One of the secrets to selling something on the internet, especially digital products like ebooks, is that you must have a good image of the product.

You want to sell products on eBay and maximise your sell price?  Take really good photographs, set up your sales page nicely.  You want to sell software?  Get an image that looks like a proper software box.  You want to sell your eBook?  You need a good looking cover.  The best look like a real book.

People like to be able to handle products they want to buy.  On the internet they can’t do that so the next best is to have a photograph.  Failing that and good image is the next best and the best images look more like photographs.

Now I’m no graphic artist and I know that what I produce can be easily done better by someone with a better eye for detail but even a crayon scrawling klutz like me can make 3-D covers with the Gimp.  It only takes me an hour or so from scratch.  And I really do mean scratch.  Have a close look at the cover for this book and you will see the clunkyness but then realise that I have only done about 4 of these and I started this one from a blank canvas.

You can do far better with only a little practice.

Why would you use the Gimp for this?  It’s $1,000s less than Photoshop.  Free is less right?  The only downside to using the Gimp is that you can’t run those Photoshop scripts, yet.  Actually that’s not true, there is another downside.  Using the Gimp is addictive.

If you don’t have the Gimp or have never used something like it before there is a link inside this book to a package of Gimp tutorials which I have arranged for you to buy at a very good price.  You don’t need to buy them but they will help you get up to speed faster.

Download the Mr Bearly’s Guide to Creating 3-D book covers, it’s free.