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How do I get a Cover Template from Createspace?
Go here and select a few simple things, and you're on your way!
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3 Secrets to E-Book Cover Design Success
An article arguing cover design should be: Simple, Small, & Strategic.
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Book Cover Archive
An archive of book cover designs/designers for the purpose of appreciation and categorization. You can browse book covers by designers, authors, titles, genres, typefaces, or you can choose to browse at random.
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Book Design Review
A blogger posts book reviews, design reviews, and lists of favorite and least favorite book covers by year.
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Design 1106
Offers authors and publishers cover design advice, as well as a critiquing service
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Importance of Book Covers by Midwest Book Review
An article by MBR discussing the importance of cover design.
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Covers Gone Wild! by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
An ongoing blog detailing a humorous (and somewhat "steamy") but apt discussion of romance cover art.
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Rate My Book Cover
A site that rates book covers on a scale of 0-10. You can submit your cover via the link at the bottom of the page.
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Book & Cover Reviewer
A review blog, geared specifically toward writers of Christian-targeted fiction, the analyzes both writing and all aspects of cover design.
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Book Covers That Got Away by NYTimes Sunday Book Review
For fun, the New York Times Sunday Book Review presents killed covers whose creators couldn't quite let them rest in peace.
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Weight and Spine Width Calculator
For printing and distribution clients of Lightning Source, a free tool for calculating spine width and book weight.
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50 Watts
A scrapbook blog of book cover designs and illustrations.
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Creative Minds Press: The Exterior
Discussion on why a cover is important, whether to hire a professional designer, the use of clip art, and title information.
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28 Book Review Sites for the Self-Published Author
Below is a list of 28 websites, ezines, and blogs, whose contributors post more in-depth reviews of featured books and ebooks. Again, the sites are ranked by Alexa number: the lower the number, the more popular the site. You can submit your work to all of them, although it goes without saying that a submission will not necessarily result in a review, favorable or otherwise!
- http://blogcritics.org/books/ 12,356: Features book reviews and ebook reviews, separately.
- http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/category/ebooks/ 110,388: A site that reviews romance books, with a smattering of other genres.
- http://www.bookslut.com/ 207,831: A monthly web magazine and daily blog dedicated to reading: news, reviews, and commentary, and unofficially affiliated with NPR. To submit a book: http://www.bookslut.com/contact.php
- http://blog.booksontheknob.org/ 246,176: A site featuring and alerting readers to bargain reads, free ebooks, and providing ebook reviews. For review: http://blog.booksontheknob.org/p/about-this-blog-and-contact-info.html
- http://kindle-author.blogspot.com 284,485: A blog for self-published kindle authors, run by a self-published kindle author. He provides author features, interviews, posts "sponsored posts" by guest writers, and opportunities to advertise on his site.
- http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Welcome.html 368,716: A site that reviews romance novels. http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/reviewsguidelines.html
- http://theunreadreader.com 696,089: A blog that reviews bound and e-books, focusing on chick lit, contemporary, dystopian, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, and young adult; does not accept nonfiction or self-pub. Submission directions here: http://www.theunreadreader.com/p/review-policy.html
- http://www.bestsellersworld.com/ 946,785: A network of reviewers that provides book reviews and giveaways. http://www.bestsellersworld.com/book_review_submission.htm
- http://www.kindleobsessed.com/ 1,082,187: A blog that reviews self-published and indie authors and posts lists of free ebooks. Submit for review here: http://www.kindleobsessed.com/review-request/
- http://www.mrsgiggles.com/index.html 1,151,918: A site that reviews ebooks, mostly of the romantic fiction genre, and sometimes movies and music.
- http://bookdout.wordpress.com/ 1,429,032: A blog that reviews print books and ebooks (that can be accessed on ipod touch), with a preference for general fiction, women's fiction, cosy mystery, psychological thriller, murder mystery, crime, humor, paranormal/urban fantasy, and romance.
- http://candysraves.com/ 1,649,793: A blog that reviews books and ebooks, with an emphasis on memoirs, women's fiction, light paranormal, crime novels, time travel novels, horror/suspense/thriller, and selected YA. Reviews are posted on the site, as well as on Goodreads, Smashwords, and Amazon.
- http://thebookbuff.blogspot.com/ 1,705,165: A blog that reviews all books and ebooks of any genre but erotica. Submissions: http://thebookbuff.blogspot.com/p/review-guidelines.html
- http://acozyreaderscorner.blogspot.com/ 1,773,601: A blog that reviews books in hard copy (preferred) but also ebooks on a limited basis, with a focus on women's fiction/chick lit, romance, literary and historical fiction, Christian fiction, YA, children's literature, memoirs, and cookbooks.
- http://bitsybling.blogspot.com/ 2,130,000: A blog that reviews books and ebooks of any genre. Submissions: http://bitsybling.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html
- http://booklog.eternalised.net/ 2,586,781: A book review blog featuring adult and YA fantasy novels, paranormal, supernatural, and historical genres. http://booklog.eternalised.net/review-policy/
- www.dailyebookreviews.com/ 2,951,890: A blog that reviews fiction ebooks, with an emphasis on science fiction, horror, fantasy, and thrillers, and spotlights an author weekly.
- http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com 3,118,843: Fantasy/sci fi co-writers team up to review books, conduct author interviews, and post guest blogs. Submit for feature and/or pay for a slot on a "spotlight page" here: http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html
- http://busybeesbookreviews.blogspot.com/ 3,418,571: A blog that reviews books of most genres and offers author interviews. Submission information: http://busybeesbookreviews.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html
- http://thebooxreview.com/about 3,705,955: A site that posts of reviews of new ebooks by an in-house reviewer, and posts readers' submitted book reviews.
- http://www.thesundaybookreview.com/ 3,947,099: A site that reviews thriller, crime, true crime, and mystery, as well as provides indie pub news, guest posts, and interviews.
- http://spaldings-racket.blogspot.com/ 3,990,280: A blog run by author named Nick Spalding who reviews books of all genres. Submit your books here: http://spaldings-racket.blogspot.com/p/submitting-your-book-to-spaldings.html
- http://smashwordsreviewed.blogspot.com 5,009,611: A blog that features indie authors, reviews new books, interviews authors, and hosts guest reviewers of all genres.
- http://www.ebookaddictreviews.com/ 5,406,299: A team of reviewers that reviews romance ebooks.
- http://thecajunbooklady.com 6,227,261: A blog featuring book reviews, author interviews, and giveaways. Submit books here: http://www.thecajunbooklady.com/p/reviewing-policy-ftc.html
- http://elizabethswigar.wordpress.com/ 8,056,568: A blog dedicated to reviewing Kindle formatted ebooks, open to all genres, but particularly interested in historical fiction. http://elizabethswigar.wordpress.com/submit/
- http://novelcritic.com: Reviews published and self-published novels of any genre.
Give 'em a try, and let us know if any of these are particularly fabulous--or particularly bad. We like to keep our clients and folks who drop by updated! Thanks!