Udemy logo

book cover templateYou can try not to judge a book by its cover, but the truth is, most of us usually do.  The cover of a book is the first thing that people look at when determining if they are going to pick up a book and read it, or simply put it back down.

If you are a writer and getting ready to self publish your own book, or a designer looking for some book cover design inspiration, you might be on the lookout for some great book cover templates to help you design an effective and eye-catching book cover.  To give your book a stellar cover, we are going to show you how to design a book cover template in Microsoft Word in 7 Simple Steps.

Book Cover Template in Microsoft Word

Step 1:

Open up Microsoft Word and double click on the “Books” file.  You should find this tab under the “Available Templates” screen.  Once you are in “Available Templates”, double-flick into the “Other Books” file folder.

Step 2:

You should see a variety of different templates that are available to you.  Scroll through them and determine which ones you prefer.  You may not find one that jumps out to you, but go ahead and choose the one that most easily fits the requirements of your book.  Keep in mind that you will be able to completely customize the template that you choose.

Step 3:

Now highlight the placeholder information that is on the cover page of your template.  You can type in your own details here to customize the template and make it your own.  For instance, type in your book’s title and the author’s name.  If you need to delete any text from the template, highlight the text and press the “Delete” key on your keyboard.

Step 4:

To add some visual to your book cover, add in an image.  You can do so by clicking on the “Insert” tab on the template.  Click “Picture” and browse to the cover photo or picture of your choosing and click on it.  You can also follow this same process if you want to add an author photo on the back page of your book.  When choosing a photo for your book’s cover, consider the following options:

Step 5:

The template you have chosen will have a few pages included in it.  Scroll through these included pages and add or delete what you wish.  If you want to start a new page, press and hold down the “Ctrl” and “Enter” keys at the same time to force a page break.

Step 6:

Start typing your book out by using the template pages provided.  In the beginning of the book, you can write “Chapter One” and feel free to customize any part of the template by highlighting text or enlarging the header.  If you are a book cover designer making the template for your client, simply leave this part blank or ask them for their book contents and insert it here.

Step 7:

Depending on how many more steps you need to complete; make sure that you save your book cover template before continuing.  To do this, click the “File” tab in Microsoft Word and click “Save As”.  Decide on what you want to save your file as, entire a name for the book, and click the “Save” button.

Tips for Creating a Stellar Book Cover

Let Your Cover Speak for Itself

Creating a best-selling and popular book is hard enough, so follow the above steps to create your own book cover template with an easily accessible program.  For insider secrets to getting your book into retail and online stores, enroll in this course for some tried-and-true tips.

Page Last Updated: February 2020

Featured course

Sell Your Novel to a Major Publisher (Writing Mastery)

Last Updated October 2022

Bestseller
  • 5.5 total hours
  • 63 lectures
  • All Levels
4.8 (379)

A comprehensive step-by-step guide to getting an agent, publishing your book traditionally, and being paid to write | By Jessica Brody, Writing Mastery

Explore Course

Book Marketing students also learn

Empower your team. Lead the industry.

Get a subscription to a library of online courses and digital learning tools for your organization with Udemy Business.

Request a demo