DIY Cover Design

The phrase never judge a book by its cover is bullshit. We all do it. A quality cover is a must in publishing, especially self publishing. I'm very proud of my covers. They may not be the best, but they sure as hell are not the worst. I do them myself because of lack of funds, and because I like it. Its fun! When I design a new cover, I first check out Amazon for the cover trends of my genre. Some I like, some I don't. My goal is to fit in but stand out. I need my cover to look professional and eye catching. I start with a background image based on a general theme for the series. Its good for books in a series to go together. Not matchy matchy, but similar and complementary.

For my Desperate and Daring Series I am featuring  men and each book is a different color with a background that connects to something about the heroine or the book. These are the first three of the series so far. (Just One Kiss is not yet released).

 

Once my background is chosen, I pick my stock model for the front, play with brightness and contrast, color changes, different fun effects, and fonts until everything comes together the way I want it to. There was a learning curve. The program I use is a Freeware called Gimp. When I come across something I don't know how to do I Google it. There is a Youtube video for everything these days. My stock model images are purchased through Periodimages.com, and my backgrounds from Dreamstime.com. Both sites are very affordable.

Gimp can seem confusing at first, especially if you are like me and have zero experience with photo editing. With the tutorial I was able to use it right away. Here is an image of my screen while working on the new cover for Sweet Torture.

I started designing my own covers out of necessity, but I find I really enjoy it and I like having full control over what the outcome is. I can also change it when ever I want. I have no training in cover design or anything like it. I had a need and the drive to do it, so I applied myself, read and researched, and spent hours learning and tweaking until I came away with my own knowledge. It's just another part of my journey as a self published author.

Here is a sneak peek at the new covers of my Fated for Love Series. Two down, two to go.

Resource recap:

Dreamstime.com for stock images of backgrounds.

Periodimages.com for stock images of models.

Gimp.org to download freeware to do your own photo editing.

Dafont.com for downloading free fonts.

*Disclaimer

Always give credit where credit is due. Don't steal images and be sure your use of the images falls within its license.