Doing it Right the First Time

I was hoping to have my new anthology ready to go by this week. Unfortunately, I've run into a snag. The stories are edited and ready to go, but the cover art isn't there. I did commission a piece, but it wasn't what I wanted. Or rather, it was. Unfortunately, what I wanted wasn't what I needed.

The cover artist for The Chronicles of Meterra: Arrival, Alex Lechev, did a great job, in my opinion. Naturally, I went to him first, but I saw that his prices are higher than they were three months ago. Almost double, in fact. So, I went somewhere else, because I was thinking in terms of budget and what I could 'afford' to do.

Now, that's not an unreasonable thing to consider, especially when sales are rather slow so far. I mean, social media isn't my thing, and neither is marketing, so it's tough for to get the word out to people about the books I've written. So, I feel I have to pinch the pennies. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. This is a lesson I've learned many, many times in the past, but it obviously didn't stick. So, I went cheap, and that's exactly what I got.

It's just not going to work, not for the book I wrote, at least. So, instead of getting the right guy to do the art two weeks ago so I could release the book now, I have to hope that he can do it in less than two weeks so I can have it out by the end of the month. If he'll even take the job. And I'll still have to pay the price, on top of what I paid for the cheaper cover.

Lesson learned. Quality isn't cheap, and for a new writer who wants to be taken seriously, cheap covers aren't going to cut it. Sure, for my mysteries I can do the covers myself; find a free picture online that fits the book's theme, and I'm good to go. But it's not easy to find a free picture online of a group of knights fighting weird monsters in an underground forest. Essentially impossible, actually. Trust me, I looked.

So, once again...lesson learned. If you want it done right, don't cheap out. Some things just can't be done that way. And cover art for fantasy novels is included in those things. For those of you who can't wait to read it...sorry about that. I promise, it will be worth the wait. But for now, I want it to look right, since that's what's going to get people's attention first if they come across it.

I linked to the Meterra novel earlier, but I should also mention my latest published book, Best Served Cold, the third Cameron Vail mystery. Check it out, and tell your friends, too. Support indie publishers, because we offer something the traditional publishers don't: Fun.