DIY
Your Book Cover (Or Not)
If you’ve ever self-published or considered it at least, it probably crossed
your mind that a good book cover would probably help to “sell” the book. It’s
true that presentation is everything; how the sales page appears with the book
description and the cover are extremely important. Often, if the book cover isn’t
up to par, some readers won’t take an author seriously. The cover is half the
battle in marketing. The rest, well the rest is how you reach your audience.
But, that’s a topic of discussion for another day.
There are so many options out there these days. It
seems that everyone is trying to sell you something, book covers included. I’m not
saying there aren’t talented cover artists. I am amazed at the quality of work
in the industry. There are just as many nonprofessional ones as well, who try
to capitalize on the idea of creating a book cover. I won’t name any names, but
I’m sure you’ve come across them before. They charge a lot of money, but the
product just isn’t to your taste. And then there are the ones who don’t charge
much at all, and you have to wonder what kind of quality you’re getting for so
little. Are the covers they are touting actually theirs or are they using
someone else’s work to sell their services? That’s why I won’t go to sites like
https://www.fiverr.com/ to get a book
cover. I'm not saying the vendors aren't legitimate, just that I won't take the chance if that is the case.
Getting a professional book cover can be expensive.
Cover artists can charge anywhere from $30-79 for a pre-made cover or charge
you hundreds of dollars for something custom made. Granted, if you go the
custom route, I have no doubt that you’ll get what you request. The problem is
that I have read the disclaimers on some of these sites. A few artists will
expect you to pay the basic design fee, but then you have to go out and purchase
your own stock images. In the end, your cost has gone up considerably. I’ve
spent a lot of time ruminating about using a professional cover artist for
certain books. I got lucky with my publisher because they front that cost. But,
when you self-publish, the stakes are a bit higher. Let me give you some
options that I found. They look good, right?
And then there are the options on the higher end of
the scale.
Do the prices get worse? Oh, yes. Big name
publishers will pay their professional cover artists anywhere from $500-1200
per project.
“Uh…yikes, Marie. That’s really out of my budget.”
No kidding. But, let's say one of the options could work for you. A lot of questions go into a
purchasing decision.
1. Is
this the right service for me?
2. By
the time I am done using this cover artist, will I recognize anything from my
original vision for the cover?
3. Assuming
a pre-made cover is chosen, does the cover correctly represent my characters
and story?
It’s all good food for thought, and a decision like
this isn’t to be taken lightly. With so many cover art services out there, it
can seem incredibly daunting. If you decide to go this route, exercise caution but
use your instincts. If a pre-made cover just calls to you, shouldn’t you at
least consider it? Maybe the muse is trying to tell you something. And if it’s
out of your budget, go for something similar.
But seriously evaluate these
different cover art services. Read the fine print. Do they have certain
disclaimers you didn’t notice before? Are there hidden costs? Is the final
decision yours? Some of the artists will go through three rounds with you when
doing a custom design. I've worked with them before. They offer some possible covers or images for your
approval and you pick the one or ones you like. Then they try to honor your
wishes by incorporating other elements. They come back with a design, and you
can approve it or say what needs to be adjusted. That is, hopefully, how most
of them work, but you might want to stick with the ones that clearly outline
their process just to be sure.
There is another option, however, that you may not
have considered. You can design your own cover.
“What? I could never do that, Marie. I’m not an
artist.”
Well, neither am I. But, after a few times around
the block, I’ve managed to do well enough on my own because I’m working within
my budget for now. If you’ve been following me for awhile, then you know I’m
all about doing these different parts of publishing and marketing on my own. For
example, I even design my own
book trailers.
I started attempting this DIY madness with book
covers when I began self-publishing under other pen names in 2010. At that point, I used the
distributor’s cover art wizard and manipulated certain elements within the
image I’d purchased for the cover. I went back and revised the covers in 2012. Here
is an early attempt of one book.
And here
is the updated cover. Obviously, Amazon hasn’t gotten the memo that the cover
art for the paperback has changed. LOL. But, it does show the new cover on Kindle.
You can see a full list of my books here. If you
browse from the bottom of the list to the top, you can see the chronological
order of my book releases, and what covers I used.
Five years later, I’m not perfect, but I think I
have it down to a few great tools to use in order to come up with something to
present to readers. So, I will offer a little advice.
If you’re going to try to design your own book
cover, really think about what you want your cover to look like. Can you
picture it in your mind or do you just want to look for inspiration in order to
come up with something specific?
1.
Theme.
Think about the theme of your book. What is it about? What is the genre? If it’s
romance, do you want to exhibit ‘romance’ or a specific element within the
plot? If it’s mystery, what do you want to show on the cover? A dead body, a
gun, a criminal, a detective? Any of those, or a combination of different
things? I start by defining what this theme for the book is. Every story has a
theme, or a specific idea you want to convey within the text.
2.
Study.
“What, Marie?” That’s right. You need to study book covers within your genre,
and decide if you want to conform to the standards or try something a little
different. Obviously, if it’s any subgenre of romance, you’ll want to include
some element of romance while honoring your vision for the story. If it’s erotica
or erotic romance, you need to be careful about how much skin is shown because
Amazon has rules about it. The rules are: “sexy, but not sexual”. Explore the
covers in the genre. Even if Amazon is allowing it, that doesn’t you’ll be able to
widely promote it because there are a lot of limits, on, say, groups or pages
on Facebook and other social media sites. Some types of erotica have a bad rep.
So, just be careful if that’s the genre for your book.
If you’re focusing on
another genre, the same rule still applies. Just see what's available, and know
what you’re allowed to do. Always think about what symbols mean, and what
negative connotations could be derived from them. Certain pagan symbols are
often mistakenly associated with devil worship, for example. In any case, keep an
eye on what’s out there. But, don’t be afraid to get creative either.
3.
Images.
Maybe you know exactly
what you want on your book cover. That’s great! Perhaps you only want to
explore images for inspiration. Either way, it’s never too early to start
looking for an image that might capture the theme or idea of your cover.
Sometimes I just look for images for character muses or to inspire me in even
writing a book. I also use stock images in my book trailers.
But, let’s say you’re at the stage where you’re planning your cover. You’ll want to find a great site, a place that offers high quality images and is fairly affordable. There are so many stock image or photo websites. You’ll want to pay attention to the ones that give credit to the photographers or artists. Why? Because you’ll be paying for a special license to use them on the web or in print. Otherwise, you’re violating copyright laws and you do NOT want someone to sue you over this issue. And having said that, make sure that when you do decide on images and pay for them, give credit to the photographer on your copyright page for the book (i.e. image source – photographer, company or site you found it on).
But, let’s say you’re at the stage where you’re planning your cover. You’ll want to find a great site, a place that offers high quality images and is fairly affordable. There are so many stock image or photo websites. You’ll want to pay attention to the ones that give credit to the photographers or artists. Why? Because you’ll be paying for a special license to use them on the web or in print. Otherwise, you’re violating copyright laws and you do NOT want someone to sue you over this issue. And having said that, make sure that when you do decide on images and pay for them, give credit to the photographer on your copyright page for the book (i.e. image source – photographer, company or site you found it on).
As with cover artists, there are
different ranges of fees for photos. I stick with the more affordable ones.
Some sites want you to purchase a subscription, while others will allow you to
do a custom price or a pay-as-you-go plan. I prefer to pay for each individual
photo at a time. I can acquire them, and then add to projects. With certain
sites, you can pay a specific amount for credits, then use the credits toward
images. Those are good too, as long as they are within your budget. Here are
some great sites that give you the ability to pay affordably for images. I know
there are many more.
Here are a few expensive options,
if that’s a route you’re willing to take. I found more in the past, but I
usually avoid them. LOL.
“What about the opposite side of
the spectrum, Marie? I’ve heard you can get free images.”
That is, of course, always an
option. There are royalty-free no cost sites available as well. Here is the
rub: can you really assure yourself of how legitimate they are? How do you know
that someone didn’t steal an image and try to resell it? I leave the decision
in your hands, but I can’t stress enough how you’ll still have to give credit
to the photographer or contributor. I will list a few that are pretty safe.
For myself, it’s always better to
purchase a license to use something rather than take it, shove it on a product
and pretend I have the rights to it. Make sense?
You also have to decide what size of image you need. Anything which is the size of your book cover or just a bit larger is always good because you can resize down to whatever you need. And cover software handles most of this for you. For cover images, I usually pick anywhere from 1300 to 2400 pixels. For other types of projects (graphic teasers, banners and bookmarks, I can go much smaller.
Eventually, I always find the perfect image and experience that “gotcha!” moment. It’s good to use your instincts in this case as well. If you feel so-so about an image or don’t like it all that much, don’t feel obligated to use it. Do you want to hate your book cover? No, you want to be satisfied with the finished product.
4.
Layout. Let’s assume that you now
have the image or images that you want to use. Now it’s time to get creative.
Or…is it? Remember when I asked you if you knew what you wanted the cover to
look like in the first place? Now is the time to really think about your images
and how they’ll fit into that vision. And if you still don’t have a clue what
the final cover will look like, that’s okay too. Maybe you’re a visual person and you need to see it on the page first. That’s when a few fun tools come in handy.
5.
Designing
the book cover. Most professional cover artists use
special software, something that most of us can’t afford. Here are some links if you’re
willing to go that route.
If you’re not willing to do that,
some people use Photoshop.
There are also some free options. I
know a few sites that let you edit images or transpose them onto backgrounds.
Here are a couple I have used.
These tools are awesome because you
can do so much with them! I often use them to cut out shapes or trim, even
frame something. You can also change the lighting on a picture or include
textures. Anyway, nothing is final and you can always save different draft
files for each version. You can then start from scratch with your original
image, knowing it’s still as perfect as it was. For a couple of those you can even change eye color so it truly looks legitimate (that one made my day!) Again, take your time with
these tools. It’s so easy to get frustrated. Just breathe and learn how
everything works. It’s okay to even use Microsoft Paint, but you will want to
use it sparingly because it may not always look professional. (Update: PicMonkey is now asking for a subscription to save your work, but they do have great themes and photo effects.)
Now, how do you actually create a cover? Paint lets you resize items after the completed product, but if you want something truly authentic,
there is a very cool tool you can use. Canva is my savior, and I have loved it
since I found it several months ago. https://www.canva.com/
With Canva, you can select a type
of product or project to work with (the dimensions are already set for you or you
can do a custom size). For this one, I usually choose ‘Kindle Cover’ under the ‘Create
a design’ option. Yes, it’s time to be impressed. This will be the size you
need to upload to Amazon KDP or any other bookseller.
If you’ve chosen ‘Kindle Cover’,
you’ll see the page load into a white space where your book cover will go.
Remember that ‘layout’ I was talking about before? Do you have an idea where
you want your title to go? Do you have a series name or subtitle to add? And,
of course, you’ll want to include your name as the author. There are ‘layout’
buttons on the left side of the page where you can select how each line of text
lays on the cover. Be very careful about which elements you choose to use in
Canva. Most are free, but some have paid options (like $1.00 or so). For the most part, I
choose the free ones. In the ‘layout’ section, you’ll see sample book covers showing how the text looks on a cover. Be careful of the ones that look
entirely centered with several lines of text in a column. Unless you’re willing to
go with that option, you may not be able to change how the text lays because
those elements are saved as templates.
Choose a layout that works for you
and your vision for the book cover. It will automatically load onto the cover.
Now you should change the font colors for the titles and subtitles, even the
author name. Probably something bright like blue. Why? Because you’ll want to be able to see them when you load your
images in. It might take a while to navigate around the page to select the
different text elements. If you’ve ever designed your own greeting card using
card software, it’s the same idea.
After that is done, select the full
book cover using your mouse. You’ll see the dotted line outlining the size of
the book cover. Then delete it. If it works correctly, you should still be able to see your
text. If you
mess up the preloaded text, you can add your own using the ‘text’ option on the
left side of the page. Some are paid elements, while others are free. Be
careful and use the free options if you don’t want to pay.
Now go to each section of text and when you click on it, you should see some
options like color, size of font, type of font and a little arrow. Click on the
arrow, and then go down the list until you find an option that says ‘move
forward’. That will ensure that your font stays above everything.
Now, you need to decide if you want
a basic color background or if you want to use your purchased stock images as
the background for your cover. To put a color background in the page on Canva, just go
to ‘background’ on the left side and select a color. To use custom
colors, use the plus (+) symbol. There are also background templates, but some of
them require you to pay, as aforementioned. Once you have your background
color, you should see an option that says ‘uploads’ on the left side of the website
page. There is a green button which says ‘upload your own images’. Click that
to find your images. As the file uploads, you’ll see a small thumbnail of your image
down below. Click there and drag the photo to your page. On the cover space,
you’ll be able to resize the image as large or as small as you want. This is
where it gets tricky. As you manipulate things on the page, you’ll probably
have to use the ‘move forward’ option on your text once more to ensure that you can move it over your
new image.
If you need to manipulate how an
image looks, such as wanting a shape like a circle, you’ll have to use those
tools that I mentioned above and then upload that image in. Using PicMonkey,
you can go to ‘edit an image’, upload the file then choose the frame symbol on
the left hand side. Pick ‘shape cutouts’, then it will give you shapes to
choose from. You can alter the size of the circle or whatever shape you choose
using the bar on the left hand side. If you want an angle for the image, you can
alter that as well. Once you’re done, save and then upload the image to Canva. Make
sure you keep it as a PNG image or the outside of the circle won’t remain
transparent.You can bring the image into your project on Canva by uploading the file when your ready, and then dragging it to the cover page.
Next, go back to Canva in your browser and move your text around to
where you want it on the cover. Make it larger if necessary, or even change the
font type or color.
Now you need to think about layout.
Where does the book title sit as opposed to your series title or your author
name? Do you want everything centered? How does the text relate to the image
you want to convey? Is it crowding your picture? Adjust as necessary.
Again, be prepared to spend a little time learning how to use this tool. If you have to, do a temporary project and play with the different options.
Again, be prepared to spend a little time learning how to use this tool. If you have to, do a temporary project and play with the different options.
Once you have your cover designed
to perfection, save it using the download' button in the upper right corner. It will save
using Canva’s own file name so you’ll have to rename it when you find it in
your ‘downloads’ folder on your PC or wherever your downloaded files save.
Another cool thing that Canva does
is they save your projects so that you can go back in and edit them later. You just
need to register for a free account. You’ll also see options to make your
designs public, but don’t press that unless you’re willing to give up your
rights to your cover.
(Note: You can also use Canva for other photo
projects like your Facebook author page or Twitter page.)
And there you have your cover! Before you do
anything, check the final product to be sure you didn’t miss anything. You can
use Windows Photo Viewer for that. Now is the time that you may notice white
space that you didn’t see before, or issues with the layout (title isn’t
centered and such). Print it out if you need to. Make sure you are absolutely
satisfied with the final product. Send it to a friend or someone you trust for
a second opinion. It is okay to have five or six versions of a cover before you’re
happy with it.
Another technique I use is doing mockup covers. I
take an image I found online so that I can decide on the layout. That helps me
figure out what I want for a cover before I make any purchases. Here are a couple of recent attempts:
And here are some recent projects that I did using
Canva, only with purchased stock images.
UPDATE 12/10/16: I launched my own graphic design business back in June and here are few of the book covers we have offered.
PREMADES
CUSTOM COVERS
UPDATE 2/28/16: The Ambrosia website is now closed, but I will take custom project or orders for past premades. The full product list is here on my main author website.
This is another helpful article on cover design: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/06/top-8-cover-design-tips-for-self-publishers/
By now, I hope you have a book cover that you love
and can’t do without. It is my wish that I’ve helped you navigate the sea
of decision in choosing whether to go with a cover designer or doing it on your
own. Or, at least given you the steps to try it for yourself.
If you do decide to have someone else design it for
you, that’s great too! Personally, I think Sherry Soule at SwoonWorthy Book Covers is fantastic! The point is that you find a cover you are perfectly
content with.
Have a great rest of your week, and, as always,
happy reading! :)
