How have you already got a book cover before you’ve written the book?

Another good question from somebody which I will attempt to explain in a few short paragraphs.

I am not ashamed to say I am a self-published author and when setting out on this path, I decided I would fully embrace the whole process. Admittedly this decision was primarily driven by a reluctance to spend too much money when I lacked confidence that any of this investment would be recuperated upon publication.

Against best advice, I self-edited with only the assistance of a few friends and the wonder of Grammarly. I did reach out for a professional quote, but the fee was almost £1,000 - that’s 600 copies I’d have to sell right there! I decided against it, and I will accept the consequences. ”…raw talent…” one review says. I’ll take that.

And I took the same decision when it came to designing a cover. KDP Cover Creator is a great little tool, and I love to take a picture or two, so I confidently decided to give it a go. I am delighted with the cover of Echoes, and I had settled upon it before the book was complete.

You will also see that I have covers for my following two projects, hence the question at the beginning of this post. This is my process:

I have the whole story in my head, and I toy with titles. Once the title is settled upon and I know the mood of the piece I am trying to write, I almost immediately imagine the imagery for the cover. It evolves, of course, but I put the effort in early because I find having a finished cover excellent motivation to finish the writing process. I am an impatient guy, and I am driven to get to the end so I can share.

Probably another reason I self-published. Who wants to wait for agents and publishers? Review, reject, repeat… how dull!