Parisian Phoenix Publishing

As a publisher, I often interact with people that have self-published a book or sometimes I also sometimes hear from authors that they have already published their book while I had it on my “to be read” pile. As president of the writers group, I interact with people that made the decision to self-publish for a lot of reasons, many of them really good decisions.

But, among writers, I think cover design does not get the weight it deserves. Allow me to explain. With the ease-of-use and cheap access available to online-based software like Canva, too many writers fail to capitalize on the skill and knowledge that comes from a professional artist. Many writers can design a passable cover, but more often than not, they fail.

Publishing is a team sport. Those who succeed admit when they need the help or advice of professionals. And just because you can do something yourself, it does not mean you should. Sometimes, even if you can do something, it’s using your valuable time to do something that someone else could do better and more efficiently.

This week, I read this article from Lit Hub: On Designing Your Own Book Cover. The author who wrote this essay had some great ideas, but she also went down many ‘rabbit holes.’