# Erotic Romance or Erotica Cover Images



## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

I commissioned the cover for my first novel, which was a little pricy. I like it, but I feel like I should be able to find something less expensive, particularly for short story covers. Every stock photo site I look at seems to have language excluding pairing the images with sexual activity, including all the mostly naked people rolling around under the sheets or even naked.

Are there any reasonably priced stock image places that do allow for use of their photos in erotic romance or erotica? Are there cover designers that do work in the same field for a reasonable rate?

Thanks for any help. 

Terry


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## MichaelEgon (Jul 25, 2011)

Try here and search using various tags:

http://depositphotos.com/


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## AKLoggie (Aug 13, 2011)

There was just another thread on this recently:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,74708.25.html

Some of the links from there:
http://www.hotdamnstock.com
http://www.romancenovelcovers.com


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## Willsin (Jul 5, 2011)

I've always found 123rf.com to be very easy to use. When I was creating cover art for my (erotica) publisher, that was the site they used. I've never encountered any backlash about the images being used for erotic books. I believe the "no porn" style of stipulations are far more about using the images themselves to create a pornographic image. We're only using the images to create a book cover. It just so happens that the cover is for a work of erotica, but even if the STORY is porn, the cover is just a cover. If a model's bottom is already showing in the image we use, then we haven't manipulated it to make it "pornographic".

Other sites I use are fotolia.com (which seems to have a whole bunch of images that no other site does), and dreamstime.com. Dreamstime seems to share a large portion of their catalog with 123rf, although Dreamstime seems to charge more for their images. There also seems to be a greater sharpness to the Dreamstime images, though I'm basing that ONLY on a comparison I made with one single image, so feel free to dismiss that allegation!


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## jackKate (Aug 7, 2011)

This is an interesting point to bring up... I was fairly sure when I checked on the use of our stock image that it was fine unless it was used for an actual XXX type website or such.  I suppose the language might be a little bit non-specific to give them room to move if they dislike it.


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## tawnytaylor (Feb 19, 2011)

I use primarily Dreamstime. They offer a one-week membership for $44.99 that allows for as many as 70 downloads (some images cost more than 1 download). That's a tough price to beat, when you're comparing per-image prices. So, what I do is buy a one week membership periodically and stockpile a bunch of images for future use. And to directly address your concern: I have not had Dreamstime or any affiliated photographer take issue with how I am using the images I have purchased.


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## jackKate (Aug 7, 2011)

We've mostly used Dreamstime as well, along with some from iStock (though they're more expensive).


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks for all the responses. They are really helpful.

I've sent a note to Dreamstime to clarify the TOS and see if I can use thier images. I found a forum post elsewhere in which another erotica author said he was told by them that he could not. I'm hoping for a different outcome and talk with them about the romance novels that do use thier images, many of which do have sex in the novel. I'll also ask what they imagine all the mosly naked people in erotic poses might reasonably used for that is acceptable under their TOS.

I sent an email to Jimmy Thomas at RomanceNovelCovers, which has the exact same language in the TOS, and he said:

"As long as you are not superimposing me having sex with a guy or kissing a guy, or even a girl (like superimposing me behind a girl in a doggie-style position) you are fine  My erotica covers portray strong intimacy, but none clearly imply intercourse, like a doggie-style or such image would. My images that imply nudity and being on each other could easily be just that, nude and on each other with passionate expressions. A doggie-style position or such would obviously mean we are having intercourse."

My wife's cousin had already sent a similar note to Kim at Hot Damn Stock. I know she occasionally lurks here, so she might be able to tell us directly what her policy means. In any case, I'll post the responses when I see them.

Again, thanks everyone and keep tossing in your thoughts. If here are other erotic romance and erotica friendly stock sites or inexpensive cover artists that do work in those genres, I'd love to hear about them.


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## briankung (Aug 20, 2011)

You can also try doing searches on Flickr or Google images for Creative Commons images, as long as you cite them. They should be for commercial use and/or for use with modification. They're free.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Terry, I really don't think you need to be concerned about this. The stock photos at sites like Hot D*mn Designs and Romance Novel Covers.com are meant to be used on romance and erotic romance covers and I'm sure no one will take issue with you using them for that purpose. People don't sell bondage, erotic, etc images on cover image sites unless they expect them to be used on books with similar content. 

As for stock photo sites like dreamstime and istockphoto, their images are used on erotic romance novels by digital publishers like Samhain, Liquid Silver, Carina Press, Loose Id, etc, as well as by a huge number of self-pubbed authors.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

Dara England said:


> Terry, I really don't think you need to be concerned about this. The stock photos at sites like Hot D*mn Designs and Romance Novel Covers.com are meant to be used on romance and erotic romance covers and I'm sure no one will take issue with you using them for that purpose. People don't sell bondage, erotic, etc images on cover image sites unless they expect them to be used on books with similar content.
> 
> As for stock photo sites like dreamstime and istockphoto, their images are used on erotic romance novels by digital publishers like Samhain, Liquid Silver, Carina Press, Loose Id, etc, as well as by a huge number of self-pubbed authors.


You're probably right. My wife could tell you I'm a worrier. Of course, now that I've asked them, I'll be in an awkward place if they tell me no. 

By chance do you know of a couple of books published by the publishers above that use thier images? That might be helpful if they do tell me no.


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## Jackie Barbosa (Mar 23, 2011)

Terry Mixon said:


> You're probably right. My wife could tell you I'm a worrier. Of course, now that I've asked them, I'll be in an awkward place if they tell me no.
> 
> By chance do you know of a couple of books published by the publishers above that use thier images? That might be helpful if they do tell me no.


Kim Killion at Hot Damn Designs did the first and last two covers shown in my signature line. The first story is pretty tame, but CARNALLY EVER AFTER and THE LESSON PLAN both fall in the erotic romance category. I know she's fine with that not only because she did my covers, but because she has a whole set of images on her stock site labeled "Erotic." I totally don't think you have to worry about this if you use her.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

Jackie Barbosa said:


> Kim Killion at Hot d*mn Designs did the first and last two covers shown in my signature line. The first story is pretty tame, but CARNALLY EVER AFTER and THE LESSON PLAN both fall in the erotic romance category. I know she's fine with that not only because she did my covers, but because she has a whole set of images on her stock site labeled "Erotic." I totally don't think you have to worry about this if you use her.


That's a relief. So, that means Hot D*mn Stock and RomanceNovelCovers is safe, which is good since I have images purchased from both.

Dreamstime, on the other hand is off limits. They responded to my question about using their images as erotic romance or erotica covers with the following response.

"This only infringes the sensitive usage clause if there are live models in the image. Any image with actual people will not be able to be used."

Thankfully, most of the images I found interesting can also be found on depositphotos.com and their T&C doesn't have that same restrictive language.

I know some people will ask, how will they ever know? They probably wouldn't, but I'm a worrier. Why take a risk when I can operate with no worries through the other site.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in. You were all very helpful.


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## Piper Brooks (Aug 31, 2011)

I am putting together my first cover, and since it is a short story, I didn't want to invest in farming out the work. I had run across the restrictive TOS elsewhere, as well. Thanks for the suggestions of sites that aren't so restrictive!


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## sexualimprov (Aug 29, 2011)

Bob Edens shot the model which is my avatar and soon the cover of my first erotica ebook.  He's very reasonable.  Find him at www.facebook.com/bob.edens.photo or www.bobedens.com


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks for the links!


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

I've used Stacey for nine of my covers. She's quick, professional and affordable. You can find her in the Kindle Yellow Pages.


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## MichMasoch (Dec 1, 2011)

We have recently started offering erotica stock photos at www.eroticastock.com.

My husband and I work in erotic/fetish content, so shoot new sets pretty often. We tend to lean toward paranormal (mainly vampires, but I have a few fae shoots coming up soon, too), fetish (BDSM, bondage, and retro pulp), and contemporary most of the time, but are pretty flexible. I'm itching for an excuse to do some SF and steampunk and the husband is branching out into gamer/action themes, too.

There are a bunch of shoots for new stock content on our 2012 schedule, so if there are styles/themes anyone is having trouble finding, just drop me an email. We can probably (barring exotic location/wardrobe) fit them in the set lists.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

MichMasoch said:


> We have recently started offering erotica stock photos at www.eroticastock.com.
> 
> My husband and I work in erotic/fetish content, so shoot new sets pretty often. We tend to lean toward paranormal (mainly vampires, but I have a few fae shoots coming up soon, too), fetish (BDSM, bondage, and retro pulp), and contemporary most of the time, but are pretty flexible. I'm itching for an excuse to do some SF and steampunk and the husband is branching out into gamer/action themes, too.
> 
> There are a bunch of shoots for new stock content on our 2012 schedule, so if there are styles/themes anyone is having trouble finding, just drop me an email. We can probably (barring exotic location/wardrobe) fit them in the set lists.


Thanks! I'll check that out.


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## sexualimprov (Aug 29, 2011)

What prices are bing charged for photos and for finished covers?  I might be interested in someone who will do the cover using my photos.


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## DD Graphix (Jul 15, 2011)

I have an entry on the bookcoverblog on what general graphic design prices are and what some cover design prices are, that might be useful as a guide

http://bookcoverblog.com/2011/12/what-is-the-value-of-cheap/

I also have links to several cover artists and stock offerings, including erotica.


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## MichMasoch (Dec 1, 2011)

sexualimprov said:


> What prices are bing charged for photos and for finished covers? I might be interested in someone who will do the cover using my photos.


Pricing can go all over the board for photos/art, and will often be determined by the license. Royalty-free will usually be super-cheap because it's kind of the wild west of stock; images can be sold indefinitely and used over and over without limit. Rights managed will be slightly more, since some protections are offered (for example, we sell up to 15 licenses per image, only for book covers and related promotion, and allow a finite number of uses for print before the license must be renewed). Rights protected will be the most expensive because it offers general protections, plus an exclusive license. This license can be beneficial for an established author but, when you're just starting out and budget is tight, it's probably a better idea to use that extra $ to get the best designer you can for your money instead.

Design costs are even more varied. It's easier to discern whether a great deal is so great after all by checking out previous covers and similar work in the designer's portfolio. (By the way, if the designer doesn't have a good-sized portfolio on their own domain website, they are probably not a professional. They might still be a good artist, but I'd be a bit more vigilant about checking them out.) Sometimes, you can get lucky and find a great artist who's just starting out and charges a pittance for excellent work. Other times the cheap price just gets you a cheap-looking cover, which can ruin the chances of your book getting the attention it deserves.

It's most important when contracting a designer to check out their portfolio for work similar to yours and ask about their knowledge of your genre and its cover conventions. Some designers are more design and composition oriented, while others lean more toward the art side. All designers have an area of specialty, which should be pretty clear by looking through their port. For example, I design in a huge array of visual themes, but generally work in a clean fashion-oriented style. So, if you were looking for an artsy, complex fantasy cover, even if you dig my work, I'd probably not be the best match and would probably tell you so right off the bat.

If you want to use your own photos, the designer you select shouldn't have any problem with that. Having the basic art ready to use saves on shopping time and will usually help determine the color scheme, too. Were you to approach me, hypothetically, I would want to see the photo(s) to make sure it's of the right quality for cover use before committing to using it. In general, I look for clarity, dynamic composition, good contrast and great natural-looking lighting with nuanced levels of high and low (or, in the case of something like noir, good contrast and transitions between light and dark). Then, if the clarity is there, the other important element is whether it is evocative enough to be the principal visual for your book. A good designer will, even if its not the most comfortable conversation, level with you if they think the images you love will not make a good cover and explain why.

Somewhere in here, I gave a lot of tips on shooting photos for covers, particularly getting the easiest route to the best lighting for a bright image with good contrast of light and shadow. It boils down to creating a triangle of light, with light from one direction offsetting the other to mitigate unfortunate shadows and enhance details and contours, especially in facial structure. One side's light will be below the face and angle slightly up while the other will be just above and point slightly downward, which helps smooth out contours you don't want (like under-eye hollows and brow ridge). In particular, avoid lighting and flash which is too direct, because it will result in a flat-looking image that looks a bit too much like a cardboard stand-up. Back-lighting is a nice touch, too, especially to highlight hair and better separate the subject from the background.


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## LSSukari (Mar 12, 2012)

adultstockphoto.com is entirely geared toward erotica, but the database doesn't appear to be well-stocked yet. Some of the images are extremely explicit, but there were photos tame enough for use in cover art last I checked.


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## Case Barrett (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks for the links. Whether it is editing, formatting or covers, have been having a difficult time finding people who are willing to work on erotic ebooks.


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## torbay (Aug 6, 2012)

For erotic covers without any legality worries, check out http://erotickindlecovers.com/
Covers are quite basic, but so is the price.


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## Paranormal Piper (Sep 24, 2012)

Like a few others have mentioned, Dreamstime and 123rf are great sources. Do a little price comparing because the two sites have a lot of the same photos at different prices.

Also, be careful of how explicit you get. Smashwords can apparently get a little anal-retentive at times. The cover of my first ebook showed some butt-crack and it got slapped with the 'Needs Modification' message. I ended up having to put a censor bar over her butt to get the cover to pass for the distributors. Meanwhile, Amazon and B&N had no problem with the original cover.

You might also want to check the free section of Dreamstime. They have some decent photos that don't cost a penny.


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