Covers, Covers, and MORE Covers

I publish on Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, and Lulu. That means I need different covers for hardcover, paperback, and e-pubs. SEVEN different covers with the same information but different cover requirements. 

Lulu Templates:  CLICK HERE

     *Lulu Requires a Barcode for their covers (png file transparent background): CLICK HERE FOR A FREE BARCODE CREATOR

Amazon Templates: CLICK HERE

     *Barcode is created for you, just leave space.

IngramSpark Templates: CLICK HERE

     *Barcode is created for you, just leave space.

e-Pub Templates: CLICK HERE

 

Paperback Layout:

These are probably the easiest to do. As my books are 48 pages or more, I can have my name on the spine of my paperbacks in IngramSpark and Lulu. I begin with my paperback for Amazon KDP first, as that is the proof copy I order. The Amazon KDP file does not allow for text on the spine for books under 79 pages.

Hardcover Layout:

The light blue is the part of the cover that is wrapped around to the inside cover. I generally take an image and stretch it to cover this part, and send it to the back, to be behind everything. In this example, I took one of the decorative end pages and made it to fit the space. 

For Lulu, you are required to export this as a PDF and then FLATTEN all of the layers. I do this in Photoshop. Layer/Flatten Image. Then I save it as a Photoshop PDF. If you don't do this, there's a good chance, if your cover has multiple elements, that it will not print correctly. 

e-Pub:

I export the Amazon KDP cover as a JPG. I get a cover with both the front and the back. 

I then crop the image to just be the front cover. You can do this for the back as well so you have separate files for the front and back.

Then I use Eevi Jones' Canva Book Mockup templates to create a book cover that looks like an actual flat book. 

EXPORT:

I export them all using the same preset, I just do the extra flattening step for the Lulu covers.

Adobe PDF Presets/[PDF/X-1a:2001]