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:

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:

• Rorobookish

• SageandFable

• Neptune Designs

• Carmen DM Designs

• Zoeticartss

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:

• SageandFable

• Neptune Designs

• MgsDesiigns

• Zoeticartss

• TheRedFoxCreative

• GetCovers (They’re kind of hit or miss depending on the cover but if you’re willing to keep working with them you can get some beautiful covers)

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!

Picturesque poems, gritty stories of magic and survival, and tales of romance all come together for Snowdrops in Springtime, an anthology of hope.

From dragons and mermaids to war and love, this anthology contains a wide variety of poems, stories, and themes. All entries in this anthology, no matter how dark or grim, end in hope or a happy ending–because the darkness does not win.

The authors included in this collection are Andi Michelson, Annee Clark, Camille Esther, C. F. Treader, Christmas Beeler, Dawn E. Dagger, Donna J. Bunner-Miller, Katarina Kelley, Kathryn Rossati, Megan Huffman, Michaela Bush, Rachael S. Conte, RJ Conte, Rose Kirby, Schro Grey, Taryn Skipper, and more.

All publisher proceeds from this collection will be donated to 988, the Suicide and Crisis Hotline.

Preorder for $2.99 Today

Snowdrops in Springtime Facebook Party

Are you interested in participating in the Snowdrops in Springtime Facebook party? This is a great way to get the word out about your projects, as well as to support new authors and 988.

If you’re interested, fill out this form:

"Snowdrops" Release Party Form

We Have a YouTube Channel!

We have a YouTube channel! Currently the only videos on it are videos showing you how to set up a Draft2Digital account and accept a royalty split, but we will be uploading more tips and tricks, book trailers, interviews, and more in the future!

Subscribe to Our Channel

Dandelions in Sidewalk Cracks—A Poetry Anthology

Dandelions push up between the concrete slabs, reminding onlookers of resilience and hope.

A moving, emotional collection of poems that explores the stages of love and life: grief, rage, and the enduring hope at the end of it all-the dandelions in the sidewalk cracks. This collection features 38 poems from 13 authors.

Dandelions in Sidewalk Cracks is the 2nd Massillon Public Library adult writer's group (Writers of the Round Table) collection of poetry. This collection features 38 poems split into four sections: Withered Bouquets in Kitchen Vases (poems of sadness & death), Wildflowers Along Highway Roads (poems growing in the gardens of words), Brambles Clawing Crumbling Stones (poems of madness and rage), and Dandelions in Sidewalk Cracks (poems of hope, happiness, and resilience.)

This collection represents the full spectrum of life-each poet with their own history, styles, voices, themes, experiences, and emotions-and features works from: Alexxa Burton, Andi Michelson, Crystal Hoff, Cat Russell, Dawn E. Dagger, Donna J. Bunner, Dwight Parrish, Jana Day, Joe Clifford Faust, Lisa A. Beltz, LML McClure, MKS Cooper, and Rhoda Zook.

Get "Dandelions"

Subscribe now