Okay, Tiffany, then how about UpWork informing potential clients that they should be prepared to be deluged with questions if their job description doesn't include as much pertinent information as they can possibly think of? Is that asking too much? No need to reply. I already know your answer. 
Gary Val T wrote:Okay, Tiffany, then how about UpWork informing potential clients that they should be prepared to be deluged with questions if their job description doesn't include as much pertinent information as they can possibly think of? Is that asking too much? No need to reply. I already know your answer.
Actually, you've missed the point completely. As those who went through this on Elance will attest, clients who do a great job of providing thorough information will be no less deluged.
That’s true, Tiffany, I will work on any kind of book. But only if what the author wants on the cover is something I’m confident I can do and do really well. For example, if they want a custom illustration of a character from the book I know I may not be the best guy for the job because I’m not particularly good at illustrating people, especially if the client is hoping for anything close to what’s generally referred to as “photo realism”. If it doesn’t have to be photo-realistic then I might be okay with it. But even if I’m okay with it, I have to consider that I’d be trying to create an image of a person whose physical attributes are likely already described in the book. That greatly increases the challenge and will likely result in several revisions based on the author’s feedback. This, in turn, increases the amount of time that will be invested in the job. And we haven’t even mentioned the visual context in which the character will be placed. Will it be a relatively simple background or something more complex?
I also want to know if the book is fiction or nonfiction. If fiction, what is the genre? If nonfiction, what is the subject matter? The style of the artwork and the overall appearance for each is quite different. A good book cover will immediately convey the genre if fiction or the subject matter if nonfiction. I want to know these things for various reasons not the least of which is that, in every case, I want the cover to be as good, if not better, than the covers created by the designers employed by any of the big name publishing houses. That, really, is what every author is hoping to get. If it happens that, for whatever reason, I don’t feel I can meet that challenge then I won’t even bother with the job. But it's something I'd like to know before using my connects to bid on the job.
I would also like to know if the author already has an idea of what they want on the cover or if they’re going to leave it up to me. Either one is a challenge in it's own way. But if I’m going to create something based on the author’s idea, I know based on over 12 years of experience, that it will likely require less time than if I have to come up with something on my own. I won’t bother to explain, here, why that’s the case. It just is.
I’d also like to know if the book is completely written or if it’s still a work in progress. I need to know because, if the book is still being written, that means the final page count has not yet been established. The page count determines the width of the spine portion of the cover if it’s going to be published as a paperback or hardbound as opposed to an ebook which, obviously, only requires a “front cover” image. Not having the final page count adds another level of difficulty to the design process in the case of a full wrap cover due to the actual dimensional requirements of the artwork in order to fit the book when it goes to press. This scenario could possibly lead to complications which would lead to more time to complete the job.
I also want to know which company will be manufacturing the book when it’s done. Why? Because various publishing services may have somewhat differing specifications for the cover art and, if by chance, the author is going to publish via a certain well-established company (whose name I won’t mention here) I will pass on the job because that company is too much of a pain to deal with.
So there ya go. Those are some of the things I’d like to know before using my connects to bid on the job. More often than not, job posts for book cover design work are void of any kind of helpful detail concerning what they want on the cover. Time and time again I see things like "Need a cover that is unique and really striking." Or, "Need a really eye-catching book cover." Or, my favorite, "Need a cover that will make my book a best-seller!" LOL! Well, okay, those are all fine and dandy headlines for the job post but the problem is that the actual body of the post is often not much more than a repeat of the job title with little else (if anything) to help me really get a feel for what will be required of me as the designer and whether or not I should even bother bidding on the job.
Now, to be fair, I do know that the vast majority of people posting jobs for someone to design their book cover are first-time authors who have never been involved in the process of getting a book cover designed. That may account for the lack of detailed information in many of the posts. I am more than happy to educate them but I'd rather do it before I use my precious connects to contact them. That way we'd both get a better idea of what each of us will be getting ourselves into. Another probable reason for the vague posts is that I'll bet most clients don't realize the freelancer's situation when it comes to the connect points. They probably don't even know there are such things as connect points. They probably just think we can apply for the job at no cost to us. Therefore, they imagine if anyone is interested in the job they'll apply for it and any further information can easily be exchanged during an interview. I like to think if most of them understood the situation on the freelancer's end, maybe they would be more inclined to include more information in their job posts. I dunno. Am I just dreaming? ("You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." - J. Lennon)
