You’ve spent what feels like months critically finetuning the words in your novel. Building a storyline and developing characters was challenging, but the finished product is rewarding. Now, you want it out of your hands and into the hands of readers, who you know will love it.
Don’t jump the self-publishing gun; set aside time to research how to design an incredible book cover. The cover summons the potential reader because people shop with their eyes. If your design appears weak or the polar opposite of the genre, readers will overlook your novel and move on. Your cover needs to enchant the potential buyer and spark emotion in the blink of an eye.
Designing a book cover sounds outlandish to a wordsmith. What do authors know about fostering images and illustrative design skills, turning a blank book cover into a stunning montage while keeping costs low? What tactics are required to create an alluring book cover design?
Do you go with a DIY or professional book cover design? We present a few resources for creating a cover worthy of encasing and depicting your work of literary art.
Hire Professionals
Do you doubt your design capabilities? You could spend more time and more effort on it than if you hired a professional from the get-go. These artists certify a refined final manuscript, costing you more upfront, but there’s a probability of recovering costs later thanks to higher sales. Here are some options for hiring a professional.
#1 99designs
This site provides an array of design facets, available for a nominal fee, including book covers, author logos, character merchandise, and anything you need as a self-published author. 99designs introduces you to various designers; you never know, you may fall in love with a particular designer’s work and use them on future projects.
99 Designs allows you to tap into the marketplace by creating a design contest for your project. A “design brief” clarifies your requests and presents your financial plan and conditions for prospective design bids in the marketplace. Designers enter your contest offering their unique concepts and viewpoints.
You’ll review and select a winner, who you’ll pay in line with the budget you had in mind for the project. Copyright ownership belongs to you once you’ve nominated a final design. 99designs has a combo deal, both book and eBook covers for $399, whereas you’d get a book cover for $299 and eBook covers at $199.
#2 TheBookDesigner.com
Founded by Joel Friedlander, presently run by Chandler Bolt, this site offers readymade book covers, as part of its printing packages, through a group of professional designers. Qualified designers create professional-looking covers for fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. They’ve provided authors book design tips for years under the banner of SelfPublishing.com.
#3 Fiverr
A professional book cover for just $5; sign me up, right? The site permits you to assess designers’ portfolios and see evaluations made by other clients before pledging to a designer. Authors have varying opinions on using this service.
Fiverr is a freelancing site offering you access to a deep pool of book cover designers. The quality of their work varies, so check the reviews before ordering your services. Only order from users with a 5-star rating for best results.
#4 Ask the Community for a Referral
Use your networking skills and ask fellow authors for a referral. Self-published writers and novelist friends are an effective way of meeting decent designers at sensible prices. Writers groups on Facebook are a useful resource to consider scanning through to find referrals for cover designers.
Trusted resources are the best resources; they could put you in contact with other trusted designers. If you have the opportunity to work with professional designers through a referral, as the referring party what they paid to get an estimate of what you’ll pay for their services before giving the project the go ahead.
DIY Book Cover Design Resources
Prefer taking matters into your own hands and being in complete control? Fancy yourself an all-around creative? These resources offer you everything you need to handle the book cover design process yourself.
#5 DIYBookCovers.com
Need help coming up with ideas from scratch? Creating a powerful, alluring book cover need not cost you hundreds of dollars in specialist design software or subscriptions fees.
There are plenty of on-site and YouTube video tutorials teaching you how to design an impressive book cover in 30 minutes or less using DIYbookcovers.com. A free online cover creator tool is available on the site, helping you design a best-selling book cover.
#6 Canva
Create professional book cover designs with Canva for free. This web-based design software has plenty of useful features, but some design elements require a premium paid membership. Canvas drag-and-drop format helps non-designers to generate an effective book cover in no time. Canva includes millions of images, stock photos, trajectories and artworks, photo filters, free icons, and hundreds of fonts.
#7 GIMP
“GNU Image Manipulation Program” or GIMP is downloadable software commonly used for photo editing, touchups, and composing images. GIMP can be used with GNU/Linux and UNIX, as well as Windows, Mac, and other systems, but regrettably not available for web-based use.
#8 Pixlr
Gain access to an assortment of photo editing apps with Pixlr. “Pixlr Editor” presents opportunities to layer, exchange colors and alter objects. “Pixlr Express” harnesses quick solutions and personal touches with a minimalist and user-friendly interface. The “Made with Pixlr” gallery is saturated with stunning images, having been edited and touched up on this site. You’ll need a premium paid subscription to access the Pixlr premium features.
#9 Microsoft Paint
This may sound unbelievable, but you can design a complete book cover using only Microsoft Paint. You’ll find plenty of design tutorials on YouTube teaching you how to use Paint to develop any design you have in mind. Learn the importance of balancing colors and selecting the correct image. Less is more, and Paint gives you a good platform for creating simple book covers.
#10 DeviantArt
This online resource is great for finding images for your book cover. The search function helps you locate the right imagery for your cover, sourcing stock images, or using other off-site online resources. There are step-by-step tutorials on YouTube providing guidelines for creating a gorgeous cover. It’s a simple process and very user-friendly.
