Is Print-First Publishing a Mistake in Today's World of Ebooks? #Pubtalk #ASMSG

Reading my morning emails, I noticed a message from Joel Friedlander, Breakthrough Technology Cuts Book Formatting Time in Half. This is an article about a software/service that will format both your print and ebook, together, and give you files for both. This article instantly struck me wrong.

Now, I have no idea if Joel's program handles everything I am about to discuss, but I doubt it.

In my author's group, ASMSG (Author's Social Media Support Group), I see a lot of Indie author-publishers who run a print-first publishing plan.  What I mean by that, they format and publish their POD book (Print On Demand) first, usually via Createspace, and then they download the Createspace digital files to use for ebook publishing to Kindle.

I believe this is a huge mistake.

► The format of the print novel file is not ideal for ebooks, either Kindle or epub or pdf. Ebooks should be formatted with a 'least common denominator' style of simplicity. 

Personally, I write my novels in a universal Smashwords/Kindle ebook format.  The simple formatting is already set into my styles on MS word. I know many people use something other than MS word, for writing, but the same ebook formatting rules apply no matter what program you use.

Ebooks need things that Print books don't:  

► Whereas print has margins and page breaks and page numbers, it also has a dead Table of Contents, 'TOC' dead being that there's no live hyperlinks. Its my humble opinion (and an opinion of most kindle gurus) that the TOC is mostly pointless for fiction ebooks, except for specially named chapters, or non-fiction where each chapter has a themed idea to present. Ebooks, if they need a TOC, must have special hyperlinked bookmarks (epub and pdf) or at the very least they need to use the auto-generated TOC functions of MS word (kindle).

► Kindle ebooks are smarter to move the TOC to the back matter, to maximize the front end sample for book sales. You want very little junk in the way of your book and the reader. Kindle only allows for a small percentage of sampling, and that sample must be enough to 'hook' the reader to go forward with a purchase. And, the ebook front matter needs a short blurb, so that readers who have downloaded the novel, can recall what this book was about (the ebook cover does not have any blurbs--not like the back cover of print).

► Ebooks have color images. They should have full color images of all backlist novels, with live hyperlinks customized for each retailer. Kindle hyperlinks for kindle ebooks, B&N for B&N, Smashwords for Smashwords, etc.. 

Color book cover, description, link to retailer, and review quotes

► Print novels have no  hyperlinks, and you must strip the color out of  your book cover images. If there is any color, Createspace and other POD companies will charge you full price for color interior (don't go there for novels--'how to' books, children's books--those are different).

Big, fat subscribe button for my email list--hyperlinked.

My cheesy grin and all the hyperlinks to my social media!

► Print back matter should have QR codes to give your readers the option of instantly ordering more of your backlist novels once they finish your book. Statistics prove the single best way to sell more books to a reader is to have access to all your novels in the back matter. Print novels need a bridge to the internet:

B&W book covers, with QR codes, descriptions, and review quotes.

► Print back matter and front matter is always going to be a different format and content from ebook front and back matter. Personally, I have separate word files for both back and front print matter, (that's the way I do it, but its not the only way, and it has issues with formatting that I learned to deal with). But, because of these differences, its really not wise to use a print formatted file for ebook, or vice versa.

Now, I am just an Indie author, busting my butt to navigate the labyrinth of digital publishing, but, I have seen that my own sales are about 99% ebook, and about 1% print. 

► I publish ebook first. Every single book I have ever published needed an update within the first week. Ebooks can be updated in a few mouseclicks, and the new Kindle file shows up hours later. Same with Nook (if you're direct). Smashwords takes up to 10 days to update.  But, print novels (via POD) can take weeks, because you must order another proof to see how the book looks in print. You can take your chances and approve the proof from the online file viewer in Createspace, but its a risk. You never really know what you have until the book is in hand.

In this author's humble opinion, publishing should be digital first, print later, after all the kinks and bugs are worked out, and the two should be individually-separately formatted, with specialized content for each format.

I am wary of 'all-in-one' solutions when it comes to print and ebook publishing.

:)

THE FUSSY LIBRARIAN brings you free-discounted books DAILY #FreeBooks #Freebie #Nov #ASMSG

THE FUSSY LIBRARIAN

Readers, how would you like to get emailed a handful of ebooks custom curated for your unique genre preferences?

What if they were FREE books, or steeply discounted?

Authors, how would you like to have your free-discounted books emailed out to thousands of fans of your genre?

Would you be willing to pay for this customized list?  

What if this service was FREE? (for a limited time)

Sign up HERE

What is The Fussy Librarian?

We’re a daily ebook recommendation service that matches readers with books that they’ll love.

A lot of readers will say, “I already know what I like to read.” 

True, everyone has a list of favorite authors. But for each author on your list, I bet there are 50 more that you’d love – if you only knew about them. And perhaps your favorite author has a book on sale and you weren’t aware.

 

So much has changed in just five years. The ebook never has to go out of print. Ever. Think about the implications of that. The number of choices out there is expanding rapidly and it’s only going to accelerate. Some of those books aren’t very good, to be honest. That’s where we can help.

What's different about The Fussy Librarian? How does it work?

At its heart, the most important part of any book-recommendation website is "the match" -- are you going to receive tips about books that you’ll really like in your daily email?

So we set out to create a better match than anyone else. We offer 40 genre choices – including seven categories in romance and seven in mystery/thriller. We're the only website that gives you content preferences regarding language, violence and sexual situations. If you like your novels without profanity, for example, all of your recommended books will be free of foul language. We also have "I read everything" buttons and some choices in the middle.

We'll keep adding categories and content options in the future. 

 

 

What kind of readers will enjoy The Fussy Librarian?

Anyone who reads fiction, to be honest. We already have a huge number of books lined up in mystery, thriller, romance, women’s fiction, fantasy, young adult … the response from authors so far has been amazing.

We do offer nonfiction books, but they’re a very small part of the site right now.

Who is this Fussy Librarian woman anyway? She's unlike any librarian I've ever heard of.
Don’t let the hair bun fool you. It turns out she's a master mechanic, an expert on French cooking, and she practices the ancient martial art of Bokator. You do not want to meet her in a dark alley, trust me.

But why is she so fussy?

That’s an excellent question. Like all superheroes, it probably goes back to her childhood.

You’re not going to tell me who she is, are you?

Heck, even I don’t know her true identity. I’m just grateful she’s using her talents for good and not, you know, bioengineering new Kardashians for reality television shows or creating WMD for North Korea.

 

Sign up HERE

VOTE >> The New Face of NIGHTLIFE NEW YORK #Paranormal #Erotic #Romance #Thriller #ASMSG

I have one of the best cover artists available, Ida Janssen, with Amygdaladesign

http://www.amygdaladesign.net/

I decided my cover art needed something a little more appropriate for paranormal erotic romance.  and though I love my covers, I had to admit they are more geared towards 'thriller' novels. The NIGHTLIFE SERIES has many aspects of a thriller novel, but it really needs cover art more true to form.  So I picked out a pile of images, and this is what she did:

I need help!!  Vote here for your favorite cover:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/88536 

Give your vote and your opinion, tell me why you like it best.  And the good news?  I will be doing this with two more covers this month!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amygdala Design was started in October 2012 by Norwegian Graphic Designer Ida Jansson. The company specializes in Book Cover Design for self-publishing authors (“indie authors”) and publishers. Amygdala Design strive to offer the most professional designs and affordable prices on the market. Pre-Made covers are available from $60, and Custom-Made covers from $100. All book covers are available for ebooks and printed books, and the technical specs can be fitted for CreateSpace, Lulu etc.

(click the image to learn more about Amygdaladesign cover art)

Amazon + Goodreads = ????

The world's largest bookseller, Amazon, just signed an agreement to buy Goodreads.

Goodreads:  Over 14 million book lovers.

Amazon:  Multibillions of dollars in book sales worldwide. (Not counting the Kindle devices)

This is a merging of the two most influential forces in the world of books.

I snagged this image from DigitalBookWorld.com.

Antitrust litigators, where are you when you're needed most?  This is a new kind of monopoly unlike anything ever seen before.  

But what will it mean?

Well lets look at Amazon's attempt to cater to bibliophiles with reviews and recommendations:  Shelfari.  Goodreads has been kicking Shelfari's ass all along.  Will we see a merging of Shelfari and Goodreads systems?  Maybe some linking back and forth?  Maybe a few widgets here there and everywhere?

And what of Amazon's position to control content sales via the Kindle tablet line?  How will they integrate Goodreads into the book-buying experience on Kindle tablets?

And what about the reviews, the lifeblood of popularity and discovery?  What of Amazon's reviews vs. Goodreads reviews/ratings?  Will Amazon forgo reviews for Goodreads plugin widgets or vice-versa, will Goodreads now feature Amazon reviews on each book page?

And what about discovery for us unknown Indie authors? In Addition to publishing with Amazon, many Indies use multiple retailers, blogs, social media, and Goodreads to find avenues of discovery.  Mark Coker of Smashwords nailed it:

“Brilliant move by Amazon ... Amazon just locked up discovery for the next couple years.”

And now, via Goodreads, Amazon is able to dip their fingers into other retailer's sales figures and affiliate commissions.  Goodreads has a thriving affiliate business, and massive tracking systems for affiliate links leading out to book retailers (Amazon and all its competitors).  Amazon can now track who's buying what books from what retailer through Goodreads.

A monopoly of information and book buying habits.

These are just a few of the questions/thoughts in my mind.  This is HUGE.  This is the biggest thing to happen in the world of publishing since ebooks.

Authors & publishers beware.

Here's just a few links to articles on the merger:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/amazon-acquires-goodreads/

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/413-exciting-news-about-goodreads-we-re-joining-the-amazon-family

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2013/03/amazon-buys-goodreads

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/03/28/amazon-buys-goodreads-take-that-bookish/

Leave some comments below.  I would love to hear thoughts and ideas on what this will mean for Indies and the world of publishing.

THE MONTH OF MANY BOOKS

CBL Reviews Invites You To Participate In
'The Month Of Many Books' Project #1

For the entire month of March CBL Reviews is hosting giveaways of extreme proportions as well as offering readers the chance to bid for a book bundle of their choice.

Monies raised through this project, will be donated to a local rural library in Port Elizabeth South Africa. This is to help fund reading education amongst, not only the youth, but illiterate adults in the community of Walmer Township.

Your help and support will go a long way.

How it all works:

• All the paperbacks, as listed below, are all signed copies, kindly donated by the respective authors.

• Paperbacks will be bundled up and placed into an ebay widget. You are then welcome to bid towards obtaining your favorite bundle.

But not to worry, it's not all about getting you to spend your money :D

• There will be ebook giveaways done all through the month of March. Each Ebook was kindly donated towards this cause by the wonderful author of each book.

Each bundle is only open for bidding for 7 days! Thereafter, I'll be adding the next two and so on.

Here's the first lot :D

Bid On Signed Paperback Copies Of Some Of Your Favorite Books:

• Bundle #1:

 CLICK HERE TO BID ══► BUNDLE #1

• Bundle #2:

 CLICK HERE TO BID ══► BUNDLE #2

★LAST BUT NOT LEAST★ 

★GIVEAWAYS ★

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amazon puts FREE ebook promotion sites out of business?

Drinking my coffee, going through a ton of email & social media crap, I happened upon an email from Amazon.  The Associates Operating Agreement has changed.

Now normally, this would bore me to tears, and I would probably ignore it for the moment. I don't really make any money as an Associate.  I'm in the business of selling my books as a publisher (Indie).

So I clicked on it anyway, and it had some seemingly innocuous stuff about counting up items sold and the kinds of items.  As you may know, the number and type of items sold affects your Associate's commission.

Then I noticed a section about FREE ebook promotions:

Associates Program Advertising Fee Schedule – Limitations on Advertising Fee Rates for Certain Products

March 1, 2013 version
The following is added at the end of the sub-section:
“In addition, notwithstanding the advertising fee rates described on this page or anything to the contrary contained in this Operating Agreement, if we determine you are primarily promoting free Kindle eBooks (i.e., eBooks for which the customer purchase price is $0.00), YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO EARN ANY ADVERTISING FEES DURING ANY MONTH IN WHICH YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
(a) 20,000 or more free Kindle eBooks are ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links; and
(b) At least 80% of all Kindle eBooks ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links are free Kindle eBooks.”

Again, this doesn't really affect me.  I don't worry about selling other stuff through Amazon.  But then it occurred to me who it might affect, all those wonderful websites that promote FREE kindles.  I use those websites weekly to promote my FREE novel The Nightlife New York, the first in the Nightlife Series.

These freebie sites don't make money from free books.  They sell ads. But they do make a fair amount of Amazon Associates commissions from people entering Amazon to catch a free ebook, who then shop for something else. If all these free kindle sites can no longer collect Associates commissions because they are disqualified by virtue of promoting free kindles, can they afford to stay in business based on their ad sales alone?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I have a strong suspicion the promotion of free kindles is about to see a severe drop off.  It kinda looks like maybe Amazon is shooting themselves in the foot.  Many people who enter their system via a freebie site, who pick up a freebie, go on to shop for something else.  It's a logical procession that less freebie promotional sites = less downloads of freebies = less impact of free promos = less sales boost to novels, and less sales of other items through impulse shopping.

I suppose I can understand Amazon might think its unfair that guys promoting free stuff can make a commission from other stuff just by virtue of a simple link.  But then I realized this is the fundamental basis of Amazon's Associate Program, when someone enters via your link, you get commissions for anything they buy.

Not really making sense anymore.  Not to me.  I'm sure there's a department of bean counters somewhere in Amazon who thought it made sense.

Now we could do the conspiracy theory thing: It's a conspiracy to smack down all those upstart Indie authors who were making huge leaps and gains competing against traditionally published novels via free promos.  I'm not going there.  Not yet anyway.  But it kinda begs the question....

It will be interesting to see how this affects free kindle promotion.  It most certainly will be negative for us Indie authors, indirectly.

Until next time,

Travis

Adventures in ebook cover art--Part 3

If you're wanting to get up to speed on parts 1 & 2 of this series of posts on my adventures in ebook cover artistry check these out real quick:

http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry.html

http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/10/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry-part.html

In the above-mentioned posts, I have expounded greatly on the merits of hiring freelance cover artists, freelance artists, and freelance digital graphics designers through freelanced.com.  That's all fine and dandy, but it can be a time consuming pain in the ass.  If you want a quick and professional ebook cover, and you're willing to go with an artist's vision rather than your own design, consider exploring the wonderful world of PRE-MADE COVERS.

There's a whole bunch of affordable, high-quality ebook covers to be had if you spend some time hunting for them.  I spend far too much time doing just that.  But it paid off.  I found the cover I needed and wanted, and it was ready to go.  All they had to do was add a little blood.  No cover of the Nightlife Series is ever complete without a little blood.

Now I thought this was gorgeous, a real eye magnet.  Beyond the obvious aesthetics of the image, the woman actually looks like the Main Character in my novel, as I envisioned her.  I didn't have to compromise my standards and preference of design to go with this cover.  It pretty much fit my needs perfectly. This was the MOST AFFORDABLE cover I have ever purchased, $60.00.  I probably would've paid double that for this image because it fit my needs so well, and it looks awesome.  (Don't tell my cover artist)

Who did this wonderful cover? Amygdala Design.  She has numerous PRE-MADE COVERS available on her site for $60.  Her custom design services start at $150.00.  At this level of quality, you cannot complain about those prices.  I have seen cover artists charge much more for this quality of work. Here's the full URL of her site if you want to check her out:

http://amygdaladesign.net/

Have I forsaken my days of hiring freelancers to get the quality of cover art I want at my price?  Not necessarily.   But I will definitely consider Amygdala Design for the next cover art project I have coming up.   Definitely.

Until next time.

Travis

Adventures in ebook cover art--Part 2

Quality ebook cover art is hard to come by for less than $150-$400.  But it can be done, consistently, if you do what I do. I hire freelance artists/graphic-designers, at the price I'm willing to pay, to make a cover based on my own design concepts. See the first post on adventures in cover artistry: http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry.html

Here's where I go for my ebook cover artists:

http://www.freelanced.com/

Initially, I found a buttload of talented artists working in illustration and graphics design when I posted my ebook cover art job.  Fifty different artists applied for the job.  It was difficult to choose just one.  After going through this process several times, hiring artists and working through multiple mockups-proofs, I settled on the "prove you're the one" method.

The problem with artists is they usually have a day job.  They do this graphic design stuff on the side.  Finding time to do what I want at the price I'm willing to pay is an issue.

Sure, if I wished to throw hundreds of dollars at an artist, they'd drop everything and have my work done in two days.  But I'm kinda cheap.  That's what my wife says.

I sorted through many an artist who took a week or more getting back to me by email in order to find those who respond immediately and get the work done in days rather than weeks.  Its no surprise that the artists who run full a time graphic design business are the most prompt and professional.  Its their bread and butter to do this stuff.

Lisa Strong is the latest graphic designer I hired.  She's awesome on timeliness, professionalism, and she does as many modifications and proofs as necessary to reach a finished product you're happy with: 

http://www.freelanced.com/lisastrong

Here's the cover for "The Nightlife Las Vegas" she finished in five days.  Two of those days I wasted in not getting back to her on my opinion of the initial proof work.

The trick to a good cover is the K.I.S.S. principle, Keep It Simple Stupid.  Everything on your cover must be recognizable from a thumbnail image.  Most ebook shoppers will never see more than a thumbnail image of your ebook until they click on it.  Your ebook better be one cool-ass lookin' thumbnail, especially if you're an unknown Indie author.  Us Indies are always judged by our covers, initially.

This cover by Lisa Strong, has a wonderful thumbnail appeal.  Everyone can see the elegant bright white fonts and the blood splattered Las Vegas sign. Simple. Colorful. Grabs the eye. The concepts embodied in this cover are effectively communicated at both thumbnail and full size.

Give Lisa a shot.  If you're not getting what you want on an ebook cover design, perhaps you need to provide better tools and references for what you want.  I scoured the web for imagery and tools to give to Lisa. I provided her with a set of Photoshop blood splatter tools for use on my covers, along with the sign image. 

Make your cover artist's job easy, and you will get what you want.

Stay tuned for my next blog post detailing the various stages of development working through several artists on "The Nightlife Las Vegas" cover.

Travis

First mockup for 'The Nightlife Las Vegas"

Joshua Allen has done a very sharp mockup of a concept for "The Nightlife: Las Vegas" cover--the second in the Nightlife series.  Its a work in progress, but you can see it coming along nicely.  I'll continue to post each subsequent version until we get to the finished product.

Joshua Allen is a professional book illustrator and comic artist: http://www.freelanced.com/joshuamallen

Looking for Paranormal Romance Beta readers

I need beta readers-critiques for my paranormal-romance-urban-fantasy-erotic novel series 'The Nightlife".  The series spans the globe, starting with New York, where the two main characters begin, and moves on to Las Vegas, Paris, London, and Moscow.  There are definitely plans for Hong Kong or Shanghai in the works as well.

Story elements:  Vampires, strippers, escorts, domestic gangs, Columbian cartels, corrupt cops, pimps, all the classical elements of a shady metropolitan nightlife blended with two vampires (the main two characters).  There are underlying themes of romance throughout, but its not exactly romance--more urban fantasy horror.  No significant world building until very late in the series.  Their world is exactly the same as ours, but seen through the lenses of vampires living in the gritty nightlife of these various metropolitan cities.  Very intense action scenes, graphic violence, very heavy erotica, and a flashback in time to WWII (book 3 Paris) and the murders of the Czar Nicolas II and family in Russia (book 5 Moscow).

In addition to this series I have two stand alone YA paranormal novels that have elements of vampires and violence.

And did I mention the near-future sci-fi novel I'm working on?

Looking for critiques, beta readers, and I'm willing to exchange a beta-read critique in order to get one (as time allows for it)

Feel free to email me at twluedke@gmail.com or twitter @TWLuedke.

My website:  http://www.twluedke.com/

Aspire to become the victim of piracy

I have been told many times over that the ebook industry, much like the music industry, is fraught with Piracy!  How will I ever make any money from my novels with all these pirates on the digital seas, stealing and whatnot!?

And why would pirates be interested in my novel?  Should I really be worried about piracy?

Pirates only highjack novels that are marketable, novels that sell.  Why waste time and effort pirating unsaleable trash novels in the seedy digital black market?  Pirates only steal what's worth stealing.

Whats the real issue I face as an Indie author trying to spread the word about my novels?

Obscurity is my enemy, not piracy.

To be pirated is a complement, I have succeeded in catching the pirate's attention.  He wouldn't steal my ebook if it wasn't valuable.  At least he knows I exist.

Perhaps he even read my novel ... that would make me happy :)



http://www.twluedke.com/
http://www.wattpad.com/story/1785055-the-shepherd
https://twitter.com/TWLuedke

Adventures in ebook cover artistry

I am not an artist.

But I had aspirations as a teenager:  dragons, medieval fantasy stuff, creepy guys with fangs, 80's rocker dudes with battle axes and swords ... Nothing I would ever consider putting on the cover of my self-published ebooks.

Needless to say, I have decided to hire cover artists.  And just how does one go about hiring cover artists?  I began my journey down this road without a clue.

As most business begins in this day and age, I started with Google.  Anything I want to know I just Google it, don't we all?  The trick is asking the right question, its like a backwards game of Jeopardy.

In my searches for cover art/artists, I came across many resources, a few of which I will name here.  Mark Coker of Smashwords.com, the largest Indie ebook publishing outfit on the web outside of Amazon, has a list of cover artists he will promptly email upon request. I looked at that list, and I checked out various websites of the cover artists showcasing portfolios of their work.

I don't want to bash too hard on other people's cover art, but I was not very impressed with about 90% of it.  I've been browsing through book covers for several months now, and there are literally about one in a hundred book covers that I thought looked professional or even decent.  I guess its all in the eye of the beholder.  My eye for cover art is jaded.

Later in my searches I found a great source for award winning cover art:  http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/06/e-book-cover-design-awards-may-2012/
Those are some very good covers, and it stands to reason those artists would produce quality products for me as well .... but at what price?

The one place I found immediately when I searched for freelance artists or artists-for-hire is http://www.freelanced.com/.  Its the best resource for freelance artists I've ever seen.  In minutes I was able to post my Job at the price I was willing to pay, and real live artists began applying for the Job. It is sooo EFFIN awesome to have a whole swarm of artists willing to do the job you want at the price you name.  And there are some extremely talented artists on freelanced.

Like many things in life, I think it follows the 80/20 rule.  About 80% of the artists are mediocre and then there's the 20% that are fantastic.   Some of these artists will do a quick mockup of your concept.  You can have a free demonstration of how your cover ideas come to life with an artist's particular flare.  That is soooo cool.  Its polar ice cap -120° F cool.  Its cooler than a witches tit in a brass bra.

Of course, not all the artists want to give their valuable time for a free mockup.  Some of the very best artists, the ones who have gallery quality art, are the ones who'll tell you their portfolio speaks for itself (and it does).  So either you take a chance on a high quality artist without a mockup, or you work with a good-to-high quality artist who's not above spending a little time convincing you they're the one for the job.

I chose the latter every time.  There's just something about getting a good looking mockup of your desired cover that sinks home the sale.  The guys I hired didn't necessarily have the best portfolio, but they put forward their best efforts to prove they were good enough for my needs.  They also happened to be in the business of doing cover art, they know what's expected.

I have found many cover artists I would like to hire, but so far I could only afford the two:

Diogo Lando from portugal, http://www.freelanced.com/diogolando

Joshua Allen from the good ole USA, http://www.freelanced.com/joshuamallen

You can see the process as it evolved proof by proof with each cover.  There are numerous samples of cover art proofs and mockups done by artists in my site http://www.twluedke.com/

The question that should be prominent in your mind by now is how much did I pay for my covers?

Not a penny more than what I posted on freelanced:  $75.00 each ($150 total for the two).  These artists did multiple proofs and changes I asked for.  They both finished the job within two weeks from the date I hired them.

Maybe you think my covers aren't all that.  So what.  I think they look better than 90% of what's out there in the self-publishing arena. If you think my covers look pretty good, then follow these tidbits of advice I have gleaned through experience:

1.  Give the artist some room to work-in their particular flair or style, I tend to like artists with styles that are slightly abstract, it shows me they have a unique way of looking at the world.
2.  Give detailed, clear and concise descriptions of what you have in mind.  The clearer you can paint a picture for the artist, the better they will be able to produce what you want.  Provide any examples you can find from imagery on the web to give the artist something to go on (Google images or stock photos or whatever).
3.  Work only with artists who communicate quickly and effectively,  if it takes them 4-5 days to respond to an email then they don't want your business that badly.
4.  Make sure you're getting the right dimensions for your final product.  Get educated on what cover art pixel requirements are for the various ebook vendors:

http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-ebook-cover-requirements-for-high.html


I wish you all the best of luck with your cover art.  Don't settle for good enough, go for the best.  If you take a little time and shop around you can find it at a reasonable price.

Travis
http://www.twluedke.com/