This is actually a huge factor - both the covers and the blurbs are hugely important. Self-published covers in competitive genres now have to be on-par with tra

This is actually a huge factor - both the covers and the blurbs are hugely important. Self-published covers in competitive genres now have to be on-par with trad covers for a reader to bother clicking on them. Niches where there may not be much trad coverage can be more forgiving. If you're writing in a small niche that not many other authors cover, you have more wiggle room with the cover art. But very popular genres with a high ceiling really benefit from a professional cover designer (or a professionally-designed premade). Luckily, there are budget designers out there who are decent. I started out publishing short stories and doing my own covers and editing. My first works _sucked_ and I'm glad I used them more for practice and did not put money into them. Gradually as I started making more, I began investing those royalties in peripheral services: editing and covers. I now pay for covers, developmental edits, copy edits, and proofreads for each new book. I've improved a lot and am steadily building a readership, but my books still barely pay for themselves with the outlay required.