Tips on Creating a Cover

Jan 255 min read

First, of all, I'm still learning; but I'd love to share what I have learned so you don't have to struggle with creating your first cover...

It can be difficult and easy, just like writing that book was. And it can be a lot of fun! If you are going to create your cover, give yourself enough time to get it done. You should begin before the book is finished. Then you can make adjustments once you know the size of the book including how many pages it will have (you'll need that for the spine).

Having a template like these will help. That way, if you want a spine or back matter done, you'll know where to put them and where the barcode will be placed. This is something you can use before you know the page number, but you'll have to make adujstments later once the book is 100% finished. The first one was through Amazon at https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/cover-templates and the second one was from Draft2Digital which you can get during the uploading of your book so it will be measured exactly to your needs. This one was from my book, Broken. With Draft2Digital, you can design the front cover without doing anything to the spine and backcover, which you won't need to use a template for. You can just use an image that is rectangular with title and author name, then choose the color you want for spine and back.

Tips:

The people on the cover don't have to match the people in the story. When you design your cover, you want it to tell the reader what the genre is. That's the first thing. So, if you head over to Amazon and search the top 100 in the genre, you can see what other authors chose for their covers. Use that for inspiration. Pay attention to the colors chosen, the fonts used, and placements for title and author name. Also pay attention to the pictures used—was it an object, people, no image, etc. For images, you do want to pay for the license, so go to websites where you can get them legally. Just remember, just because you buy the license, doesn't mean other people can't use them. They can. So you do want to play around with the image and make it a little different or completely different. Pay attention to the license and see what you're legally able to do with the image.
On most covers, you should limit your fonts to one or two, but if you do it right you could use more. But the rule of thumb is two as a limit. Sometimes two isn't enough. You want to use fonts in the same family though, that work well together. My favorite place to get fonts is https://www.fontspace.com/ because you can find free fonts there but the same rule applies with fonts as it does with the images. You should get ones with a license and pay attention to what the license allows. Google is your best friend, you can search for other places for fonts. You can also ask Google for book genres and read up on what to expect. So Amazon isn't your only choice for research.
Some websites offer templates for covers. With those, you can use the template and just make adjustments to the images used. Some are free, some require payment. Between the two, it is always better to pay for it because that does protect you. Never use an image that is AI generated. Some people frown on using them. Until it is settled on how to license them, it is just safer for you to avoid using them. You can also use images you already own.
You'll want to use software that you can understand. I use Paint Shop Pro, but there are others including some that you use online that don't require downloading. https://www.gimp.org/ is a popular choice. There is a free version with limited usage and a paid version to choose from. When using these programs, you'll want to work in layers so you can move things around until you like how it looks. When you save the file, save it as layers (pspimage) in Paint Shop Pro (save copy as...) so you can return to the image and keep working in layers. Do not "flatten", meaning do not combine the layers. It took me a long time to learn that part and each software or program is different. PSP is the only one I've worked with because I understand it better than the others. When you are finished with your cover, you want 2 files. One will be saved as the layer copy and the other will be saved as png or jpeg. You can do both of those if you'd prefer. PNG files have transparent backgrounds. The reason you want to keep the file in layers is so you can make adjustments if your cover doesn't fit properly or you want to make changes later down the road. For instance, you want to make a special edition for the same book, you can use what you already have and just add "special addition" to the cover.
Less is more. Your cover doesn't have to tell the whole story. Too many images will be crowded. You can choose the main image that says something about the story. Remember to keep in the genre. The same is true about words on the cover. Many authors add in "best seller" or information about publisher, quotes, etc. Though they may be important, you don't want a heavy front cover. Those things can be added to the backside of the book. Title, author, and a tagline are really all you need. And you don't have to use a tagline.
If you have a series...The covers should relate to each other. When you place them together, you want to easily see they are a series. So when designing them, use the same format, colors, fonts, and if you can use the same placements for the title and author name. Sometimes, that's not possible depending on the images but you still want to use the same fonts across the series.
Title should fit 1/3 of the cover. Author name will be smaller than the title. Tagline, if used, will be smaller than author name. If you're using a series title, it will be smaller than the title as well. Check that the spacing between the letters is the same. And don't be afraid to stretch the author name so it fills the line space across the title. Readers can assume you're a big-name author and pick up your book because of that. They don't know you're not.
When adding in your title and author name, make it part of the design. When done right, it will appear as though they belong together. The name isn't sitting on top of the image. You can adjust it so some of the letters are hidden behind part of the image too. This is something you can decide to do or not do—up to you. I've seen many covers do that and it looks awesome.
There are a lot of "how-to" videos on YouTube, watch them and study them. Learn them so you can easily make your own cover and no one will ever know unless you tell them. It's how I've learned a lot of the things I've done.