How I Found My Book Cover Artist

Let me tell you something straight up.

I do not half-ass my book covers. I full-ass them. If I'm going to spend years bleeding over words, those babies are going to be dressed in their absolute best when they hit the shelves.

Period.

So how did I find the one. My cover artist soulmate? Buckle up.

I have attached a downloadable Google Sheets files that I used to find my perfect artist.

Step One: I Raided the Bookstore

I walked into the bookstore armed with caffeine and spite for bad design. I wasn’t browsing. I was hunting. I picked up every book that made me pause with that little flutter of “ooooh.” At the back of each one, I checked the credits page. Nine times out of ten, the cover artist is listed unless the publisher locked them behind some corporate vault. Cowards.

If the artist was credited, I took a picture of the info. No shame. Then later, I looked them up, stalked their portfolios like an ex with something to prove, and started building my master list.

Step Two: I Made a Damn Spreadsheet

Because chaos without structure is just chaos. I compared every artist I found side by side. I wrote down

• What I loved

• What I hated

• Their stylistic quirks

• Whether they'd worked with big-name authors

• Whether their work felt like mine

I didn’t want just “good.” I wanted magic. Atmosphere. That something that makes you want to run your fingers across the cover like a creep.

Step Three: Instagram Deep Dive

Next came Instagram. I searched for digital artists, real artists. Not AI collagers with a Canva subscription and zero shame.

Every time I found someone interesting, I dove into their work. Do they understand movement? Color? Can they paint emotion? Can they do it again and again across a series?

Added them to the list. Moved on.

Step Four: The Roast Session

Enter my best friend. We sat down with my curated list of artists and proceeded to debate like it was the freaking Olympics of cover art.

We complimented. We insulted. We dissected fonts like fonts had feelings. It was brutal. Beautiful. Necessary.

Until finally we landed on one. The artist who could bring my vision to life without making me want to gouge my eyes out every time I saw my own book.

Step Five: The Perfectionist’s Creed

I am a perfectionist. It’s woven into my DNA and hot-glued into my publishing process. My books will

• Be the same height

• Use the same font family

• Have the same energy and vibe cover to cover

• Come from the same artist, no exceptions

If something about the design would slowly drive me insane over time, I don’t print it. That’s the glorious, expensive beauty of self-publishing. I have full creative control, and you better believe I use it.

Cover Artist Selection.xlsx

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