Again, font and layout are very important too. I have seen covers with great cover art but very poor font and layout choices. So there’s an additional element to design if you really want a professional looking cover.
Some of us would be able to provide that layout work for cheap if an artist does not or cannot.
Also, if publishers wanted to work with us or hire us, that would be nifty, too.
True. One of the big things that always stands out to me in terms of a cover looking professional or amateurish is the font choice.
nod And to me, it’s telling when I see somebody without graphic design skills try to be too fancy with the font. Either the colors are jarring, or the font is horizontal for one word and then slanted the next, or the kerning is uneven and the font looks like word art that’s been put down in the last five minutes of the cover design.
I’ll buy a book with a bad cover if word of mouth lets me know that the author has done good work before, but if I’m trying out something new, I won’t spend money on a cover that doesn’t look right. Plus, it can be a huge downer to get excited for an anthology and then see that the cover isn’t up to snuff. I’d like to help mitigate some of that frustration if I can, because I do have the skills to do so.