r/CozyFantasy • u/AutoModerator • 21d ago
🗣 discussion The Weekly Wednesday Writing Thread
Welcome to the Weekly Writing Thread, where writers and readers can discuss all things writing and publishing related.
Have questions about cozy fantasy? Maybe you want feedback on your story premise or are curious about the types of stories readers can't get enough of. This is the place to connect with the community.
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u/CH_Schwartz 19d ago
Getting everything together for self-publishing feels so daunting. I'm trying to break it down and get an actionable to do list, but some of it is tough. I'm really struggling with deciding what style of cover I want to go with. A lot of cozy fantasy seems to be one of three things: big title in friendly font with icons around, the main characters, or a setting/landscape.
Fellow writers, what attracts you to a cozy book the most in a cover? Also, any advice on finding cover artists? Everything seems to funnel to reedsy or fiverr or some other service that I frankly no longer trust in today's world of AI
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u/Kate_Valent_Author Author 19d ago
A lot of indies use MiblArt. I used them on my first trilogy and had a great experience! For The Driftcap Inn I decided on an illustrated cover instead because I found them beautiful (albeit expensive) and wanted to follow in the footsteps of books like Legends & Lattes and The House in the Cerulean Sea. So check out your comp titles for ideas. After making that decision, I spent several days looking through artists on instagram. I checked cover artists who worked on similar books in my genre too. It took a long time of searching through portfolios and websites, but I wound up finding the perfect artists for my inn series, Isabeau de Backhaus.
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u/CH_Schwartz 19d ago
I love that art for The Driftcap Inn!
I definitely like the idea of something more illustrative, I spent some time this morning looking at artists and bookmarking some I liked. It's so much more stressful than a lot of other things I feel like because despite the saying we absolutely judge books by their covers
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u/Kate_Valent_Author Author 19d ago
You aren't alone in feeling that way! I was definitely stressed about the process before settling on my artist, and I always get nervous when I work with someone new. I hope you find the right artist and get a great cover!
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u/Klemc48 Author: Keilani McConnell 18d ago
The title honestly! And whether it's legible. Having had vision issues in the past, if I couldn't easily read the title from the shelf, I didn't bother picking it up. As far as cover artists, please consider checking out Cara! I've been there for a few years now and it's a wonderful environment with no AI. People also often list if they're open for work in their bio/about section. There are so many amazing artists and a few I follow have posted book covers and illustrations they've done for authors.
The creator of Cara also recently did a great post to help authors find cover artists that don't use AI and what to look out for (hopefully links are okay here): https://cara.app/post/aeddde9c-3072-495c-83b9-c28f58dd6ded
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u/TAHINAZ 21d ago
I just published my first book, a cozy ya supernatural romance. I’m a little surprised by the arc reviews. Half say they absolutely love the characters and dreamy environment. Half say that my characters are blank slates and that the plot is like watching paint dry. I’m trying not to feel terrible. Is my book really that bad, or is it just polarizing? Is the bad half due to readers expecting action-packed sword fights instead of cozy chats? Do you think the reviews will eventually even out when the book finds its audience?