Cover art

[Rob_Royale]

So for the folks who publish outside Lit, what stock photo sites have you had the best luck with for cover images? I've heard that there are some sites that specialize in erotic or romance covers. Any love for those? I'd appreciate some recommendtions.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

https://depositphotos.com/ has some good stuff. The publisher I use steers us there for selecting cover images. When I do my own covers, I go for public domain images from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page or https://images.nasa.gov/ (for sci-fi themed stories.)

You can see examples of them on my web site. The stories that have a "Purchase" button are covers from my publisher, most likely from Deposit Photos. The stories with a "Download" button are my own amateur covers with public domain images.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

Also, when doing your own covers, a nice font can go a long way in making it look professional. This site has freely licensed fonts you can use: https://fontlibrary.org/

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have never used stock images for any of my covers.

I have done a search for an image, such as "red 1965 Chevrolet Corvair convertible", or "silhouettes of women", and then if I identify an image that I thinks works for my cover design, I will negotiate with the image owner for its use. So far, a simple acknowledgement in the front matter of the book is all I have ever had to contribute.

Other covers I have created involved images that I created myself comprised of inanimate objects, or using my wife as the model. My last two books have covers designed for me by getcovers.com. For approximately $35, I get a professionally designed book and e-book cover with marketing material. I have never tested their limits on erotic content for the cover but I don't see anything in their terms specifically prohibiting it.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

The FAQ suggests Unsplash.

 

[SyleusSnow]

Unsplash is still good, though like most of the popular free stock images sites it was bought out and now pimps the best images through getty images. Pexels and Pixabay are similar. morguefile.com is also still going. For historical and older images, https://picryl.com/ is good.

Often I use duckduckgo image search and change the license type to "public domain" or "free to use commercially" (but always verify the actual license of any pic it takes you to)

 

[Rob_Royale]

(but always verify the actual license of any pic it takes you to)

How do you do that?

 

[MrPixel]

My own photography; free Unsplash when I have nothing topical.

 

[Erozetta]

Pexels, unsplash, and commissioning art from artist friends.

 

[SyleusSnow]

How do you do that?

Read the license of the specific picture the search engine takes you to. Depending on the site, the licenses will be displayed per picture, or sometimes everything on the entire site is stated to be free to use.

I keep a record of every picture I use... where it came from, stated license, date obtained etc. in case someone claims copyright.

If the license isn't obvious and plainly stated, it's best not to use the photo.

 

[Rob_Royale]

commissioning art from artist friends.

I would love to do that. Honestly. A custom artwork cover by an amateur artist would be a pipedream for me.
I've been publishing outside Lit for two years and to date have made a little over a thousand dollars on 35 published titles. My trusty calculator shows me that 35 into $1000 = $28.50 per story. Sadly, there just isn't any room in that math for a custom image. Honestly, I'm thinking about calling it quits on the whole thing and just go back to only publishing here.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Read the license of the specific picture the search engine takes you to. Depending on the site, the licenses will be displayed per picture, or sometimes everything on the entire site is stated to be free to use.

I keep a record of every picture I use... where it came from, stated license, date obtained etc. in case someone claims copyright.

If the license isn't obvious and plainly stated, it's best not to use the photo.

Thanks, I saw the license icon on DepositPhotos. Understand now.

 

[SmilingLez]

I would love to do that. Honestly. A custom artwork cover by an amateur artist would be a pipedream for me.
I've been publishing outside Lit for two years and to date have made a little over a thousand dollars on 35 published titles. My trusty calculator shows me that 35 into $1000 = $28.50 per story. Sadly, there just isn't any room in that math for a custom image. Honestly, I'm thinking about calling it quits on the whole thing and just go back to only publishing here.

Congratulations on earning over $1,000 from your external publishing. That's $1,000 more than Literotica has paid you for the content you've posted there.

I think that distinction is worth keeping in perspective when comparing the two platforms.

 

[Erozetta]

I would love to do that. Honestly. A custom artwork cover by an amateur artist would be a pipedream for me.
I've been publishing outside Lit for two years and to date have made a little over a thousand dollars on 35 published titles. My trusty calculator shows me that 35 into $1000 = $28.50 per story. Sadly, there just isn't any room in that math for a custom image. Honestly, I'm thinking about calling it quits on the whole thing and just go back to only publishing here.

Yeah, the custom artwork is basically a splurge for me where I know I'm not going to be seeing any return on that but I get to help out another creative and put real effort into my project to make it look as good as I can.


These were all made with stock images:





This one is a custom artwork by a friend for a free product. No hope of ever getting the money back and I'd still do it the same way every time because this just hit the fucking spot for this project and I'm incredibly proud of it.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Congratulations on earning over $1,000 from your external publishing. That's $1,000 more than Literotica has paid you for the content you've posted there.

I think that distinction is worth keeping in perspective when comparing the two platforms.

You are right. On the other hand, it's also been a little stifling artistically because I'm concerned about making sure what I'm writing is marketable. So, I'm less likely to bang out a 5K stroker, knowing I'll need three more to sell it in an anthology. And there have been other issues, like forcing myself to write because just like here, new work gets attention and older work gets new life. It's become work. That's not why I started writing. Plus, the expense of the art programs and the time spent advertising. At some point the thousand dollars gets smaller and smaller.

 

[BenjaminCarlisle]

Yeah, the custom artwork is basically a splurge for me where I know I'm not going to be seeing any return on that but I get to help out another creative and put real effort into my project to make it look as good as I can.


These were all made with stock images:


View attachment 2704857View attachment 2704858View attachment 2704860View attachment 2704861View attachment 2704862View attachment 2704863View attachment 2704864View attachment 2704865


This one is a custom artwork by a friend for a free product. No hope of ever getting the money back and I'd still do it the same way every time because this just hit the fucking spot for this project and I'm incredibly proud of it.
View attachment 2704866

How did I get dragged into this?!

 

[Erozetta]

How did I get dragged into this?!

You asked me to make covers for you.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yeah, the custom artwork is basically a splurge for me where I know I'm not going to be seeing any return on that but I get to help out another creative and put real effort into my project to make it look as good as I can.


These were all made with stock images:


View attachment 2704857View attachment 2704858View attachment 2704860View attachment 2704861View attachment 2704862View attachment 2704863View attachment 2704864View attachment 2704865


This one is a custom artwork by a friend for a free product. No hope of ever getting the money back and I'd still do it the same way every time because this just hit the fucking spot for this project and I'm incredibly proud of it.
View attachment 2704866

Those look great and are way too hi-brow for my simple smut. This has been more my speed.

 

[BenjaminCarlisle]

You asked me to make covers for you.

I remember you adamantly volunteering

 

[Erozetta]

I remember you adamantly volunteering

Because I like making covers for stories.

 

[SmilingLez]

You are right. On the other hand, it's also been a little stifling artistically because I'm concerned about making sure what I'm writing is marketable. So, I'm less likely to bang out a 5K stroker, knowing I'll need three more to sell it in an anthology. And these have been other issues, like forcing myself to write because just like here, new work gets attention and older work gets new life. It's become work. That's not why I started writing. Plus, the expense of the art programs and the time spent advertising. At some point the thousand dollars gets smaller and smaller.

I can understand that. There's a point where trying to make money from something you love can take the fun right out of it. Having to write to meet a market, keep producing, and then spend more money and time promoting your work sounds exhausting.

I hope you don't lose the enjoyment of writing altogether. That would be a shame.

 

[Erozetta]

Those look great and are way too hi-brow for my simple smut. This has been more my speed.

Two of those covers are for 100 word stories, lol.

One is for vampire erotica. Most of the others are for a series.

My writing isn't what I'd call high brow by any means. I just like making moody covers.


I need to finish the project I had going for the Tainted Love event. I got sidetracked, but as I read each story, I was writing a review of them and making a cover for them.

 

[Erozetta]

This is my favorite cover I've done with a stock image.

I mostly make these for fun knowing no one will ever really see them because Lit doesn't support cover images for individual stories and I rarely ever put my stuff up to actually sell.