Joleene Naylor, an author friend, mentioned a free program called GIMP that helps authors make covers. I’ve been wanting to try it out but never took the time. Then, last Saturday, I decided to give GIMP a try. So here we are with some of the stuff I’ve been experimenting with, for whoever is interested:
People keep telling me that Restoring Hope’s current cover doesn’t say “romance” enough, so I’m thinking of changing the cover. I am not sure I will though. This is just one of my trial covers as I’m thinking of what I might do to change the cover.
This layout was inspired by Bonnie Steffens. She also found the church picture and bridal picture. I took the format she had and inserted the new Joel. My problem with this cover is that I don’t see Joel going to a church. I think the wedding is going to happen at her house. So I made up two other covers to see how they would look.
I think Joel and April are too much to the right in this cover, so I made up another one.
I am aware that these people don’t “blend” into the background very well. I am still figuring GIMP out. I’ve been going over and over with the cutting and pasting, cloning, brightening/contrasting, scaling and moving features to get the basics down. The reason I’ve been doing this stuff over and over is to get it ingrained in my mind. The best way to learn is by doing it. 😀
None of these covers are “for sure”. I’m mostly trying out different ideas. For fun, I’d love to do “book” posters. That would help me get a hang of GIMP as well.
This is so cool! I need to try out GIMP too, but still haven’t found the time. My personal favorites of your covers are the second one for Restoring Hope and your original for Shotgun Groom (with the handcuffs). I need to go back and study Joleene Naylor’s tutorial again. 😀
I can’t do covers that hit the mark professionally…yet. I have this terrible character trait that demands I keep trying at something until I reach my goal. It works for me and against me at the same time. 😀
Careful, too much GIMPing can lead to serious lack of writing. LOL
(Yes, this is a condition I’ve suffered from myself.)
I wonder if there’s a group called GIMP-aholics. LOL I doubt I’ll make anything as professional as what I’d like.