Let’s talk about Sci-Fi book cover design! The exciting part. However much I loved writing the book, I was very excited to get the cover done. I thought that once I had the art finalized, I would be so close to being ready. I was wrong about the latter, but I did get a cover!
Like everything else in this self-publishing process, I was a little unsure of where to start. I had some limited experience from when I designed a board game, and from finding and working with designers, but outside of that, professional Sci-Fi book cover design was not part of my skill set. Although, on reflection, an early part of my humanitarian career was in the field of data and information analysis. A huge part of that was not the analysis itself, but presenting it in a digestible way to the people that mattered. So, I did at least have some very loose, left-field understanding of visual design principles.
Finding a Designer for My Sci-Fi Book
I used Fiverr for many things, including the Sci-Fi book cover design. I have now learned about other options like 100 Covers, which on reflection might have been the better choice for an indie author. I spent too long sorting through designers, creating a long list, then a shortlist. Finally, I reached out to a few for discussion and settled on one.
Marta Susic was excellent to work with. My vague design ideas were, let’s be frank, all over the place. I had so many concepts I liked. I sent over so many ‘inspiration’ covers from other books and sketches I had made; I honestly am surprised she was able to navigate through my excitement to find a solid concept.
Breaking the Genre Rules
It’s not a traditional cover, I don’t think. It doesn’t strictly follow the trends of the genre. This is on me, to be clear, not Marta; she worked with my direction and revision feedback like the professional she is. I didn’t want the stoic hero standing on an alien world, gun in hand. Nor did I want a spaceship shooting across the stars.
I wanted to capture the mystery, the grandeur, the loneliness, and the general insignificance of a species and a crew in space when paired up against not just the Mystery, but the reality of the universe. I also wanted the Sci-Fi book cover design to be clean, simple, and hopefully make the reader ask: what is that exactly?
This all may be a terrible mistake. I’m sure someone who knows anything about marketing will tell me that this is a poor path to take. The art should probably be quickly and simply recognizable to your audience, and as such, play to the traditions of the genre. Regardless, I was extremely happy with what Marta did. I personally think the cover is excellent and I love it to bits.
Balancing Illustrations with Budget
Beyond the cover, I really wanted a number of illustrations to accompany the book as well. Not just a map—I wanted schematics for the ships, as if from a manual. I wanted grainy illustrations of the alien landscape the research teams found. I built the concept into the story; I wanted that so much. One character is an amateur artist, sketching copies of the recordings from the away missions. In fact, this became a tragic plot line that I really loved just for the narrative it created.
Sadly, the truth is illustrations are expensive. For me at least, at this point in my writing, it all just fell outside my budget. To be clear, I’m not saying illustrators are overpriced; I think if anything they are underpriced, and I didn’t want to cut corners or shortchange artists. So, my book has one illustration: the Ship floor plan from the technical ship manual, done by Adriano Bezerra.
Next Steps for the Book Launch
One day, maybe I will have the resources to do the series justice, or at least satisfy my desire to support it with high-quality illustrations and art. For now, the Map and the cover are still more than enough. To even have a finished story, a cover, and an illustration is more than I thought I might achieve.
I had my cover, but I was in fact still a way from the end. I had (and still do have) revisions to make, marketing to do, and the fun admin of getting everything ready for launch. But at least now the book has a face. And it’s a face I love.
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