I usually delegate the job of cover designer to my husband - the computer guru. I took for granted how hard it was. I decided with the next two books in my young readers series, Hay Days, that I would do all the work. I used Krita to produce my cover. There are so many buttons to click and so many things to learn with this program. After a brief tutorial (and several re-visits to my husband to explain again) I managed to complete 2 covers.
When I did my first cover - a coloring book named Amazing Horses, I used Publisher. And it was easy and simple. But I learned it was very limited or impossible, if I wanted to make any changes. Soon, it became evident that I needed a more advanced program for future book covers. A program that used layers to make a more well-rounded design.
So this was the photo that would be the main subject for my cover. Meet Mindy, my 27 year old Quarter Horse. She's turned out to be an excellent cover model. (She'll work for carrots.)
Thirteen layers four days later, this is the cover design courtesy of Krita:
Designing covers will get easier with every cover I do. It only takes time and patience (lots of patience). I'm looking forward to finishing more books so I can jump back onto Krita and get my creative juices flowing.
I'm so looking forward to bringing my two new books to summer book events! I'm hoping the kids like my cover and book idea as much as I do!
Dream big and write on!
Angie McPherson
