For me, the cover is the biggest part of the book buying decision process. If I pick up a paperback and there’s a picture of a half clad woman next to a bare chested Chippendale-built guy on the cover, I make the snap judgment that the book is a romance novel. Likewise, it’s usually easy to tell, just by looking at the graphics and title, whether the book is a murder mystery, a suspense novel or a non-fiction book. If I still think the book might be something of interest after a scan of the front cover, I’ll read the synopsis and the author’s bio on the back, and then make the decision as to whether or not to buy it.

Thus, in my mind, the cover of the book is extremely important, so let’s make it good. The process used to require a good graphics program and a lot of time. Now, however, there are some great tools to speed the process up.