The cover for Wrath is ready. I was looking for a single eye-catching graphic that incorporated the primary elements of the story: a magic journal, smoke, and fire. I found this stock photo and fell in love with the rich colors. I used some of the fire’s colors in the text to tie it all together. Some of the layers needed a little adjustment on the smoke to remove some minor imperfections at the edge of the photo. I also used a gold color for a shadow effect on the text to give it some interest.
Like most Indie authors, I’m starting on a shoestring budget. I’ve done some web graphic arts work in my day job, so I downloaded GIMP, went through the tutorials to learn the interface, and did a basic layout for the cover. I looked at several covers from other recent Ebooks in the fantasy genre to see what worked the best as far as keeping the title and cover art visible when the cover is reduced to thumbnail size. I Googled and read dozens of web enties about Ebook cover design dos and don’ts until my eyes stung.
Lita Burke 
A key part of the process! The end result is looking good (yes, I almost said smokin’!) for you, though, and certainly should hold up well at any size. I know well the shoestring budget. I still went with the folks over at conceptart.org though – enough of a community of professional artists that I could hit someone within my price range, and still be of the quality I desired. Cheers.
LikeLike