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Topic 9 - Design Your Cover

WHAT THIS TOPIC COVERS

After reading this topic, you'll be able to use our Cover Creator tool to:

  • Choose a design, layout, colors, and font
  • Preview your cover to make sure it meets your expectations

YOUR PROGRESS

You've completed Milestones 1 and 2. Now you're workking on Milestone 3, which covers book formatting. Later, you'll set rights and pricing (Milestone 4).




HOW TO DESIGN YOUR COVER

We recommend using our Cover Creator tool to design a cover for your eBook or paperback. You can use your own image or choose one from our gallery of stock images. The tool allows you to customize your cover with a variety of layouts and fonts.

If you have specific formatting needs and want to format your cover yourself, see these eBook and paperback Help pages.

Video: Cover Creator

Open the tool

To use the tool, you'll log in to your account, go to your Bookshelf, and continue setting up your title. On the Content page, scroll down to the cover section and click Launch Cover Creator.

Choose a design

You’ll be able to upload your own cover photo or use KDP's stock images. If you want to use your own photo, make sure it meets our guidelines and that it's high resolution. When choosing from the stock images, test several until you've found the right fit for your book.

Customize the style

Next you'll choose a layout, color scheme, and font. When choosing colors and fonts, make sure that your text is legible. Text can be illegible if the font and background color is too similar. Your cover text should also be large and clear enough.

Preview your cover

You'll be able to preview your cover to see what it will look when printed. If you're not satisfied with your cover, you can start over. When you’re done, click Save & Submit.

TIP: Make sure the information on your cover (e.g., title, author name) exactly matches the book details you entered.

ACTIVITY
Cover Creator gives you lots of choices for designing your cover. You can use your own image or choose from our gallery. You can also customize the layout and change the position of elements, colors, and fonts.



When designing your cover, think about how your choices will resonate with readers in your genre. For design ideas, see the three examples below.

Science fiction
Romance
Health and fitness

Readers often judge books by their covers. If they don't notice and connect with your cover, they're unlikely to read your book description or preview the first pages. For tips on designing a cover that can help you attract more customers, read this article.


WHAT TO DO NEXT

  1. Download or print the KDP Jumpstart companion guide. It provides detailed, step-by-step instructions on using Cover Creator to design your cover.
  2. Go to your Bookshelf and follow the instructions in the companion guide.
  3. When you're satisfied with your cover, save and submit it.
  4. Go to Topic 10, which will show you how to upload your book to KDP.


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