Make Your Own Book Cover

Now Available

There is a lot of creative book covers to choose from online, but I couldn’t seem to find one that fit Blood Gold, my latest novel.

The question in the back of my mind had always been... why don’t you make your own book cover? The simple answer to that question was always the same… I don’t know how. 

But the idea kept prodding me: Come on, make your own book cover... you can do it.

The thought of creating my own book cover scared me and yet appealed to me more and more. My belief has always been if you really want something get tough and go after it.  So...

I downloaded The Gimp. Since I knew nothing about manipulating images, I turned to YouTube and found the Aubrey Watts Tutorials. In about a week I learned some of the basics on how use The Gimp and HOW TO create a book cover. Aubrey Watts doesn’t rush you. Her three tutorials gave me the confidence I needed to create my book cover. She is a good teacher, and that’s all it took for me to get started. 

Here is another good YouTube tutorial by Exquisite Tech. I couldn't have lived without this one. I found this tutorial helpful on how to insert a photo into another photo.

 I made several attempts and spent hours searching for the right stock photos before I settled on the book cover above. The two you see here are not bad for a novice, but the blue cover is a little too peaceful for a suspense thriller. The red cover gave a feeling of a romance novel.

I've had fun doing this. I hope I've helped you in some small way to create your own book covers. Please comment and let me know.  

Check out My Author Page

Thanks much! My best,   

Don't Miss My New Thriller "Blood Gold" Now Available!

He fought terrorists in Afghanistan. Now he fights a war on the home front.

Now on Amazon Kindle and in Paperback

An old map and a treasure trove of precious gold are all it takes to trigger conspiracy and murder. When Marine Gunnery Sergeant, Michael Drake, returns home from Afghanistan, his wealthy father entrusts the map over to him for safekeeping—then vanishes. Now Michael becomes the target of his father’s sex addicted wife, a corrupt sheriff, and a sociopathic drug lord. From Lakeport California to a ghost town in Rogues Hollow, there’s no shortage of greed, lust and murder. Michael Drake, a near amputee, suffering from survivor’s guilt, is on a mission to find his father and protect the map. To win he must outwit ruthless conspirators. If suicide bombers, IED explosives, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can’t stop the twenty-four-year-old Marine, nothing can. Now on Kindle and in Paperback