Today I have my graphic designer friend, Mallory Rock with an article about the importance of crediting cover designers. For those of us who work in the book services industry receiving credit for our part in the making of a book is the lifeblood of our business. By taking the time to credit your editor, cover designer, cover model, author assistant, publicist, marketer, etc you help each of us as we grow in our field. This is always appreciated. I’ve been brought to tears over mentions to my part in books like My Girlfriend Bites by Doug Solter and The Storm Behind Your Eyes by Alicia Kat Vancil. So authors, take a moment to think about all the people who have helped you book along the way, and as Mallory says, consider giving credit where credit is due.
When I browse through Amazon, or any other book retailer site, I am always clicking the “look inside” feature. I want to check out that copyright page to see who created the awesome cover for your book. Sadly, much too frequently I find that authors are not giving credit to their cover artists on the copyright page…and it leaves me angry, disappointed, and wondering… why?
Let’s start with where this is happening. The answer is simple and complex all at the same time, so I am going to start with an example…
I went to the website of an author. I saw a series of covers they had for their books and loved them!! I searched all over their site trying to find a credit or mention anywhere about who created those fabulous covers. The problem was – it wasn’t there. On the entire website, there is not one mention of the cover artist. I then followed their sell links, hoping to find it there. They had a “look inside” on their eBook, but no credit for the cover art anywhere in it. The acknowledgments were there, and included a thank you to their editor, marketing guru, beta readers, etc. Still no cover artist. I clicked over to their other formats and still found nothing. No matter where I looked, I could not find who had created those awesome covers. And this was not an isolated case. I have found it to be quite common.
So why is this so important? For several reasons…
- Giving credit is just the right thing to do. Someone created your cover, which is part of the product you’re selling. The credit is given to you for writing it, and the credit for the cover on that book should be given to the artist.
- You write a book and certainly want everyone to know you wrote it, right? You want them to know who you are, so if they like your work they buy your next book. Cover artists want their name to be attached to the work they do too. If an author sees a cover they love and wants to contact that artist, they need to have easy access to find them. Cover designers gain notice and new work through their current work, but that is impossible to do if no one knows it’s their work to begin with.
- Not all, but many artists retain the copyright to their work, but give an unlimited license to the author to use it as the cover of their book. This means that just like you have a copyright in your book because what you wrote belongs to you, the artist needs a copyright/credit because the cover of that book belongs to them. But even if you do have full copyrights, you should still be giving credit.
In short, it’s important to give credit where it’s due. Cover designers make their living much the same way you do and not giving them credit is a great disservice to them and their art. Not having it has likely cost them potential clients already. And I am sure that many of you never even thought about it before and are feeling bad right now that you have left this detail out of your credits in your book and on your website. You can however correct it for the future in your current books and any new books moving forward.
So I urge you all to go update your copyright pages, add something somewhere on your site about who created your covers with a link back to them, and share this with authors you know. The only way to correct this is by being aware and taking the steps to fix it.
About Mallory Rock:
I work with authors to bring their literary works to life through covers, interior graphics, layout & formatting, cinematic book trailers, custom world maps, web graphics, and promotional materials. I am the art director at the author PR firm Novel Publicity, cover artist & print formatter for Evolved Publishing, and also work with Indie Reader providing custom cover and promotional graphics services. I have worked with authors like NY Times Best Seller Bella Andre and also with The Tannenbaum Company creating a look book for a fantasy novel turned screenplay.
I am an avid reader and enjoy books across many genres. But I have a very fervid love of dystopian and fantasy novels. I have been known to devour up to a book a day when my busy schedule permits. I enjoy combining my love of literary works with my artistic skills to help authors bring their work to life visually.
Check out Mallory’s work on her website.
I’m so glad you posted this. I just had my cover redone and I posted the information on my website, but you’re right, I need to include it on the copyright page!
Thank you Gina! I believe Mallory is dead on with this one. Giving credit to your designer is such a huge part of what makes their business work AND helps other authors to also find supurb covers which in turn helps us all. Thank you for including your designers information on your website and I hope adding it to the copyright page goes smoothly!
Mallory, thanks for the reminder! I credit my cover designer and editor on
Amazon, but I’m going to mention them on my website too.
best,
Cathryn Cade
That is very kind of you Cathryn! I’m sure your designer and editor appreciate it!
I completely agree! Both as an author and a publisher, I make sure that my cover designer receives credit within the pages of my book, as well as on my website. I’d love to see Amazon add a credit type for cover designer as well. (They have editors, illustrators, etc. But when I questioned whether I could use the Illustrator credit type, Amazon told me that was for interior illustrations, not cover designs.) Right now, I add a credit to my book description, because it’s only right! I can write the best work in the whole world… (Wait! I think I have!) But no one will read it if the title, front cover, spine or back cover blurb doesn’t catch their eye. And most of those elements are in the hands of my cover designer…
Yes Tara that is an amazing thing to do to support all those who help in the making of your books. Book design is such an important part of the process and helping keep your designer in business means they will be around to work on your next books. By helping each other you both gain so much. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for addressing this issue! Coming from an illustrator’s point of view, this a big problem when artists and designers are not getting credits with online retailer websites. Thanks!
Yes Kari, I was lucky to have Mallory on the site to talk about it from a designer point of view. It is so important to give credit where we can and support those that help us.
Hi, quick question. Where is the best place to put this information? I have a graphic artist and a model that I would like to give credit. to. Thanks!
Usually, you’ll find the info on the copyright page. In other cases, it might be listed on the cover itself. Check out some books at a local bookstore or library and you’re likely to spot it! You can also thank them in your acknowledgement section if you have one. I hope this helps!
I really like this article and I agree. I just wrote a book and illustrated it. However, a close friend illustrated my book cover. I want to give credit to each of us for our part, especially her for the book cover, but I had no knowledge about how to word it on the book cover. I was searching for examples online. Your article is the closest thing to address what I need. Thanks.
I’m so glad this article was able to help!
On the copyright page I usually do a short list of folks like:
Cover design by person
Editing by person
Formatting by person
I’ve also seen authors include their team on their websites in the FAQ section or a For Authors section
Yesterday on receiving the final product for my book from an illustrator we met online, I told her I would credit her work on the copy right page. She expressed appreciation but I was curious about her response and I checked through a number of books on my shelf and found most had not credits for the artist. Hence, I decided to Google the topic and landed on your article.
Diana Mora did a very good job on my book cover and deserves to be credited for it. I will also add her to my website.
Crediting intellectual labour on book projects is the right thing to do.
I agree! And it really helps out artists and other authors as well. It’s a win-win all around.