Part of writing the next bestselling novel is making sure that you have an amazing cover to draw readers in and keep them coming back for more.

The saying goes: ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!’ But in my own experience, book covers are the best way to tell if I will read a book or not. Of course, there are also times when I have held off on buying a book, or bought it through a specific retailer just to get the cover that I wanted.

Despite what people may say, book covers are important!

With this in mind, I set out on my hunt to find a cover artist who could bring my book cover to life. In my mind, I had some ideas about covers that I found appealing, and what I wanted to include in my cover. Yet I had no clue about how it would actually come together.

I used Fiverr for a number of things while publishing my book, and this was one of them I scoured through dozens of artists and their portfolios.

If I’m totally honest, none of them really stood out to me. They were all good covers, don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t fit the look I thought that I wanted. Romance and sci-fi covers seemed to be the most popular covers out there, as I saw a lot of them, but again, it just didn’t fit the ‘epic fantasy’ vibe.

I considered looking into a few of the minimalist designers, to get something that looked very professional but quite simple. Ultimately I decided against it, but it was something I thought about for a long time, and it might be an option for me in future when I write other stories.

The cover artist I ended up going with hit all of my requirements (link to page) and got back to me quickly which I appreciated. I chose their premium package which was certainly more pricey, but for all the amazing things I got I did think it was worth it.

Unfortunately the dust jacket was sold separately, but as I am only starting out I didn’t think it would be too big of an issue just yet, as I don’t plan to sell hard cover books right now. Hopefully in future I will, but for now this was everything I needed.

I sent them a document with all my inspiration, ideas, and any other information that they might need, and hoped for the best!

Of course, I was greatly rewarded about a week later when they got back to me with the cover, and it was stunning. I had never really been able to visualise what I wanted it to look like before, but as soon as I got it, I was in love.

They were incredibly helpful with all the little details and revisions that I wanted to make, and I left a very happy customer.

It can be such a nerve-wracking process, because as an author, you spend so much time working on your novel that you want everything to be perfect. Even so, I would absolutely recommend hiring a cover artist, especially as an indie or self-published author. A good artist will help you take your book to the the next level by creating a cover that it absolutely unforgettable.