Book Cover Template: How To Create A Book Cover in MS Word

You 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.

• For example, if you choose the “Book Manuscript” template, once you click on it, you will notice that a new MS Word window will open with the template in it.

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:

• Find a professional photo from a professional photographer’s website.  See how much they charge and if they are open to negotiating a deal for you to use their picture on your book cover.
• Browse photos on Etsy.com.  Etsy is a great site to find creative, unique, and beautiful pictures made by craftspeople and artists.  If you find something you like, ask them if you can use it for a small fee.
• Browse Flickr.com.  Flickr users will sometimes post photos in the “Creative Commons” area.  This is a place where you can pick to use photos as long as put in an attribution along with the photo.
• Browse DeviantArt for photography.  DeviantArt is a community for graphic designers and creative artists alike where you will generally be able to find a large selection of stock photos.  If you choose to use any, make sure that you attribute the source.
• Hire an artist from DeviantArt.  If you see photos you like, but nothing to particular suit your book cover, consider hiring an artist to recreate a specific scene or image that you can insert into your book cover template.
• Pay someone on Fivver.com.  On Fivver, all you need is $5 to have someone design a book cover picture or template that will work well for your book.  This can save you time, money, and hassle in the long run.

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

• When creating your book cover, the title of your book should be large, noticeable, and easy to read on the shelves.  An easy tip to follow is simply to make the title bigger than you normally would.
• The thumbnail image of your book cover needs to be able to be readable and easily visible on online outlets where people buy books— for example: Kindles or other mobile devices.  Design your book cover so that it clean be read and seen clearly over whatever outlet it might appear on.
• Try not to use Comic Sand or Papyrus your book cover.  These fonts are not very professional, so use a cover design and art that professional publishing companies will take seriously.
• On the topic of fonts, do not sue more than 2 fonts for your book cover.  Any more than 2 fonts will make your book cover look too busy and overdone.  Keep things simple, clean, neat, and easy to read.
• Unless you or the person you know is a professional artist, do not use your own artwork, your child’s artwork, or a friend’s artwork on your book cover.  This will usually only downplay the credibility of your book (unless you are already a best-selling author).
• Do not use cheap clip art for your book cover.
• Do not use images inside of boxes anywhere on your book cover.  This is known as a “T-shirt” design and can make you book cover appear amateur and unprofessional.
• Try to avoid gradients on your book cover, as well as any garnish or color combinations.

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.