How important is professional looking cover art here on Tapas?

[smilingworg]

As I scan the 'top stories' list of the novels here on Tapas, I have to say that the covers all tend to have a particular 'look' to them. Most of them are very clean, very professional, and leaning toward what is typically called the 'shojo' style. Is it essential to have this style to truly do well here? I know I'm personally rather fond of the cover I drew, inked, and colored myself, but it definitely doesn't seem to compare to the pros.

With that said, what is a good way to commission professional cover art complete with high quality ink, color, background, and lettering? And what would be a reasonable price for a single piece (with the additional allowance of the visual rights remaining the property of the artist?)

[vapidink]

Are you looking at the novels section? That section is for paid novels that either have covers commissioned by the author or by Tapas so you'll see more polished art. If you go to the community tab, those are the "indie" novels that have more self-made covers (though some do commission art). Some of the top ranking novels right now have very simple covers.

A good cover is important though! Just be careful not to get scammed with an AI cover. Really look through the artist's past work.

[susutaru]

I think a Shoujo-Cover is not necessary, to get popular. Depends on the theme.

A good cover is important though. If the cover is boring, nobody would read the story. (Also the title is important!)

Most artists I know from bluesky take prices from 50-300 $, depending on the number of figures, the details of their clothing and - if there has to be a background or not.

[smilingworg]

I don't have a BluSky account yet. I should probably look into making one.

[jwabeasley]

You can, there's also no shortage of artists on this forum who would gladly do your cover for that price range.

[smilingworg]

I might just do that. Before I do so, I want to build up a good number of chapters ready to release. Even though NaNoWriMo doesn't exist anymore, I'm still going to use next month to hopefully get 50,000 words done which will be about 50 weeks worth of 1000 word episodes

[MK_Wizard]

For comics, it matters because comics are a visual medium. They should give a preview of what we are getting in the comic and need to look professional because it gives the readers the impression that you put your heart into it. After all, how will readers care about your work when you give the impression that you don't?

[GamerPrincessXI]

It depends on the art style you going for.