Creating Your Own Cover on an Extremely Tight Budget

[Luna-Bell07]

Hi everyone:-) I've just gotten into the CreateSpace world with my first novel, Drive. I'm working on my next one, but would rather not use the cookie cutter cover templates CreateSpace has. Being unable to hire professionals, and being unable to draw, in what way can I create my own cover? Thank you!

[pls]

I used photos from my own collection and laid out the covers in InDesign. Some report using only Photoshop for covers. Others use stock photos from DeviantArt.com or other online photo banks and pay a nominal fee for their use. (The photo for the cover of "You Can Believe It" cost me a meal for the model and her mother plus a trip to Baskin & Robbins, plus a printout of the cover.)

Keep in mind that you're going to have to do some of the work to cut down on cost, and if you have no sense of design, you're better off hiring someone to do the work for you. My covers are not prize-winners, but they do the job.

[kimjoshi]

It would be little difficult to design eBook cover him self that look professional. it is require different skills and depends on many factors as topic and genre of you book. some other important things that should be in your mind while creation killer cover like make your title bold font with drop shadow effect but color must be different from you back ground color. don't use copyright images. find graphic and image which stand out your cover from the crowd. you can take help

[Metilda]

Gimp is a pro-grade graphics program that I use for all of my needs - some of the concepts are complicated, but other things are relatively simple. You can do photo-shop type effects to photos and other things with plug-in scripts. It has layers so you can manipulate pictures separately and then combine them into one image when you're read. . . etc.

Like - you can alter text to make it look 3d or give it a patter, etc - and then lay that overtop of a series of images and then do it all in sepia or black and white...etc

There might be a bit of a learning curve, but it's free - and it's worth it.

http://www.gimp.org/

[Les And]

If I may jump in here at this late date on this thread; I would propose that you find a friend who has a computer photo editing program to create your own digital cover. Most costume stores have about any type of costume that would relate to the cover of your story's genre. You can take your own photo, overlay it onto any background you wish; then, doctor the image to your specification. I know personally more than a dozen people who have followed this method to create a book cover. The cost is minimal.

[PianoAl]

I created the cover below in a few hours using Paint Shop Pro Version 8. True, I've been using that software for years, but the basic concepts are simple. At least give it a try before you give up and outsource the job.

You don't need to draw anything, just take some pictures or buy some stock photos.

On my next cover I'm going to take pictures, and then use a web site to make them look like cartoons.

Be creative. Have fun!

[pls]

The image is effective, but the proportion seems a little odd, unless you're using a non-standard book size.

[PianoAl]

[Metilda]

You can go to fiverr.com and hunt down some cheap but okay quality cover artists who do work there. (Work all starts at $5 - most add on $10 and $15 options to improve and speed along the process) I've had friends who self pub come away happy after going that route.

I'm a GIMP user, though, and swear by it. It has a learning curve, but it is free and how-to guides are available at youtube and in written format in various places online.

[James Sherwood]

Professional artwork is expensive, so I created my own in CorelPaint and uploaded it with my manuscript to CreateSpace and to KDP. You can have a look if you search for James Sherwood Time Interventions.