How to Create an Amazon Book Cover Using Canva

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

I’m roughly 80 percent done with a book of poems that I plan to publish using Amazon. The last time I did this was about three years ago, and my book garnered me a few thousand dollars. I’ve stopped trying to sell that book or market it heavily because I grew tired of it, and then I started hating it. With time comes growth, and artistically speaking, I usually don’t love my old pieces of writing.

But, I’ve gone through the process of creating books on Amazon more than once, and this blog will outline how to make a professional looking book cover by yourself using Canva. I highly recommend paying for Canva Pro ($14.99/month) for access to premium design tools and the ability to resize images.

First things first, you’ll need an Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account. Anyone can set one up in a few minutes, and this will allow you to sell your book or eBook in any Amazon marketplace (not just in the country you happen to live in). Once you have a KDP account, toggle to your “bookshelf” and hit the yellow “create” button.