Author: Dawn E. Dagger

  • A Quick Guide to Picking Your Book Cover

    Please note: Any recommendations for book cover artists or mentions or places to purchase book covers are completely at our own volition. We do not receive any compensation for these recommendations.

    So, you’ve finished your book. Or, maybe, you haven’t finished your book at all, but you’re dreaming of a salivating over the idea of a beautiful cover for your book. But… where do you begin? How do you choose the right artist?

    How to Choose a Book Cover

    There are three essential steps to choosing a book cover:

    1. Choose Elements You Want in Your Book Cover

    Choose elements from your book that you want in your cover. Is there a color palette you have in mind? Is there a very important object or person you want? Jot these down, whether you will use them or not.

    2. Find Comparable Covers & Titles in Your Genre

    Google, take a stroll through a bookstore, or flip through a magazine to find comparable titles in your genre. Make a list of common elements you see across these covers. Make a second list of elements that you really like as well.

    3. Find an Artist to Create a Custom Cover OR Get a Premade Cover

    Once you find a list of elements that either are common across your genre (OR that you really like and are reoccurring), it’s time to find a cover. You can find either premade covers or you can purchase a custom cover. Note: Premade covers are often already genre-focused and cheaper than a custom cover, especially if it’s a custom hand-drawn cover.

    If you are particularly handy with Photoshop, digital or physical drawing, or something like Canva or Affinity, you can certainly try to put a book cover together yourself!

    Here’s an Example…

    Let’s say you’re writing a young adult romance novel. It’s a Christmas novel as well. So, you know you need something romantic and Christmassy. But, you’re not exactly sure where to start.

    1. Choose Elements You Want in Your Book Cover

    This Christmas-themed romance novel takes place in a bakery for a majority of the book. So, you’re thinking something with sugar cookies or sprinkles. And obviously the protagonists, right? He always wears a blue sweater.

    So your list is:

    • Sugar cookies or sprinkles
    • Christmas + Romance + YA
    • Blue Sweater
    • Possibly the characters on the cover

    2. Find Comparable Covers & Titles in Your Genre

    We’re going to search Google for “Young Adult Christmas Romance” books. The most popular ones will often show up first. This results in the following six covers (which seem to align pretty well with all the other results we’re seeing).

    Consistent Elements:

    • Cartoon covers (very popular within the romance genre right now in general)
    • Christmas lights (or another prominent Christmas-themed item like snow/holly/Christmas trees)
    • Text that is easy to read but is also “handwritten”
    • Author names are big and in a sans serif font at the bottom
    • Sometimes faces on characters, sometimes not
    • Simple colors palettes (a lot of blues, which imply the cold or softness, and pinks, which imply romance)

    Each book cover has a distinct look and feel (the first two feel much more playful implying opposites-to-lovers or perhaps friends-to-lovers as opposed to the third, fifth, and sixth cover, which feel more intimate and warm). They are all unique, but they still are instantly recognizable as both holiday-themed and romance.

    3. Find an Artist to Create a Custom Cover OR Get a Premade Cover

    This can be tricky unless you have an ideal artist in mind, but below we have a list of artists we’ve worked with and like a lot. Please note: As of December, 2025 none of the below artists use AI in any way.

    Additionally, if you were searching for a Christmas YA Romance premade cover, Rorobookish had a fantastic example:

    First Image

    We also found another site in our search called Author Buddy that does premade covers and are 100% against generative AI in creative fields.

    Premade VS Custom Covers

    Premade covers are often FAR cheaper than custom book covers. They’re also significantly less work, though there are (obviously) less customization options. You can find a wide variety by searching [your genre + premade cover].

    Some of Our Favorite Premade Cover Designers:

    Custom covers are 100% customizable (obviously) but are often much more pricey. These covers also take a little more work simply because you have to provide many more details and provide many examples of what you want.

    Some of Our Favorite Custom Cover Designers:

    And that’s how you pick your book cover in three easy steps! Does this make you feel a little more confident about choosing your newest book cover? Which artists do you really like? Be sure to leave your thoughts or questions below!