The first impression you make is often the most important in many areas of life. Although there is the famous expression that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, many people do both figuratively and literally. If you're writing a book, you need a cover that's going to attract attention and intrigue potential readers.
Most aspiring writers are usually on a budget, which makes hiring professional designers to create book covers quite an expense. The worst part is that you might need countless iterations or even completely different designs in order to find one that you feel truly suits your book.
This whole process can be a lot easier and more affordable if you simply leverage the power of an AI model. Today, I'm going to talk about how you can use the Dall-E 3 text-to-image model to seamlessly create stunning book covers.
Regardless of whether you're writing a book or want to design covers for other authors, I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to use a sophisticated AI model like Dall-E 3. On top of that, the results you get will be absolutely incredible, which you'll get a chance to see later on in this article.
How to Write Dall-E 3 Prompts for Book Covers
There are different ways of writing Dall-E 3 prompts for book covers. You can use a variety of strategies you can use to structure your prompts in a certain way. If you've read some of my other Dall-E 3 articles, you can see that my strategies vary depending on the type of image I want to create.
The thing I love the most about this specific text-to-image AI model is its level of coherence. In other words, the model is able to perfectly interpret your instructions even if you write them in a conversational tone.
I could give the model a specific set of instructions on the different objects I want featured in the design, a certain art style or aesthetic, as well as a preferred color palette. However, it's much more fun for me to explain what a hypothetical book is about like I'm speaking to a friend and then see how the AI model interprets my words to create a book cover design.
Let go through some of the prompts I wrote and prepared for you today.
12 Dall-E 3 Prompt Examples for Book Covers
You can really make some spectacular book covers with Dall-E 3. For this specific use case, I would even say that it's the best text-to-image AI model that's publicly available. Here are some of the book covers that I created with the help of Dall-E 3.
prompt #1: create a book cover for a sci-fi novel with a story that revolves around a group of brave astronauts who plan to visit an exploding star in order to gather an extremely rare chemical element
As I previously mentioned, I find it very interesting to see how an AI model will create a book cover if I only provide it with the plot. The prompt I wrote here is very simple considering that I explained what this fictional book is about in layman's terms, yet Dall-E 3 managed to use that information to create a spectacular cover.
prompt #2: create a book cover for a espionage novel about a spy who must go deep undercover in order to expose a secret society that's controlling the world
It's worth noting that you shouldn't expect the AI model to provide you with a design that you can immediately use for your book. Instead, the images you create with Dall-E 3 should serve as draft designs that you can give to a professional designer when you want to give them direction for the type of design you're looking for.
Note how the model included text in this image, even though none of it is written properly. In the next example, I'll show you how you can instruct the model to write the text you want featured in an image.
prompt #3: create a book cover for a book with the title "Online Income" that teaches people all of the different ways that they can start earning money online
As you can see, when I put quotation marks for a word or phrase and mention that it should be the title of the book, Dall-E 3 knows exactly what to do. Honestly, this is one of the most impressive features that were included in the third iteration of the Dall-E text-to-image model.
prompt #4: create a book cover for a book that revolves around color theory, the book represents an in-depth guide for anyone interested in learning how colors affect human emotions and perceptions
This is my favorite book design that I created with Dall-E 3 for this article. I'm also quite intrigued with the subject of color theory, but I just haven't gotten around to reading a book on this topic yet. I will have to do it at some point though.
prompt #5: create a book cover for a thriller novel with a story that revolves around a detective in 1930s New York who must figure out who kidnapped his family
This is a really interesting design. The fact that I mentioned the decade in which the story takes place heavily influenced the aesthetic featured in this design.
prompt #6: create a book cover for a non-fiction book that explains quantum theory in layman's terms
This is about as simple as a prompt for book covers can be. Even users who've never heard of text-to-image models can write a prompt like this and get a stunning result from Dall-E 3.
prompt #7: create a book cover for a sci-fi novel in which artificial becomes too powerful for people to control it and it ends up taking over the world, and eventually explores the universe to find other civilizations that it can take under its reign
I don't know if it has anything to do with me reading a lot about AI, but I'm genuinely scared that something like what I described in the prompt can happen in real life. Maybe artificial intelligence is something that will become more powerful than humans and take over the planet. It's hard to predict whether that'll ever happen, but I see that even some of the brightest minds on the planet believe that it's a possibility.
prompt #8: create a book cover for a cookbook that contains only vegan recipes, the cover should feature a bright summer color palette
Note how I mentioned a specific color palette in this prompt, and the AI model incorporated it into the design. You can do this with virtually any prompt you write. It's a good idea to research the different color palettes that exist and see whether you can use them in any of your prompts. Remember that you can have as much control as you want over how the design will look.
prompt #9: create a book cover for a novel that revolves around an entrepreneur who came from the slums and eventually became the richest man on the planet, the cover should convey the struggle it takes to become successful
We live in a world fueled by capitalism, so it's normal that people strive to be successful. It's often the people who grow up poor that have the most motivation to make it. That was the idea that I was trying to get across with this book cover design.
prompt #10: create a book cover for a book that explores the idea of time travel, the book contains a lot of different ideas proposed by scientists on how time travel could be possible
Most people today would confidently say that time travel is not possible. It's not like I believe it has to be possible, but who knows what people might discover in the future. Most of the things that seem normal today wouldn't have been deemed achievable only a few centuries ago.
prompt #11: create a book cover for a mystery novel that takes place at a research station in Antarctica after a person is found buried in the snow, leaving the scientists there to figure out who committed the murder
This is a novel that I wouldn't mind reading. I'm actually quite intrigued by Antarctica and plan on visiting the continent one day if I get the chance. I've read about it a lot and often wonder what it's like living in a huge region with very few people.
prompt #12: create a book cover for a self-help book that teaches you how discipline and ambition can improve different areas in your life, such as helping you have a successful career, getting you in top shape, and helping you develop healthier eating habits
I feel like more self-help books should feature this type of colorful designs. Most of the covers I saw for books in this category don't look like this. As you can see from the prompt above, you can give the model multiple instructions and the AI model will find a way to incorporate them in the final design.
Final Thoughts
What's truly amazing about text-to-image AI models like Dall-E 3 is their ability to produce quality images quickly. This is especially great when you're brainstorming different ideas.
Just imagine the amount of time it would take to go back and forth with a professional designer in order to see how a design idea will end up looking. Using Dall-E 3 saves you a significant amount of both time and money. With this AI model, you can explore multiple ideas in just a few minutes.
I'm not implying that you should use the image provided by the AI model as a finished book cover design. Instead, the images you create with the help of artificial intelligence can serve as draft designs that you can give to a designer you hire to give them great direction and graphically convey what you're looking for.
The best part is that you don't have to be an expert in interacting with AI models. The level of coherence present in the third iteration of the Dall-E model makes it possible to write your prompts in a conversational tone.
