Step 5 - Produce the book cover
The next page will attempt to put together your front cover, already uploaded, your book description and whatever it knows about you to make a cover. The illustration below shows what it did for me.
There are several customization options to tweek the D2D cover. You can stretch or contract it. You can change the font and add text effects
I can do better than that I think. If you feel the same then your first step should be to download the blank template of the cover as a png file. This should be loaded into the photo editor of your choice and the cover images loaded on top or below it in layers. Make sure you don't accidentally resize the template layer! By making the layers slightly transparent you can see where the edges and forbidden areas are. Make sure you hide the template layer and restore the other layers to no transparency before you save the final image as a png file.
Here's the cover I produced
The original description I supplied to D2D was optimized for book discovery online. For the cover I changed it to one more suitable for someone with the book in their hands. It's longer so the author biography had to go to make room for it.
As you can see, the front cover image has been extended to make a background for the text and my name on the spine has been coloured to match the front cover text.
There's only one important extra to set. I find a matte cover looks much better than a glossy cover - it doesn't show fingerprints.
Once you are happy with the cover layout click APPLY CHANGES and then SAVE AND CONTINUE.
Have you seen the guide pages on covers?
- Covers 1 - Recognising a good cover; the effect of colour
- Covers 2 - Rule of thirds and golden ratio
- Covers 3 - Typography
- Covers 4 - Cover images
- Covers 5 - Paperback covers
Did you really want to read my Author Bio?
Well if you must:
Born in Newcastle on Tyne, England John lead a pretty boring early life. He lived in a Buddhist monastery, a civilized place with no electricity, no phone, no flush toilet, stone slab floors and a water supply which ran down a field in an open ditch. When he was sent to boarding school he accidentally set fire to it. He became a chemistry teacher but was frustrated by not being allowed to do all the interesting experiments. He changed to teaching computers in the early 80s and was delighted to find they would do exactly what they were told (unlike his students.)
He met his wife Shelia in an Internet chat room in 1997 - see it does work sometimes! They had problems with UK and US immigration departments and spent three years as illegal immigrants in Canada where they earned a living designing web pages. That was followed by six years of teaching in London before returning to the North to pursue a career in writing.
Maybe you'd like to try a free online interactive adventure story?
Back in 1982 early text only adventure games were being written for home computers. One such game was 'Castle of Riddles' written by Peter Killworth and published by Acornsoft. Now it's been re-written and greatly expanded with added images and sound. Play it on your computer, tablet or even a phone.
Check it out at https://jaydax.co.uk/corr
