I thought I had a post about book cover design up on this blog but can’t find it – for those that don’t know, I was a book editor and book cover designer while getting my PhD in Literature. I pivoted to writing my own fiction and nonfiction book while helping indie authors publish and market their books, so I have a sprawling mess of websites and publishing services that haven’t been updated in years.
Short answer: you can make a book cover yourself with a template and stock images, generate one with AI, or hire a designer. Which route you pick comes down to your genre and your budget, and the tips below cover the parts people get wrong.
Template, AI or designer: which route fits
| Route | Works when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Template and stock images | You know what you are doing and can mash up stock images and pick the right font. | It is risky to DIY and get it wrong, so a template and a tutorial help. |
| AI | You want exactly what you have in mind without an illustrator or a designer. | Fonts and layout still matter, and you may need a designer to put together the spine and back covers. |
| Designer | You want someone who knows what sells in your genre. | The average cost is around $350 to $550. With Fiverr or cheap sites it is hard to know if they are using AI or commercial fonts. |
What makes a cover look amateur
- Treating the cover as a creative project when it is packaging: it is your book’s advertising.
- Choosing fonts carelessly or laying them out without care.
- Spine and back cover that are not sized correctly to work on KDP.
Five simple tips for book cover design
But just in case you’re looking for book cover design, here are some very simple tips to make sure you do it right.
#1 – your book is advertising. It’s not a creative thing: it’s packaging. You need the best thing you can get because it’s going to make the biggest difference in all of your marketing and promotional efforts. Without a good one, your book will fail.
#2 – you don’t need a book cover designer. By which I means, it’s possible to mashup some stock images together and choose the right font. I’ve designed all my own covers, but I know what I’m doing. It’s risky to DIY and get it wrong, so I built a bunch of tutorials and templates about book cover design, even a free guide, and all that stuff is at www.diybookcovers.com.
#3 – AI for book cover design. AI is scary for most artists, but it does allow authors to finally get exactly what they have in mind, without hiring an illustrator or working with a book cover designer. I have a few articles on AI for book cover design. For me, I want the absolute best image, that sells more story and communicates my genre. I have access to stock photos and photoshop, and I know how to use it… but I’ll always pick the art that sells the most books.
#4 – typography for book cover design. That said, choosing fonts is really important, as is laying them out professionally. There are tools that can already handle the text, but you may need a designer to put together the spine and back covers, which can get a lot trickier because they need to be sized correctly to work on KDP.
#5 – best book cover designers.
Here’s my list of favorite book cover designers, mostly for scifi and fantasy which can get tricky. Here’s another list of best book cover designers.
What it costs and how to judge a designer
You want to pick someone who knows what will sell in your genre, so check out their examples and make sure they can do something great. The average cost for book cover design is around $350 to $550, but that can vary a bit. Beware of Fiverr or cheap sites – you may find a good deal but it’s hard to know if they are using AI or commercial fonts, etc.
Whether you do it yourself or get help, the cover really is hugely important so I hope these resources help! I redo my own covers all the time, I’m pretty messy with it, but I want to make sure conversion justifies ad costs and a slightly better cover often makes all the difference.
One more thing: if you write YA fantasy or paranormal romance, look at what’s already selling in your niche before you design anything. The YA mermaid romance books and fallen angel romances lists on this site are a quick way to see what readers in those genres expect.
For the cover side of those genres, there is also a post on YA fantasy book cover cliches.
WORK IN PROGRESS...
