How much would you spend on a cover for a first fantasy book with no proven sales yet?
Hi everyone,
I’m preparing my first dark fantasy novel for Amazon KDP and I’m trying to decide what to do about the cover.
I personally prefer drawn/painted fantasy covers rather than photo-manipulated covers, but the artists I like seem to charge around $500 or more for a commercial book cover illustration. Since this is my first book and I don’t know if it will sell, I’m unsure whether spending that much is a smart decision.
For context:
- It is the first book in a planned fantasy series.
- I don’t have an established audience yet.
- I plan to promote through TikTok/Reels/Shorts and send ARC/free copies to reviewers.
- I care about the book looking professional, but I also don’t want to sink too much money into the first release before I know whether there is reader interest.
For those of you who published your first book on KDP:
How much did you spend on your first cover?
Did you use a custom artist, premade cover, cover designer, or make it yourself?
Looking back, would you spend more, less, or the same?
Is it better to start cheaper and upgrade the cover later if the book gains traction?
For fantasy specifically, how important was the cover to getting sales?
I’d appreciate honest experiences, especially from authors who started without a big audience.
Thank you in advance.