When it comes to publishing, there’s one truth every author has to face: readers do judge a book by its cover. Your cover is the first impression of your story, and if it doesn’t grab attention, your book might never get the chance it deserves.
In this post, I’ll walk you through tools and tips for creating the perfect cover for your novel—whether you have money to spend or you’re working with a tight budget.
Step 1: Decide on Format and Size
Before you dive into design, decide if you’ll publish your book in print, ebook, or both. Print books require a front cover, back cover, and spine, all sized to your chosen trim. Popular trim sizes are 4×7″, 5×8″, and 6×9″. If you don’t know what size you want, format your manuscript for print. Swap between trim sizes in your document and see how many pages your work comes to. Compare the page count with physical books of that trim size and see if you are happy with the book thickness. If it’s too thin, downsize your trim – too thick? Go up a trim size.
Tools like Amazon KDP’s cover template generator make it easy to create correctly sized cover templates. Don’t forget to factor in extras like maps, acknowledgments, and front matter when calculating your final page count.
Professional Cover Design (If You Have a Budget)
If you can invest in a professional design, your options open up:
Social media can also be a great place to find digital artists with a style that matches your genre. Don’t overlook your own network—sometimes a talented friend can be the perfect collaborator.
Tips for hiring an artist:
- Always check their portfolio for quality and style.
- Be prepared to pay extra for commercial rights.
- Give clear direction—share sample covers, specify tone, colors, and imagery.
Note: While Fiverr can be useful for editing or maps, I can’t recommend it for cover design, based on my experiences.
Budget-Friendly & DIY Options
If hiring a designer isn’t in the cards, don’t worry—there are still great options.
Avoid AI-generated covers. Beyond the ethical concerns, many distributors require disclosure if AI was used. It’s better to support real artists and avoid the risk of backlash.
For DIY, the best option I’ve found is Canva. It’s easy to learn, comes with genre-specific templates, and the Pro plan is worth paying for (at least while you’re designing your cover). Canva makes it simple to create covers for ebooks and even full print cover layouts.
If you’re more experienced, you could also try GIMP, a free alternative to Photoshop—but Canva will give most beginners the cleanest, most professional results. Personally, I like Affinity Suite for more complex graphic work. It has much of the same utility as Adobe products at a fraction of the cost.
My Experience
Finding the right cover artist was one of the most stressful parts of my publishing journey. I ran into several sellers passing off AI as original work, so vet your artist carefully.
For my main series (The Last Eclipse), I was lucky enough to commission a friend with a style I loved. He even read the book before designing the cover, which really helped capture the story’s atmosphere.
Final Thoughts
Whether you go professional or DIY, your cover needs to sell your book at first glance. Be deliberate, do your research, and don’t rush the process.
Below is a full walkthrough of my redesign of the cover for The Grimm & The Reaper. This was done in a few hours in Canva and is a great example of the kind of results one can expect from DIY cover design.