I like starting with the background because it sets off the atmosphere for the rest of the cover. I chose "grunge" because it has a horror feeling to it by itself. Then I selected the clock because it also had the same feeling as the background. Once it was in the location I liked, I erased parts of it and made other parts a little transparent. These were done in separate layers on Paint Shop Pro.
Once the clock had the visual that I liked, I added two layers of the broken glass. Part of the lower layer of the glass was erased because it covered too much of the clock face and I wanted that to show through. I copied that layer for the second layer and made it more transparent.
Then I searched for a skull that had a similar background. Once I found one that was perfect for this "look" I added it in as another layer. I erased a lot of it and played around with the picture until it blended in more (I did the same for the clock). Once I had the look I loved, I moved the skull around until I found the perfect location at the bottom of the cover.
The font is always one of the hardest parts because it can throw off the entire design if you choose the wrong one. This font is called Needleteeth Spooky and Needleteeth Psycho. It's free for professional use so it was perfect. Again, the title and author name are on their own layers.
Once I am finished with the front part of the cover, I move to the spine, again on their own layers. I play around with the positioning until everything is where I want them and the size works for the size of the spine. This part is taking practice. Some of my covers are slightly smaller than I'd like. I'm getting better.
Then I move onto the backside of the cover. This cover doesn't have the backside finished yet. I haven't finished the blurb yet for the story. Once I have that part figured out, I will add it to the cover and be ready for the book. When I have the story finished, I will update the cover based on the finished page number and make the adjustments once I have it figured out. I use Amazon's templates so the areas are figured in just right and I don't put the spine in the wrong spot lol.
I love Amazon's templates because they take out the guesswork for this stuff. It's already a challenge without that extra work. Normally I don't use a Romance cover for a Horror book, but in my defense it looked more Horror than it did Romance lol. I honestly thought it was a horror story until I read the blurb. I still have a lot to learn for that part. I saw the inspiration cover in an email from Amazon and it caught my eye. So, that is how this cover was created. If you're looking to create your own covers, be sure to check out the how-to videos on Youtube before you make any attempts. They will make a difference.
