E-books are among the fastest growing segments of the publishing industry. As long as there are self-publishing authors, e-books will exist. So how can you profit from this trend?

E-books need cover design just like print books. With traditional printing, the publishing house takes care of cover design. But the self-publishing author has to handle everything on their own.

You can produce beautiful e-book covers using any program which allows you to work with texts and graphics. The best programs for designing e-book covers, or any cover for that matter, are Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress. If you have any of these programs, then youre sitting on a potential goldmine.

If you dont have the above mentioned software, all is not lost. Microsoft Word can also be used to design e-book covers. In fact, any word processor will do. You wont have as many design options as with a more advanced graphics program, but to start, you should work with what youve got. You can also upgrade after youve had a few clients. There is also one other option.

There are programs designed specifically for creating e-book covers. Perhaps using one of these programs would be easier than learning a more complicated piece of software. Most e-book cover generators come with pre-built templates that can be edited to suit your needs.

However, it will be a trial and error process as theres very little information available on the reliability of these e-book cover generating programs. If you go this route, try to find a program which allows a trial run. If you want clients to be pleased with your work, you have to be sure to create a professional looking cover. Here are some tips:

1. Ebook cover graphics must be unique. They must represent the book accurately, and also make use of proper colors. This leads us to tip number two.

2. Use color psychology. Certain colors make people feel different emotions. Some people find blue soothing, others may find that red makes them excited. The cover on the e-book should take into account how certain colors make people feel. It could play a strong factor in influencing people to purchase the book. It may be a good idea to further study color psychology before accepting your first design client.

3. Use professional quality cover photos. If the client cant provide a good quality photograph, make use of some of the free images available via image websites. Be sure the pictures or graphics you use accurately represent the clients book. In this case, the potential buyer will judge the book by its cover.

Make sure any cover you design looks professional, even if youre new to the business. Your clients trust you to make them look good, and dont care if youre just learning the program. Thats why you should try a few sample designs before searching for clients. With enough practice, youll soon be good enough to earn a nice income from designing e-book covers.