Making your own Kindle cover is a challenge but quite possible, especially with a little help from friends or family! And while I’m on the subject of family – big thanks to my lovely son who has now got this site back in working order after it was hacked. Hackers please get a life!
For a simple cover you will need a high resolution image and a programme such as Paint.net or Publisher but preferably Photoshop (expensive however and requires some specialist knowledge) with which to put the title and author name etc on, and in which you can resize and adjust the image.
So first the image. A few Sundays ago I spent nearly all day looking on the Stock photo website at over three hundred pictures of Orchids! I bookmarked a fair few, mocked up some covers using the fairly primitive (but free to download) Paint.net and then waited for my daughter Katie to come home. She is a designer with exacting standards. We spent a lot of time looking at the various covers. The one we finally choose was not in fact our first favourite but it worked the best for all sorts of reasons, not least the quality of image for reproduction – this needed to be good as I’ve also ordered postcards of the cover with details of the book on the back – a new calling card. Once we’d decided on the image I bought it for £15.00 from Stock Photos (very easy transaction – you buy credits then download the image – medium size is fine and standard licence is all you need) Katie used photoshop -much more sophisticated – to put the title etc on and to save it in varying sizes – for the postcards and for Kindle. Kindle requires a Jpg or Tiff image round about 520px (pixels) by 622px. So resize your image as required and always save in 300 resolution – high quality. Uploading is quite simple – you can then see how it looks and make changes from there.
You can do all of this on Publisher – with a good quality photo, as has Wendy – who is also putting a novel on Kindle – so we’ll be celebrating together- remember if you use Publisher to save image as a J peg.
I’m delighted with the outcome and so grateful to Katie for her help. My conclusion is if your work can be represented in a single image or one easily found and bought, and you have a some help re; pixels, size etc etc – it’s certainly possible to design your own book cover – great fun too! Let me know what you think.
Your book cover is absolutely gorgeous Avril. I love the colours and you’ve matched the colours of your name perfectly. Good luck with publication and I hope wonderful things come your way!
Ange xx
Avril,
Your cover is just beautiful! Wonderful to have a description of the process as well. It does sound exciting. Best of luck. I will be ordering the book as soon as it is available.
Ann
ps: I am using my son’s computer while babysitting, since we have been without power since Sunday due to Hurricane Irene. It has been good for my novel. I finished chapter 4 and have begun outlining chapter 5.
Thank you Ann and Angela – so glad you like the cover – I was spoilt for choice when it came to images – orchids are such beautiful things and in the end it was very hard to choose but I was lucky to have lots of help. I hope very much good things will come your way too Ange – I know how hard the waiting can be!
Ann, just read the ps – I did wonder if you were OK out there – I’m glad it’s just a loss of power which is difficult I know but bearable and as you say good for the novel! Hope you get back to normal soon.
Beautiful front cover, Avril. How lucky you are to have such experts in the family. You made the process sound pretty straightforward, and thanks for the info. I’m sure it will come in handy one of these days.( I shall be searching for a leopard tattoo photo soon)
Really looking forward to reading the book. Hope edit has gone well.
all love
Anne O
x
Thanks Anne and good luck with the competition Patterson’s Curse definitely deserves to win! Hoping to finish the changes form Gillian’s meticulous copy edit this weekend – so nearly there now.
A x
It looks really beautiful Avril – it passes the ‘pick uppable’ test. If this was in a book shop I’d be unable to resist picking it up just to have a look. Congratulations!
Thanks so much Kathleen – unfortunately it won’t be in a bookshop (yet!) but I have ordered lots of postcards of the cover with download details on the back, so I hope they will prove ‘pick uppable too’
A x
Beautiful cover, Avril and a very inspiring piece on the process.It has been such fun working on the Kindke project with you – I have learned so much.
I have ‘Paulie’s Web’ just about ready, cover and text, but have had a nerve freeze about uploading it. Tomorrow maybe…
wx
Thanks Wendy, Paulie’s Web deserves to be up there – I can’t wait to download it onto my Kindle!
Ax
Hi Av, just seen the cover, it’s excellent. Well done you two, very striking, seductive and sophisticated – I’m getting a sense of hot, steamy and maybe a little dark? Can’t wait to read it! xx Jan
Hi Judith – thanks for dropping by – yes I think lots of people are drawn to orchids – at least I hope so! Actually the book is very much about an English Graden as well as orchids and I was torn between using a much greener more traditional image but I think the orchid does convey mystery and is quite seductive. I am learning lots in preparation for March – its tricky and not quite as easy as it looks but I think I’m on the verge of publishing and by March hope to be an expert
A x
Yes – its dark, steamy definitely tho I have to confess I took out some of the sex scenes my agent had encouraged me to put in. I do feel happier with what was originally there – Hope you will like it – lots of love -Oh! how’s the page for Vogue going?
A xx