CreateSpace (Part One) I used CreateSpace to publish my print book. I found the process a little overwhelming, but I got through it. If you are going to use CreateSpace or other sites like it, I would suggest doing your research first. Again I would recommend researching how to format book covers and your books internal matter. Createspace does provide a pdf, that will walk you through what is required for a print publication. I would suggest downloading this pdf and keeping it. It took me four tries to get my book cover correct, and even then it was not the way I imagined. However, the mistakes I made in this first book, will not happen in the second. You know we learn from our mistakes, something I am doing. To make my own cover, I used Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher. I gathered the information below and used it to develop my first book cover. This information is from the Creative Penn, Joann Penn. I used these methods and details in Publisher, in part two of CreateSpace I will give you my guide on how to use a publisher to make a book cover.
The Creative Penn, SELF-PUBLISHING/ http://www.thecreativepenn.com How To Make Your Own Free Book Cover In MS Word These instructions are for MS Word 2010, so they won’t work for everyone, but if you have an older or newer version of Word, the process will be similar. This is a long post, so you should bookmark it. You can also download a PDF version of these instructions and the source files of the cover we’re building so you can follow along; click here to get those. 1.Finding and choosing the right pictures the quality of your book cover will mostly depend on what pictures or art you use, and how well they fit together, so in this section I’m going to teach you what kind of art works the best, where you can find royalty free images, and where you can get cheap Photoshop work done (if you need it). The RULES for picking photos: 1) Simple is better 2) Needs to cause immediate emotional reaction 3) Not too busy or too many colors 4) Don’t use a GREAT picture: use the overlooked one 5) Blend and match colors You can use a color wheel to find complimentary colors (opposites/across from each other). Blockbuster movie posters usually use orange and teal (a lot of my book covers do also). Free Book Cover Templates Green and purple can work also. Unfortunately, Christmas ruined red and green, but red still goes well with black or white. Too many colors can be distracting, so try to go for one or two main colors (if the whole background is blue, you could use yellow text to stand out…)
