Create covers for a new book

Start a new project#

Open the Generator, or select Generate covers for a new book from the Dashboard.

Signed out? The Generator shows Live Demos above the form: Fantasy Demo, Romance Demo, Thriller Demo and Non-Fiction Demo show sample results before you sign in.

You can also start from a specific template: browse the Book Cover Templates gallery, filter by genre, and pick a template. The Generator opens with that template selected and the matching genre prefilled, and your first concepts are created with it — the drafts step is skipped since you've already chosen. A banner above the form shows the selected template; dismiss it to let BeYourCover choose automatically instead.

Enter the required information:

• Book Title
• Author Name — optional for Planner & Journal and Puzzles, Coloring & Activity projects. Leave it blank and the cover shows no author.
• Primary Genre
• Age band or format for children's books when requested

You can also add a subtitle, a subgenre, and a summary or prompt. Planner & Journal projects use adapted labels such as Brand/Title, Byline, Tagline, and an optional year.

Start from your manuscript#

Pro and Enterprise users can skip most of the form. At the top of the Generator, the Start from your manuscript card takes your book file. BeYourCover reads it and then:

• fills in the empty fields of the form: title, subtitle, author, genre, subgenre and a back-cover summary;
• writes a short brief for your covers: the premise, setting, tone, recurring images, main characters, tropes and a few cover directions;
• adds the story's main images to your book's cover ideas.

The drafts step and the template covers both use the brief, so your covers come from the story itself, not only from a summary.

1. Drop the file on the card, or click it to choose the file.
2. Wait while BeYourCover reads it. This takes up to a minute, and you can keep typing in the form.
3. Check the fields we filled in. The card lists them. A field you had already typed stays as it is.
4. Select Generate Cover as usual.

What you need to know:

• Formats: .docx, .pdf, .txt or .epub, up to 20 MB. A scanned PDF has no text layer, so upload the .docx or a text PDF instead.
• The title and author come from the title page. If your file has none, type them yourself.
• It costs no credits. You can read up to 10 manuscripts a day.
• Long books are read as a sample: the opening, several passages from the middle, and the ending.
• We do not keep your manuscript. The file is deleted as soon as we have read it, and its text is never stored or used to train AI. We keep only the short brief, and the remove button on the brief deletes that too.
• The card also shows on the generator forms of the homepage and the book-cover pages. There, Use your manuscript opens the Pro upgrade options if you do not have Pro yet. With Pro or Enterprise, it keeps what you typed and takes you to the Generator, where the upload happens.
• Free and Basic users see the card with a Pro badge. Selecting Use your manuscript opens the upgrade options. An Enterprise workspace whose trial ended or whose plan was cancelled cannot use it.

Choose the right genre and subgenre#

Start with Fiction, Nonfiction, or Children's, then choose the closest primary genre. Some visually broad genres ask for an optional subgenre because a cozy mystery, domestic thriller, dark romance, and romantic comedy should not use the same cover language. The subgenre is a row of chips: Fantasy, for example, offers Romantasy, Epic, Adventure, Dystopian, Dark, Cozy and Grimdark. If you leave it empty, BeYourCover can detect it from your summary. Romance also offers a Mafia subgenre; it uses the dark romance cover styles, led by a photographed, tattooed hero: shirtless, in a tank top, or in a suit with an open shirt. An Alien/Sci-Fi subgenre uses the paranormal and monster styles, plus two painted alien covers: the non-human hero alone, or holding the heroine under a cosmic sky.

For coloring books, puzzle books (word search, sudoku, crosswords) and other activity books, choose Nonfiction → Puzzles, Coloring & Activity. It has no subgenre step. Its covers show what is inside: sample coloring art of your theme with a bold title band, a cute pastel scene, half-coloured line art, or a large-print title over a puzzle grid. Name the theme in your title or summary (mandalas, cats, flowers, birds) so the cover can draw it.

For cookbooks, baking books and other recipe books, choose Nonfiction → Cookbooks & Food. It has no subgenre step. Its covers use the looks that sell on the cookbook shelf: one plated dish photographed from above with the title over it, you (the cook) photographed in a bright kitchen with your signature dish, or big vintage lettering with a small drawing of the dish. Name the dish or the kind of food in your title or summary (pasta, sourdough, vegan bowls) so the cover shows it. If your own story and name sell the book, say so in the summary; the kitchen portrait then leads, and you can set the cook's appearance under Edit book details → Cover parameters.

For a true crime book (a real case, real victims, a real investigation), choose Nonfiction → True Crime. It has no subgenre step. Its covers follow the true crime shelf: huge bold type over a bleak landscape from the case, an archival photograph of the case's people or place with bold type, a graphic red and black design, or a clean title block. Name the place and the era in your summary so the cover can show them. A crime novel, even one based on true events, belongs in Fiction → Thriller & Mystery, where True Crime is a subgenre chip.

For children's books, choose the age band or format. This is treated as a required creative signal.

If no listed genre is a good fit, choose Other. Both Fiction and Nonfiction offer it, and the one you pick it from is kept — BeYourCover then infers a genre from that side only, so a nonfiction book is never given a fiction cover. Give BeYourCover a useful summary or prompt so it has enough context to design the cover.

Choose Summary or Prompt#

The main description field has two input modes:

Summary#

Use Summary when you want BeYourCover to interpret the story and select an appropriate visual concept. A useful summary usually includes:

• The central character or subject
• The main conflict or promise
• The setting
• The tone
• One or two distinctive visual anchors

You do not need to paste the entire manuscript. A focused description is more useful than a long synopsis filled with minor plot points.

Prompt#

Use Prompt when you already know what the cover should look like. Describe the scene, composition, typography, color, lighting, and mood directly.

Example structure:

Large condensed title at the top; isolated lighthouse in a winter storm; navy, white, and signal-red palette; cinematic realism; generous negative space; author's name at the bottom.

Prompt mode keeps your direct visual ideas. A complete cover description renders as written. A short instruction, such as "a fox in the woods", goes to BeYourCover's art director, which designs the whole cover around it.

Optional reference image#

On the new-book form, Pro and Enterprise users can select Use reference image.

1. Accept the reference-image terms the first time you use the feature.
2. Upload a JPEG, PNG, or WebP.
3. In Summary mode, add instructions explaining what should be borrowed from the reference.
4. In Prompt mode, use the main prompt as the reference instruction.

Current upload limits are:

• Maximum file size: 5 MB
• Minimum dimensions: 256 × 256 pixels
• Maximum dimensions: 4096 × 4096 pixels
• Pro: one reference image
• Enterprise: up to four reference images

A reference start makes one cover for 1 credit, not two.

The Cover Expert has no Summary mode. To use a reference on an existing book, see Continue an existing book.

Only upload images you have the right to use. Reference images are processed by AI providers as part of generation.

Generate the first concepts#

Select Generate Cover. Depending on the genre, BeYourCover may briefly ask you to confirm an inferred subgenre before generation begins.

Pick your favorite drafts#

BeYourCover's art director reads your book and designs six different cover ideas for it. This takes about a minute. Four ideas come freely from your story; the other two follow the cover styles that suit your genre and subgenre best. You see them all as quick drafts, in random order and without labels, so you judge only what you see. While you wait, the progress window shows each step and what comes next.

1. Click the two drafts you like most.
2. Select Make these covers, or select Choose for me to let BeYourCover pick.
3. BeYourCover turns the ideas you picked into two full-quality covers.

Drafts are quick sketches: the final covers keep the idea, the layout and the colors, but details such as the lettering can change. The drafts cost no credits. Each final cover uses one credit, or one of your free covers, as before.

The drafts step is skipped when you open the generator from a template link, when you generate from a reference image, or in Prompt mode: BeYourCover then makes your first covers straight from your template, reference or prompt. If the drafts can't be made, BeYourCover makes your first two covers from its cover templates instead.

The drafts take about a minute, and the final covers less than a minute more. Keep the progress window open until the job finishes. Your project is created only when generation starts successfully; failed initial runs are cleaned up automatically where possible.

After generation, BeYourCover opens the cover workspace for the new project.

Come back to your drafts#

Your drafts are saved as soon as they appear. If you close the tab, reload the page or get signed out before you pick, you do not lose them and you do not need to start again:

1. Sign in and open the Generator.
2. A banner above the form says your drafts for the book are ready. Select Pick your covers.
3. Pick two drafts as before. BeYourCover makes your two covers and opens the book.

The book's page shows the same link while the book has no covers. Picking your saved drafts uses the same credits, or free covers, as picking them the first time.

Until you have your first covers, you get drafts for one book at a time. If you start a new book while another book's drafts are waiting, BeYourCover asks first: pick from your waiting drafts, or start the new book. A new book started this way gets its first covers from the cover templates, without drafts.

Improve the quality of the first run#

• Include a summary even though it is optional.
• Choose the most specific genre and subgenre available.
• Put only cover-relevant details in the prompt.
• Mention elements that must be present or avoided.
• Avoid conflicting directions such as “minimalist” and “densely detailed.”
• Keep title, subtitle, and author spelling final before generating.

Text and language notes#

The cover text workflow is optimized for Latin characters. Accented Latin letters are supported, but scripts such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and many Asian scripts may not render reliably in the current text tools.

If the generated typography needs correction, use the cover text editor after generation rather than repeatedly regenerating the artwork.

If BeYourCover says you already created a free book#

Free access can be limited to one book project. Select View Your Book to continue the existing project, or choose a paid plan to create another book.

Only a book with at least one cover counts as your free book. If your first try made no covers (for example, you were signed out before you picked your drafts), you can still create your covers: pick your saved drafts, or start the book again from the Generator. Your free covers stay unused until a cover is made.

If BeYourCover asks for a purchase first#

• On a Basic account with no unused purchase left, Generate Cover opens Unlock Pro Features. Upgrade to Pro to create another book.
• On a Free or Basic account, Generate covers for a new book on the Dashboard opens Purchase More Generations when one of your books with covers has no generations left. Select a generation pack to continue.