met Whitney on Instagram, and she's a lovely human who cares deeply for others and always brings a smile to my face.
Joanne edits fiction and non-fiction books, and her rates are affordable.
Professional, affordable copy-editing, and proofreading services.
Ines is a formatter with a professional background and education in publishing. She offers book formatting services to self-published authors.
Enchanted Ink Publishing was created by indie author Natalia Leigh, and her company offers editing and book design services.
If You're Making Your Own Book Covers
There are thousands of websites where you can purchase stock photos or even download free images to use in your book covers. If you're going to make your own covers and are planning to buy your stock photos, be sure to read the fine print on the license.
A friend of mine who's a graphic designer mentioned that most stock photos are licensed for a single project or use. This means you may only have permission to use that cover for one print, one release (if online), and in one format. Once you change the format (ebook to an audiobook, for example, or a second printing), technically, you have to pay for it again. You can purchase the unlimited license, which will include all future uses of a photo, but it's often 3 or 4 times more expensive.
He also mentions that any free images you use, to make sure that they have CC rights to them. (Creative Commons rights are completely safe to use.) Still, they are often attribution requirements or manipulation restrictions involved. So, read the rules carefully, and read what type of CC rights are attached to an image before using it.