Seriously, if you can afford a cover artist, as in a real person that is a real artist, pay them.
I have been attempting to create a cover for my upcoming, self-published collection of Blaise Maximillian short stories. And it is hard. Very. Damn. Hard. So hard – and has resulted in covers that I can only view as … shit. This means that I’m actually going to have to pony up and find someone that can do a better job than me, for what I can actually afford to spend. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to go as cheap as possible and end up with something that looks like my efforts below, but nor does it mean that I’m necessarily going to have a masterpiece that will draw in sales by the millions.
Watch this space. Hopefully I’ll have something bettererererererer to show you.
The border is what the Kindle Cover Creator does. So is the text.
This is what I did, based on what Kindle did. It’s my favourite of the lot. Not saying much though.
I did this one as well. I like the background image, because it’s so bleak. Yes, I know that this isn’t a WW1 gas mask, however, it could be in MY WW1!
A Kindle filter placed on this, like the original one I tried.
This looks like … ugh
Matthew Sylvester 
I’m in the same boat…hired one “artist” and had to let him go, because while he was brilliant in Photoshop, he didn’t get my novel at all. If you have a good experience with a particular designer, please keep us updated!
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Posted by Ana Spoke | July 23, 2015, 12:04 amCertainly will! Have a look at the covers for my Raus! Series. The first was by the Amazing Jeff Preston and the second by Jason Zerillo.
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Posted by mattsylvester | July 23, 2015, 4:30 pmI can see only one, Raus Untoten on Amazon?
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Posted by Ana Spoke | July 24, 2015, 12:57 amThere is also Stille! And the cover for that is lush.
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Posted by mattsylvester | July 24, 2015, 8:10 amMaybe I’m wrong but they don’t seem that bad. I’m not sure what the book is about or the tone you’re trying to set. I assume you’ve got a WW1 book going on.
The general rule is, you’re right, to go with a professional but that being said, I’ve seen much, much worse attempts by those who tried to go it alone.
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Posted by bookshelfbattle | July 23, 2015, 12:07 amThanks for the compliment. The book will be an anthology of short stories about a chap called Maximillian Blaise, set in an alternate history where Germany wins an 8-year-long war. It goes from war stories to Blaise joining a new police force back home. Very dystopian, diesel punk, anti-hero and hopefully grimdark 🙂
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Posted by mattsylvester | July 23, 2015, 4:33 pmWhilst I’m suffering a bout of insomnia I though I’d have a crack at it: http://richardhole.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/bitter_defeat.jpg
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Posted by Rich Hole | August 2, 2015, 1:19 amGood effort!
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Posted by mattsylvester | August 2, 2015, 5:30 am