CREATING YOUR COVER

A little not-so-secret piece of advice? Everyone judges a book by its cover.

Your cover is going to be the first thing your reader sees. Actually, it is the only visual representation of your story. This makes it key in attracting an audience and setting the scene for your novel’s overall aesthetic. So, where do you even find a cover? Let me help.

There are several different routes you can take when it comes to your cover. If you are publishing traditionally, your team has you covered. Us independent authors are on our own, though. The thing about your cover is that you have to own the rights to whatever artwork you use. That means you either have to come up with your own artwork or buy it off of someone else. Let’s talk options.

Designing your own cover:

You can design a book cover yourself through Book Brush, Canva, Kindle Cover Creator, PicMonkey, or another online program that allows you to create your own digital image.

Using your own photography or illustrations is another option. If you have taken a photograph yourself that you own the rights to, you can use that as your book cover as well.

Purchasing a book cover:

Going through a cover designer. There are two types of cover designers. Those that sell pre-made art and those that you can custom-order cover art from. For all the beautiful things, I worked with a designer who had a pre-made cover. I asked her to switch around a few details until I liked the final product. Pre-made designers will often give you two or so changes free of charge.

If you want to publish your book in print as well as eBook, you are going to need to purchase a spine and back cover for your book as well, which are typically sold at an additional price. Pre-made book covers can run anywhere from $30-250, sometimes more if you want an entirely custom-made cover.

So, where do you find these designers? Google! There is a huge market for cover art, and thousands of potential pieces are just a “book cover designer” search away. Some of my favorite websites to look through are:

thebookcoverdesigner.com

reedsy.com

Selfpubbookcovers.com

99 Designs

100 Covers

Some tips on choosing a great design for your covers:

• Make sure your cover has a main focal point that is clear and intriguing. If there is too much going on, your reader will get overwhelmed, and it won’t come across as professional. I’m not saying go plain, but keep it centered and don’t give too much away all at once. It should draw your reader in and make them want to know more, not tell the whole story.

• The title and your name (or pen name) should be legible. Don’t go crazy with cursive fonts or print your name in 12-point font in the bottom corner. It’s your book, know it and make sure your reader does too.

• Make sure your cover art lines up with your genre. If you are writing about war in a futuristic fantasy setting, don’t make your cover a picture from World War Two. That horror cover might be amazing, but you’re writing a romance.

• Take your time looking. Don’t feel pressured to settle for the first designer you come across, or something on the first website. Look around, explore places you hadn’t considered. When you find the right one, you’ll know it. You’ve spent months, maybe years on this book. You’ll know when the art feels right.

All in all, there are a lot of different routes you can take when it comes to designing your book cover. Whether you want to do it yourself, or buy art from a graphic designer, you've got options. Just make sure before you go to buy your cover, you have your title, pen name, and back of the book blurb planned out to give to your designer.