As publishers on Amazon,
one of the challenges you're going to face is showcasing and promoting your
books.
And one of the things you're going to need for this are attractive images of
your book covers. So in this video,
I'm gonna show you how to create a mockup of a KDP book cover.
So you can turn a flat image is like this and turn it into attractive,
colorful images like these.
And you can use these images of your book covers on things like
Amazon A+ content,
or you can use them to promote your books on sites like Instagram, Facebook,
and Pinterest.
And the method I'm gonna show you today is absolutely free.
We're going to be using the free version of Canva and I've also created some
book cover mockup templates that you can download from my Gumroad shop
for free. And I'll leave a link to all the resources mentioned in this video,
in the description below. Now,
if you are unfamiliar with Amazon A+ content,
I have done a video on this, what it is and how to create it. Again,
linked to that video in the description below.
But basically it's the colorful content you find on some Amazon book
listings and it increases the conversion rate of sales on your books.
Figures are quoted of somewhere between 3 to 12% increase in sales,
conversion rates. You can feature your books, the advantages and benefits.
And also quite interestingly, if you're into this sort of thing,
any written content that you type into your A+ content is
not indexed by Amazon, but it is indexed by Google.
So there's always the potential for search traffic from Google to your
books.
So let's crack on with this and start creating our book cover mockups. Now,
first of all, we're going to create our document or art board.
So we're over at Canva and in the top right corner, click on create a design,
then click on custom size.
Now we need to enter the size of our document,
which is going to be 300 pixels by 300 pixels. Why this size?
Well, for this particular Amazon A+ module,
we need an image of 300 pixels by 300 pixels.
Now different modules require images of different sizes.
So all you need to do is just put in that particular size in Canva.
And you can use the templates I'm going to show you on any size document that
you like. So go ahead and click create new design.
So now we've got our blank document here,
which we ww'll just increase the size of ever so slightly.
So the next thing we need is our book cover mockup templates.
So go along to Gumroad, download those to your computer.
When you open that file,
you'll find something that looks like this with three .PNG files in there.
One for 6 by9 inch book, one for an 8.5 by 11 inch book.
And one file called the book spine shadow,
which I'll tell you about that in a moment. Now,
the book we're going to create is 6 by 9 inches.
So left click on that particular mockup template and just drag it across,
over to left hand side into Canva and it will automatically download
there. Then next, left click on the book spine shadow, and again,
drag that across into Canva and it will automatically upload. Once that's done,
just click on the book cover template that you've uploaded.
And there we have a mockup template of our book cover complete with shadow.
Next, we need the image of our book cover.
Now this may just be a rectangle image you've created.
It may be a book cover that you've perhaps created on Canva from any of these
number of templates, which are good as a starting point.
Or you may have created a book cover from a KDP template,
which is going to look something like this,
where you've got the front cover and the back cover.
And you don't need to worry about the back cover being present,
becasue we're going to remove that in a moment. So what you need to do,
first of all, with your image,
is just drag it across to the right top corner of our template.
Now I'm going to increase the size of this for the moment so we can see what
we're doing and I'm just going to drag that across. Now on the left hand side,
just drag this button across and you'll see that the back portion of the cover
will start to disappear. Next,
you need to left click on the button in the bottom left corner and just drag
until the book fills the book cover.
Now you can see that this is wider than our book cover template.
Now you could just drag this across and if your book does have an off white
spine, then you are already done. However,
for most books you're going to need to just drag across to the left hand side of
the book cover template.
Now what you'll need to do is just adjust your cover so that the
text is positioned correctly on the cover. And at the moment,
this is over to the left hand side.
So what I'm just going to do is just reduce the size on the right,
drag the book cover across and increase the size on the left. And again,
if you enlarge the image,
you can see more clearly whether your book cover image is aligned with the book
cover template. So we're just going to adjust it like so.
And so our text is now in a better position and it's not going to look odd.
Now I've just noticed at the bottom here,
we do need to drag this down ever so slightly.
Now don't worry if you do go over the mockup template a bit,
it's not a huge deal.
And so we've just got our basic image here with a shadow.
Now what we need is something to make this look like a proper book cover.
And for this we're going to drag across that book spine shadow.
Now what I suggest doing is not dragging it across because for some reason it
does this weird thing.
So what I suggest doing is just left clicking on that image and Canva will send
it across to your book cover.
So now we just need to move it across to the left hand margin. And, as I say,
you can move this about and Canva will tell you actually when it's in the
correct position at the top. Again, increase this size,
make sure it's over onto the left hand side as needed.
And then at the bottom, just drag upwards and often it will click into place.
And so this is now on the left hand margin of our book.
We will just reduce the size of that.
Now this doesn't look particularly good because that shadow looks too dark.
So what you need to do is just click on it, then top right,
hit the transparency button.
Now you can adjust the transparency of this book spine shadow.
Now for light book covers,
you'll need to turn this down to somewhere probably around the 20 mark.
For dark book covers you'll need to turn it down to only to around the 40
to 50 mark. So for this probably around the 20 mark we'll suffice.
And there we go, we've got our book cover mockup that looks pretty good already.
Now, next we're going to need our background.
And this is what I like about Canva. So left hand side, click on background,
and you've got all these options. And a lot of these options are free.
And you can just scroll down and try out any of these that you like.
Here's some that I've been looking at previously.
So all you need to do is just click on a background and Canva will automatically
add it behind your book, which is really easy, very convenient.
So you can experiment with lots of different types of backgrounds. Now,
one little bit of advice, if you do decide to use a dark background like this,
you may find that the shadow doesn't really stand out too much.
So what you can do is click on your book cover. Top left, click on edit image,
then click on shadows, click on drop,
and then just click on that little button with those adjusters,
which are the controls. And now we can alter our shadow.
So what I would suggest doing is increasing the transparency of it,
somewhere maybe around the 80 mark.
And you can adjust the offset and also angle of that shadow.
So you can see, hopefully,
may not stand out as much on the computer screen,
but the shadow is darker and makes a book stand out a bit more on the darker
backgrounds. You don't need to do that so much on the lighter backgrounds.
So here we've got that darker shadow and say,
if you prefer that you can leave it as such.
Now what you can also do with the background,
if you don't like any of these images is use a solid color.
So at the top here, you'll notice that we've got these colors.
And you can just click and change that to your liking. And what else you can do,
if you actually click on the background, then at the top left here,
click on background color. You've now got these extra options. And again,
a feature that I like of Canva is that Canva will present you with a range
of colors that are present in the cover of your book.
So you can choose something that's complimentary to your book cover. Also,
another thing you can do,
if you click on background to go back to your background.
Some of the backgrounds are patterns like this one,
and what you can do is actually keep the pattern,
but change the color of that pattern. Again,
click on the background color button. Now, if we click on any of these colors,
you'll notice that it changes the color of the background,
but keeps that pattern there. And if you don't want that pattern,
just click on it, hit delete, and it'll remove the pattern,
but the color will remain there. So we'll go back to green. Now,
just one more thing. We'll hit on background. Again,
you'll notice that some images,
if you click on them will have in the bottom here, remove water marks.
And if you were to click on that,
it tells you that you would have to either buy that particular background image,
or it would be free if you are with Canva pro. But as I said,
a lot of these are free.
So we'll just go back to a solid color background. Now,
what if you wanted to change the angle of your book? Now,
if you just click on your book and move this button here,
you'll see that actually it separates the cover from
the mockup template. So this is what you need to do. Top left hand corner,
left click of the mouse and just drag diagonally.
And what this will do is select all the layers in your book cover image.
Then at the top here, click on group.
So it will group all those images together.
So now you can adjust the book cover and it all stays together.
And also you can increase and decrease the size of it.
Now I want to show you one more thing.
Here is another image of a book cover that I've created.
Again I want to group all those layers together.
Like we've just done with the other book. Now,
if I right click on this and hit copy, go back to my original book,
then hit command V or control V to paste.
We've now got images of two books. So what can you do with this? Well,
first of all, I want to make sure both books are the same size.
So I'm just going to drag one book over the other and then adjust so that
they're around about the same size.
So what you can do is just separate those two, adjust the angles.
Then holding down shift,
select both books and then just move them and you'll see some fine crosshairs
appear. And then you can place this image,
combined image in the center of your main image and also
reduce the size of them.
And so you can showcase not only the book that you're selling,
but other books that you've also created.
So you may find that the customer is looking at one book, goes on,
looks at your A+ content and thinks, oh, actually I prefer that other book.
So again, more chances of making a sale. Now,
when you've created your image like this,
the next thing to do is download it as a .PNG file. So top right,
hit share, then hit the download option. Now you'll see here,
there's a dropdown menu with all these options here.
So I suggest choosing PNG then just hit the download button. Now,
what I did forget to mention earlier is that the book cover image that you use
should be in .PNG or .JPG format also.
So if you've created your book cover on Canva and you're at the stage
where you're downloading it as a PDF, what you can also do, same process,
is download a PNG version of that cover as well in the method I've just showed
you for this. So next,
what you would do is go over to your A+ content dashboard.
And here you would just click on click to add image and then
just drag that .PNG image. You've created drop it into that box, click on add,
oh, we need to add a description. So I'll put in book mockup.
If you could maybe use a keyword there and click on add and you'll notice it
will then add this to the A+s content. And then you've got all the other images.
So you could put in images there of your book on its own.
And you can also put in things like images of the book interior.
If you want me to do a video on creating a mockup of a book interior,
then let me know in the description below. And I can add that to my list.
So there you've got images that you can use in your A+ content. And as I said,
you can also use it on other sites to promote your book, Instagram, Facebook,
Pinterest. Maybe if you've got a shop on Etsy,
you could use the images there also. Now, as I mentioned,
if you're not familiar with Amazon A+ content, and I think it's a great feature,
particularly nowadays,
with those books where you haven't got an ISBN number and it doesn't show the
look inside feature. Well, if you are interested in that,
then watch this video next on A+ content, what it is and how to create it.
I hope you found that useful and interesting.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button. Thank you much for your time.
It's very much appreciated. And until next time and goodbye.