If you’re going to spend any money on producing your book, cover design is the place to do it. As much as we writers know the book is all about the content, readers do judge a book by the cover. However, while I have sold some copies of my books, I’m under no impression that I would ever make enough money to earn back my investment of hiring a professional cover designer. Even if you have limited graphic design experience, it’s possible to make a decent cover for no money at all. (“Decent” being a key word, not “great.”) This is how I made my covers, though I encourage you to explore all the options and find what is best for you.
I found my cover images on Unsplash. All photos on Unsplash are free to modify and use for commercial purposes. This is an important note. The only downside to using a free image (and it’s kind of a big one) is that others can use the same image for whatever project they’re working on. Someone else could publish their book using the same image for their cover that you have for yours.
There are websites out there where you can buy a premade book cover, and once you’ve purchased it, no one else will be able to use it. Most designers are willing to make minor adjustments for you. You might have to pay extra for these adjustments, and you might also have to pay extra to purchase a version to use for a paperback along with a version for an e-book. Depending on your budget and how uncomfortable you are with the possibility of others using your cover image, this might be something to consider.
You could also take your own photo, but make sure it’s at a high enough resolution to keep from appearing grainy and pixelated once it’s printed. I know KDP used to flag images in their review step that didn’t have a high enough resolution. I’m not sure if they still do, but I would think so.
I decided to use a photo in landscape mode (wider than it was taller), so it would wrap all around the book and I didn’t have to worry about getting the size of the spine exactly right. All I had to worry about was centering the text on the spine and making it small enough so that it wouldn’t wrap around the edges.
Once you have uploaded your interior file to the print-on-demand platform, the site should tell you exactly what size your cover file needs to be, down to a thousandth of an inch. I created a new file on Canva using these dimensions. I then uploaded my photograph. If you’re using a photo from Unsplash or another site that allows modification, you can flip the photo so it’s mirror image, apply a filter, change the transparency so your text will stand out more easily, and make other creative changes.
The reason I like to use Canva is that it will help you make sure your text is centered. Depending on the POD platform’s guidelines, a book’s spine has to be a certain width before it will allow printing on the spine, so if you have a smaller book, this step might not apply to you. If you have a wide enough spine and would like the book title and/or your author name on the spine, add this text on the photo, rotate it 90 degrees, adjust the size, and center it. This might take a bit of trial and error as you may have to upload the file to the POD platform and preview it with their guides. As long as you’re using KDP, Nook Press, or Pothi, you can reupload the file as many times as you need to before hitting publish to make sure you have everything in the lines and far enough away from the edges to avoid getting cut off.
When putting the title and author name on the front cover, remember to make these large enough to be legible when the image is shrunk to a thumbnail size in the online stores and search engines. You’ve hopefully spent some serious time coming up with a good title, so make sure people can see it so it’ll pique their interest! Again, this is a balancing act between being large enough to read and small enough to avoid getting too close to the edges of the cover.
Here’s one small tip when it comes to the title text that I’ve found has made a large difference, especially depending on the type of photo it sits upon. In Canva, when you’re editing the text, click on “Effects” on the bar at the top and choose “Lift.” This makes the title text look a bit more like it belongs there and less like you simply typed the title on top of a photo. I use this for both the title and author name.
You can also use an element or two for some flourishes. I added a decorative line under my author name just to make the cover look a little fancier. However, I would avoid frames or anything that needs to be perfectly aligned with the edges of the cover. You don’t want them to look off-centered once the book is printed and production does some minor trimming to the edges of your book.
Back Cover
You have a bit of freedom when it comes to the back cover, as long as you leave space for the barcode, usually in the lower right corner. My book is available only in online stores, and chances are yours will be too, unless you order copies of your own to sell on consignment or at fairs. You don’t have to put the blurb or book description on the back cover. You could leave it blank, put a poem or an excerpt from a poem, or put your author bio, photo, or both. My book’s blurb is short, so I put that, as well as a four-line excerpt from a poem, which I formatted in italics.
E-book Covers
E-book covers are much easier. Canva has an option for creating an e-book cover. It’s 1410 by 2250 pixels. If you’ve made your paperback cover, you can save this to your computer as a JPG, reupload it to Canva, and adjust it to the right dimensions. (The paid version of Canva allows you to adjust the canvas size right in the program.) I did have to make a second copy of my paperback cover on Canva and remove the spine text before cropping it for the e-book cover, otherwise I would have had a bit of the spine text appearing on the edge of the e-book cover.
And there you have it! Take advantage of the preview options on the POD platforms to make sure your cover will print as you expect it will. If you’re not in a hurry to hit publish, I highly recommend ordering a proof copy to examine before you approve it, especially if this is your first book. Amazon will put an ugly watermark over the cover that says, “Not for Sale,” though. If you’re in the US, I recommend ordering a proof copy from Nook Press instead. I don’t think they include any marks on the cover like KDP does, unless something has changed since I last ordered one from them.
Key Takeaways
- If you have the money, hire someone else to make the cover.
- Always make sure you have the rights to use and/or modify any images you use.
- Take advantage of the preview options to make sure your cover appears as you want it.
- Order proof copies to see the book in person before making it available for purchase.
Michelle Wicklow 