07/09/2025 An Open Letter to Indie Cover Artists

An Open Letter to Indie Cover Artists

Now that I’ve taken a day or two to let my frustrations die down, I still feel like the overall issue needs to be addressed.

Let me preface this with a few statements:

• This is not the first time I’ve noticed this issue.

• It is not the first time I’ve mentioned it.

• No. I do not think it is purely intentional, nor do I think it’s intended to be perceived as racist.

• This issue includes the indie cover artists that I see most often and most active within the horror community. With the exception of one-Don Noble of Rooster Republic.

• This is meant to be taken as a general issue of oversight or maybe a lack of awareness, not intended to shame anyone or call anyone out.

Now then, on to the issue:

The glaring lack of cultural representation on the selection of pre-made book covers that are readily available within the portfolios of our indie artist community. This is an ongoing problem, and I’d like to know how we can remedy it.

My Caucasian peers can go nuts on any given day grabbing up pre-made covers that fit their story and their budget. There is no lack of white representation within any of the various pre-made portfolios that our indie artist community posts on their sites.

Hundreds of gorgeous covers, from floral to gory, Victorian to grim dark, my fair skinned colleagues can pick and choose several for what my peers of color would need to pay to commission one cover that displays the cultural representation, heritage, lineage that we wish our cover to display.

It’s as if we are just expected to pay more just because our skin tone is darker, or our features are different. Why must I pay more just for being black? For wanting a character that looks like my heritage on my book cover?

African American, Native American, Asian or Asian American, Hispanic, Latino, etc. the list is long of heritages, cultures, features and skin tones that are blatantly missing (read as slim to none) from this particular selection of cover art. Why is that?

We exist. Authors from every nation and of every color, exist. Why are we missing from the selection of pre-made cover art intended to be affordable and available, for the wide array of indie authors that support them? Authors that may be new, or financially struggling, authors that just had a sudden idea and want to get it out there but can’t afford a full commission right then.

Please note, this is not about being too cheap to pay for commissions. I do commission most of my art. I support our indie community as a whole, from the authors and artists right down to the editors, formatters, and reviewers.

This is about this one particular oversight, that is keeping authors of color from buying more of your pre-made covers, the same oversight that may also cause them to just go elsewhere for all their artwork, including commissions. For every premade cover that I see that might feature a POC as its central focus, I see 30-40 more that do not.

For the authors of color, our only option, the majority of the time, is to settle for a pre-made that only partially suits our story or theme, a cover that has yet another skeleton, ghoul, or creepy house on it or to pay 2-3x that amount to commission a piece. Which can also mean that author tabling a story until they can afford the cover.

I’m indie, I’m Black. I’m Native American. I often write spur of the moment stories that need a quick cover, why can’t I buy a great indie artist pre-made cover just as quickly and easily as my fair complexioned peers?

Maybe it’s oversight. Maybe it’s just lack of awareness. Maybe it’s something else, but after having read this observation, what do you imagine it feels like to your people of color peers?