HOW TO GET COVER IMAGE/PAGE/PHOTO FOR NOVEL

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Hello I am new author just became one yesterday and I have written my first chapter. I am only finding it difficult to obtain the cover image. Can any one please answer the following questions for me.
Do I have to make image by myself or just search of google and copy paste it ?
Can I use AI to make it for me and then post it ?
Also please clearify the role copyrights play in all these questions as I have seen many times that image is copyrighted but people dont know and use them, then they got in trouble.
I am very new so it may seem my questions are foolish to you but that is what it is.
I was first going to royalroad but then I came to know that sh community is very supportive and best for newbies. So I came here.
THANKS FOR READING.
HAVE A GOOD DAY.

 

[Sola-sama]

1. You can make it by yourself by drawing or other legal means I am not aware of. If you use google and copy-paste it, there's a risk of copyrighted, so I suggest you do not.
2. Yes, you can use AI to make it for you and then post it. I believe a lot of series in this site uses AI generated pictures to augment their works, including the cover. I know mine uses AI cover.
3. It is not in my capacity to answer the copyright role, I will let others who are more experienced in this to answer.

I am very new so it may seem my questions are foolish to you but that is what it is.

Every question asked does not automatically make them a foolish question, there's no need for fret over the details. Keep pumping those chapter and welcome to ScribbleHub, King.

 

[Cipiteca396]

You can use an AI image that you generated, or make one by hand. I'd suggest avoiding images you don't own though, yeah.

Obviously you could also commission an artist to do it for you as well.

 

[AverageMaidLover]

I was first going to royalroad but then I came to know that sh community is very supportive and best for newbies. So I came here.

Isn't that the truth.

If you can afford it I think commissioning an artist is the best option. I really think it helped me gain traction when I first started having good covers for my novels.

 

[John_Owl]

alright, so first off welcome and glad to have you. second, I'll answer your questions.

1, you can create a picture (drawing it, photograph, etc. if using a photograph with a person, ensure you have an appropriate model release form. basically a contract that YOU own the picture and the likeness/face in it.) DO NOT use google images. the vast majority of those are copyrighted and if you use them commercially, such as in a book cover, you will get in major trouble.

2, you can use AI and it may not be a bad way to go while you're still learning the basics. once you can afford it and are a little more comfortable with this, you can commission an artist or a book cover designer (if using the artist, they won't design the book cover, the book cover designer is a little more specialized and will likely cost more). but if you want to design the book cover yourself, I'd recommend Canva.

3, I'm not the "copyright" person here, but i do know the basics. the bare bones facts are that if you create something, you own the copyright to it, no need to register. Along these lines, AI cannot own a copyright, as it has no concept of ownership. as such, any AI generated image is free to use. You'll want to be careful as some, such as my book covers, are NOT purely AI generated. I always edit some parts to make it look a little better. those edits are mine, by copyright.

 

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Thanks all for the replies - @Sola-sama @Cipiteca396 @AverageMaidLover @John_Owl

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[Jemini]

The major questions have mostly been answered. The only thing I can really add is that I used Canva to create my first cover art. It's a poster-making site that is really good for type setting over an image. It also has a few free-use images you can use, which is what I did. I just selected the most fitting free-use image I could get.

From this, I made my sister of a goddess series. You can see how that cover turned out for yourself.

Second Life as the Sister of a Goddess

In his 60 years of life, he'd built up a good legacy and looked on to spending his later years quietly teaching his students the martial arts he'd cultivated over the years while working as a nurse for his day job. He'd long since saved enough for his retirement, but he...

www.scribblehub.com

After that, I managed to start pulling in some patreon dollars from that series, and I made the decision I would put all money earned via my patreon right back into my series in some form or fashion (up until the point it becomes great enough to replace my work income and allow me to start writing full time. It has still come nowhere even close to sniffing the shadow of that happening.)

So, I used that money to start commissioning artists. The hardest part about commissioning an artist is finding a good enough artist in the first place. I actually had to blow about $500 dollars just giving identical jobs out to a bunch of different artists in order to finally find one that could actually do the job right. I am quite satisfied with the artist I found though, and you can see his work in the cover arts I display in my signature.