I’m a huge fan of giving away a free report in turn for someone signing up for one of my mailing lists. Especially if the report looks interesting and valuable (and I really do try and give away good reports).
For my covers I like to keep things very simple. I create all my covers in Photoshop myself and then use a free template to make it look interesting.
The first thing I do is find a good image. Sometimes I can find a free image, other times I’ll pay $1 for an image from istockphoto.com. Then I’ll add the headline and any other text it needs to be. Occassionally I’ll add symbols or other design elements, but mostly I like to keep things simple.
It’s really all about your image. Let’s look at an example.
I created a little mini ebook for one of my niche sites (party plan blogging). Here’s the cover: It’s just a very simple design with an image that I thought suited the theme and the title and subtitle – very simple indeed.
First I found an image of a women on the computer with shopping bags around her. I just did a quick search online for free royalty free images. I actually think I purchased this one from istockphoto for arouund $1 from memory. (If you do buy from somewhere like this only buy the tiny picture as that’s all you’ll need for a cover).
I then created a strip of color to add my title using one of the colors from the images so it co-ordinated. Added my heading in a contrasting bold font and then added my sub heading.
I also added a strip of darker blue at the top and bottom for contrast and I was done!
Then I went and grabbed one of the ebook cover templates (get them free from here): http://www.ebooktemplatesource.com/free-ebook-covers.html
and follow their instructions on how to add your cover to the template: http://www.ebooktemplatesource.com/tutorial-ebook-cover.html
Finally you’ll end up with something like this (I also found a ring binder image online and added it to the template):
I hope that helps you when creating your report / ebook covers.
7 Responses to How To Create a Ebook or Report Cover
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Great info Tracey, I know many of us would like to make our own ebook covers but don’t really know where to start.
I’m sure this info will be valuable to all.
Thanks again
Elaine
http://resalerightsexplained.co.uk
Thanks Tracey. When you say you just add those images to the cover, what software do you use? Do you have a graphics software of your own?
Hi Nina,
I use photoshop to create my covers, but any graphics program will do. I’ll do more detailed instructions soon if you like.
Take care
Tracey
Can i know where can i get the “ring binder: image?
All I did was copy someone else’s ring binder cover and put my cover over the top. Just grab mine and put your own cover over the top. Tracey xx
Thanks for sharing this info. With the free template and instruction, I’ve made my first cover today! I’ll see if I can add the ring binder on it. Anyway, it saves me some money without having to outsource it.
Great, simple instructions. I will definitely have a go. Thanks for this information – it will save me having to outsource too!