8 Tips for working with (and finding) a Book Designer. Volume III

All this month I've been covering tips for working with (and finding) a designer. Welcome to Volume III.

To recap the last few tips:
Tip# 1 - Research your genre.
Tip# 2 - Research a cover designers style.
Tip #3 - Get a personal recommendation.
Tip #4 - Don't let $money$ be everything.

Moving on to this weeks tips:

Tip #5 - Get a contract
It's always best to get a contract. This way you'll have, in writing, exactly what is expected of you, and your designer. It should cover things like: How many design concepts are included? How many revisions are included? If you go over that number of revisions, what is the additional cost? What is the expected timeline for deliverables? How long do you have to review the deliverables? Is a deposit required? What forms of payment are acceptable? Are there any additional fees or expenses?

Tip #6 - Share your vision
If you followed Tip #1 about researching your genre, you should now have a good idea what's out on the market. So, how is your story unique? What is your vision for the cover? Be sure to share your likes and dislikes. Save samples of what you found in Tip number 1 to share with your designer.

There is one caveat to this tip, and that is to be sure to listen to your designers advice. Assuming you've chosen a good designer, with lots of experience, if she's/he's telling you it's probably not a good idea to include the spinning cat, taco truck, tanning salon AND the angels with swords, she/he probably knows what they are talking about.

I'll be sharing two final tips next week. Feel free to jump in and let me know what topics you'd like to know about book design next month.