Design a Compelling Book Cover with Free Software | READ MORE
Click up a Book Cover that Pops with CreateSpace Cover Creator
Whether or not you make your own cover for free using Createspace Cover Creator, or hire someone to design your custom book cover, you’ll want to design a spectacular cover design. Will your book cover pull a million dollars in sales? It is hard to tell what makes a self-published book successful. Are robust sales due to its cover, the author, or just good online buzz? Right or wrong, book buyers do judge a book by its cover, and you will want a great one! Before you start your cover design, I suggest reading How to Create a Book Cover for Your Self-Published Book, for a basic idea of components needed for a good book cover. Once you have these components in place and grab compelling front cover graphic; you can design your own book cover.
How to Create a Million Dollar Book Cover on CreateSpace Cover Creator
If your budget is limited, then Createspace Cover Creator is likely the least expensive option. This is proprietary software which CreateSpace provides their print on demand account holders. It is free, and easy to work. Unless you are an experienced graphic artist, or want to hire a custom book cover design done($200-$1500), then CreateSpace Cover Creator is your best option. If you hire a professional book cover designer, read about how to manage them in the article, Understanding Self-Publishing Services. For a DIY book cover, you’ll need to use Createspace Cover Creator software. To get access, apply for a free CreateSpace account.
Getting Started on Your Book Cover Design
Set up your free print on demand account with CreateSpace. This will give you entrance into the free Cover Creator Software.
Read the article, Judging Covers to prepare your author photo, author bio, book synopsis, book title and subtitle, author name, ISBN. Initiate a new book project and select your free CreateSpace ISBN number. Keep your CreateSpace Login handy during this process.
Go to member dashboard inside your Createspace account and click on your title. Select Cover from the menu and enter your book size and select Launch Cover Creator, which takes you to the CreateSpace Cover Creator Software. If the stumble-around-and-do-it-yourself-method does not work for you, sign up for our next 3-day Book Blueprint Course.
3 Tips for Making Createspace Cover Creator Sing!
Keep in mind, that the single most important thing in book cover design is the front cover image. During the process of making your free Createspace cover, constantly remind yourself that this is the do-it-yourself option and that it is free! To get an experienced cover designer to design a beautiful and professional book cover, you can reasonably expect to spend $500 and up to $1500, depending on the project and the designer. This software is free and it is highly simplified, and has limitations. First thing you will want to do is upload your stunning front cover graphic which you have purchased from dreamstime.com or photodune.net or created yourself. Be sure you own or buy the necessary copyrights for this front cover image.
FREELY EXPERIMENT: The most important thing to know when using Createspace Cover Creator is to experiment. You are given 3 main options: template options, font options, color options. The color options allows you to select font color and background colors. Experiment with various combinations. Copy and paste your final synopsis and author bio from your word processing software. Except for adding appropriate paragraph breaks, editing your copy in Createspace Cover Creator will not be fun at all.
SELECT OPTIONS: Each template design assigns areas for the title, subtitle, author photo, bio, and book synopsis. You cannot change the size or shape. You’ll need professional design software if you want that. Within each template design click and select themes. The themes give you a pre-selected assortment of fonts which will change the mood and look of your cover. experiment.
SUBMIT COVER: Once you nail down the design you love. Hit Submit Design at the right bottom of the CreateSpace Cover Creator. You will be taken back to the main CreateSpace area, and you must save this cover design to your Createspace book project–otherwise your work could be lost. If you want to work on your cover later, simply login to Createspace, click on your book title, click on cover, edit cover, and then launch Cover Creator in your Createspace account, and go at it some more!
Finally, this is a rough overview for do-it-yourself writers. This is the free do-it-yourself way, (except for the cost of your graphic image) and it at times, is frustrating. If you do not have time for a learning curve, sign up for our 3-day Book Blueprint Course. My classes are small and you will get more detailed instructions and learn other self publishing secrets.
Book Cover Samples
See the various sample book covers designed in CreateSpace Cover Creator. These samples will give you an idea of the variation possibilities. Just play around and enjoy. Keep in mind the cover layout includes both the front and back of your book. Createspace will create your spine from your title, subtitle, and author name once you submit your book for publication. Here’s to your creating your million dollar book cover!
BEFORE
AFTER
You must be logged in to post a comment.