Chapter 5

Designing a Professional E-Book Cover (Without Spending a Fortune)

In This Chapter

Understanding which elements to place on the cover

Sourcing photos and images

Putting together the cover in Paint.NET

Getting professional help with the cover

You might wonder why an e-book needs a cover if it’s simply a digital file, not a book in physical form that readers can pick up and hold in their hands. Readers will view your e-book on virtual bookshelves, however, and its “cover” is the digital image that appears on Amazon and in other electronic bookstores.

Your e-book must have an eye-catching, professional-quality cover. Like it or not, your e-book isn’t judged by most shoppers on the quality of your writing. If its cover isn’t attractive and well-designed, readers won’t buy your e-book. (Even if you’re giving it away, it still needs a cover that encourages people to download it and read it.)

In this chapter, I walk you through the steps in designing a cover, and I offer my advice for using inexpensive stock photography and the free Paint.NET software. I also give you tips for working with cover designers to produce a truly professional result.