Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast
Book Covers
[14-01-04: Corrected and uploaded the correct audio file… Sorry!]
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What’s your most recent release?
H. K. Kiting: The Funhouse
Dean Chills: Forbidden WInter
Episode 15: Book Covers
We’ve talked a bunch about the act of writing itself, but we’ve never touched on one of the most important aspects of your book: The Cover. In many ways, the cover is more important than the contents of your book: it’s the first thing a prospective reader sees, and if they hate the cover, your book has zero chance of being bought.
What should be on an erotic book cover?
* Shirtless men and Fabio clones?
* Half-dressed women
* Faces or just bodies?
Amazon’s UNOFFICIAL rules:
* –Naked female torso including front view or sometimes side view. Side boob inappropriate.
* –Arms or hands across breasts.
* –Naked butt. On one occasion, upper thigh close to lower butt cheek was unacceptable.
* –No naked people in a clinch even if they aren’t “fondling”.
* –Any sexual position that implies penetration (Missionary, doggie-style, etc).
* –No naked characters straddling each other.
* –No handcuffs on wrists. Handcuffs being held is fine.
* –No “O” faces.
* –No nudity.
* –No women on their knees in front of men (as in implied fellatio).
* –No men between women’s thighs (as in implied cunnilingus).
* –No men’s faces on breasts.
Still there is NO official list of rules other than a vague statement that their content guidelines are “About what you’d expect.”
Ways of getting a book cover made:
* Buy a premade book cover
* Hire someone to make a book cover
* Do it yourself
Doing it yourself:
* Tools (Photoshop, Pixelmator, etc.)
* Abtract?
* Photos- Taken yourself or purchased from Stock Photographers [Jason’s Mummification]
Legal considerations:
* Model release (and especially decency clauses)
* Photo licenses and royalties. Not as simple as just buying from a stock site.
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