My question today is: Should you make your own book covers?
I published my first book on Amazon in 2012. I was called How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile and whilst at the time I thought it was the bee’s knees, with hindsight it was terrible! One of the many mistakes that I made was to make my own books cover. It was made in PowerPoint, using clipart and was so amateurish it’s unbelievable now.
So, should you make your own book covers?
The answer is most probably not, unless you really know what you’re doing.
But I’m great with Canva
When I published my first book, there was no such thing as Canva, and my graphic design skills were non-existent. However, today, I use Canva all the time. I’ve learned how to manipulate images to some degree and I can play around with fonts and layers.
Canva has some great features including ebook covers, however, you can’t use them without editing and that takes practice.
You also need to understand what styles work with what genres.
So I need a graphic designer?
Probably, especially if it’s going to be your signature book.
No matter what you think, people really do judge a book by its cover. So if it’s poorly designed, that’s a red flag to any prospective reader and will turn them off your book completely. It’s one of those times when you don’t know what you don’t know. Graphic designers have spent years learning and honing their skills. They have developed not just the technical skills to make your book cover, but they have an eye for what works and what doesn’t.
By commissioning a graphic designer to make your book cover, you’re investing in your book, and this will be reflected in your sales.
So what do you think?
Are you going to hire a designer for your book cover, or are you good enough to do it yourself?
By the way, for some of my own books, I have used Canva, but for books where I want to sell loads of copies, I get someone else to do it.
Let me know in the comments.