I want some of the best of the best work done. Any ideas for me for a Ebook Design cover if I didn't want to spend $300 but still get EXCELLENT TOP NOTCH WORK DONE?
Top notch designers are not easily enslaved with few bucks. It's as simple as you get what you pay for. I think for an Ebook cover, $300 is well worth it and I'm sure you will get some very good entries on 99designs, but if you don't want to spend that much then you can post some contest in here for a $100 and you might get what you want. Top quality can't be guaranteed though.
I appreciate your honesty. I really do feel that #1. I could probably find something of top notch for $100 but my thing is. By spending $300 I greatly increase the odds of getting TOP NOTCH work. I know that my Ebook will ultimately come down to reviews on Amazon but I do believe a TOP NOTCH Ebook Cover could be a huge difference in sales.
Actually, I don't think you will get top notch designs from 99 designs either. I mean, try putting yourself in the designer's shoes. Will you spend a lot of time on a design for a contest that you may or may not win? They will try to enter as many contest as possible to increase the winning chance instead. Sure if you're lucky, you might get something good but there's a chance that a lot of the designs are rip offs of good designs and you didn't know. Try looking for just one good designer, and work with him/her to get something that you want. You can try looking in portfolio sites like Behance, Carbonmade or Coroflot for professional designers.