Josephina Book Cover Competition

2010-01-27 [wicked fae mage]: Do you have a description of the main character?

2010-01-29 [Kuehne]: Good question [wicked fae mage]. I guess I should add that in the description above.
Josephina is a mid-twenties human with lightly tanned skin. Think Anglo-Saxon who has spent a lot of time in the sun. She has brown hair with reddish highlights and brown eyes. She is rugged, but with a feminine sex appeal. Early in the story, she receives a cut to her left cheek.
She may be dressed in a hooded cloak or simple 14th century armor. Her main weapon is a longsword, but she is also fond of a small dagger.
She has an attitude and is arrogant, but is also haunted by the memory of the brutal death of her mother and an overpowering desire to make her father proud.

2010-02-07 [windowframe]: Working For Free. Not to sound rude - but if you're planning to make money off your hard work in writing the book, why do you think it's okay that your artist doesn't get paid for their hard work in producing your cover? Just something to think about is all.

2010-02-07 [Kaimee]: Hmm, I also generally sneer at job offers of this kind, because as a practicing graphic designer they're usually pretty insulting (yes, the wiki tells all :P) however I was considering entering this contest simply for some light hearted contest work, and because - this is not intended to be offensive [Kuehne] - in my experience of other similar contests on Elftown the book has never gone on to be published, other than self published to little success.
This does not presumably reflect on the author's skill, simply on the rarity of landing a professional publication deal, with huge amounts of money spent on the publicity.
Anyway, I would generally have an issue with an offer like this, but from experience, I would say there is little harm in entering such a contest.

Something I would like to question is whether entrants can see an excerpt of the writing, so we can judge whether it's a venture we wish to put time towards? :)
It can be hard to design a cover with little idea of the tone of writing involved.

2010-02-07 [Kaimee]: For that matter, and just as a small piece of advice, publishers I have dealt with (if you are going that route, rather than self publishing at your own expensive) seem to prefer that authors come to them with no cover artwork, as they generally use their in-house designers to ensure quality and style are appropriate, and the overall image is associated heavily with whatever campaign they design for the piece.

2010-02-07 [Kuehne]: This is good advice.. and I do appreciate it. I am not looking to make a great deal of money and was thinking about doing the self-publishing route. I can see how this would be insulting to professional artists, and perhaps I should rethink this. Perhaps I should offer a portion of royalties to the artist.

Again, I'm not looking to make a lot of money from this. It was more of a creative expression and a goal I've had (to have a book in print). 

[Kaimee], your suggestion of offering a portion of the story is excellent. I will add a link to a separate wiki in which you can read a potion of the story.

Good advice.. and I will make the necessary changes. Be assured that I did not mean to offend anyone.

2010-02-09 [Kaimee]: So nice to see such a sensible reply! :D If you're interested in self publishing, I would recommend lulu.com, which is a service available online where you can upload your book content and cover (or design it on the site), register for an isbn, and then either sell the book through their online store, make it private and buy copies yourself to sell, or sell it through your own website. Books are incredibly cheap for one off prints, and one of the few services that will let you do this - have books printed one or two at a time rather than in bulk lots starting at 1000.
I've had portfolios printed through them before and been very happy with the printing quality and price :)

Also, royalties rarely add up to anything in the long run, unless you design something very famous. A more standard procedure (and better for you if your book took off) would be to pay a one-time lump sum, usually ranging anywhere between $50-$5000 for this type of work.
Of course, on elftown there is no such requirement and very few of the contests here offer anything in terms of a 'real' prize, so don't feel like this is a requirement. It's just likely to effect the level of artists, designers and illustrators who participate.

Please do add that link, and any themes/tones/imagery/landscape that are important (keywords will do) because I'd love to see if I can come up with something. I do hope you go ahead with publishing though, the last book cover contest I entered here was never finished and the owner disappeared from elftown :P
Hope that all helps! :)

2010-02-11 [Kuehne]: I find it difficult to say that I will reward the winner with a cash prize.
I understand that good artists deserve it for their hard work, but I do not know the level of entries that will be given to this competition. I can not offer $500 to the winner and have nothing but mediocre entries. Someone will win.

I believe that a job well done deserves the reward and recognition, but I can not agree to give a cash prize.

I believe that I will find an entry that I will be honored to display on my book. Rest assured that I will give you the recognition that you deserve on the inside pages of my book.

The book will be completed. I am so close now, I can taste it. I am anxious to have it ready. It is in the editing process now.

2010-02-11 [Kuehne]: Hmm.. good advice [windowframe]. See why I keep you guys around. ;)

2010-05-03 [The Dizzy Raven]: Well, is this contest still up and running? :)
I was thinking about submitting. Might be kind of fun ^_^

2010-05-22 [blu.nation]: I was wondering what size & resolution you'd like this at? I believe if you're going to self-publish they give you very specific guidelines. Also would you like it to be a wraparound cover, including spine & back cover, possibly with a synopsis, or just the front cover?

2010-05-26 [Kuehne]: Sorry that I haven't been on for awhile. The contest is still up and running, but I have no entries yet. I don't really know specifics because I am new at this. If you'd like to put a synopsis on a wrap around cover, I can certainly provide you with one.

2010-05-29 [Kaimee]: If you check out some of those self publishing places we talked out (lulu.com etc) they give you sizes/resolutions :)
The size will depend how much you want to spend on publishing, and print resolution should always be at least 300dpi/ppi :)