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A book mockup is a way in which authors can turn their book cover file into a professionally-created 3D rendition of the book and or place it in a professional advertisement.
In short, mockups are a book marketer's best friend.
Boy, he must have paid a fortune to get that model to read his book…
In the past, most authors believed you needed to either be a professional photographer or have high-end expensive software to create images like these.
However, in this article I’ll not only show you how to create book mockups without a photography degree or pricey software, I’ll even list websites where you can get book mockups for free.
See this?
With a free or inexpensive book mockup, you can easily turn something blase into oh yay!
In this article, you will learn:
- My proven method of creating a mockup for cheap
- How to find book mockups for FREE
- Whether you should create video book mockups
Let's see what kind of images you can create with your book for free, something we all appreciate.
List of Free Book Mockups
Here is a list of free book mockups that you can click, download, and use right away with your book cover image.
| Picture to Download | Price | How to Get It |
|---|---|---|
| Free | |
| Free | |
| Free | |
| Free | |
| Free | |
| Free | |
| Free |
By clicking the link, you can download each of the free book mockups shown above. If you’d like to learn how you can turn that download into a mockup of your book, scroll down to my instructions below in the section called “How to Create a Book Mockup Yourself.”
3D Book Mockups...A Book Marketer's Best Secret #BookMarketingClick To TweetAlso, here are some websites that do a great job of presenting even more mockups:
More Book Mockup Sites
| Website | Price | Software Required |
|---|---|---|
| Behance.net | Free | Yes - Adobe |
| Mockupsjar.com | Free | No |
| Shapingrain.com | Free | Yes - Adobe |
| Zippypixels.com | Varies Per Image | Yes - Adobe |
| Smartmockups.com | Free | No |
| Originalmockups.com | Varies Per Image | Yes - Adobe |
| Webdesigndev.com | Free | Yes - Adobe |
| Mediamodifier.com | Varies Per Image | No |
| Fiverr.com | Varies Per Image | No |
| Mockupcloud.com | $8 | Yes |
| Placeit.net | Varies Per Image | No |
Best Book Marketing Software
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Get Rocket NowPaid Book Mockup Services
While the free versions of a book mockup might be all you need, there are some high-end hardcover or 3D book mockups that you should check out as well. More specifically, some of these sites show better advertisement mockups:
Paid Mockup Services
| Website | Price | Software Required |
|---|---|---|
| Placeit.net | $14.95/month | No |
| Envato.com | $29/month | Yes - Adobe |
| Shutterstock.com | $29/month | Yes - Adobe |
| Creativemarket.com | Varies per image | Yes - Adobe |
| Pixeden.com | $10/month | Yes - Adobe |
How to Create a Book Mockup Yourself
There are 3 ways you can create a book mockup:
- Download a book mockup PSD file and use Photoshop to insert your book cover into the mockup PSD (Photoshop costs $10/month)
- Use a paid book mockup service like Placeit where you can drag and drop your book cover into the mockup (~$8 for one or $29/month for unlimited)
- Send the downloaded book mockup file and your book cover to someone on Fiverr, who will use their Photoshop to create it for you (~$5)
Update: A 4th option if you only need one book mockup that is free and does not require software is a section below, but it's not covered in the video yet.
To see each of these in action, check out the video below:
Want more videos like this? Then click HERE to subscribe to my YouTube channel
If you decide to publish a hardcover version of your book, you definitely want to make a book mockup for that as a hardcover book gives customers more perceived value. Plus, a mockup can be a way for you to showcase all the different versions customers can get of your book.
Use a Book Mockup Generator
A fourth way you can create a mockup for a book is to use this book mockup generator. Within seconds you'll have an incredible mockup for free, no fancy software required.
You can choose one of the following templates for your book mockup:
To get one of these book mockups, all you need is:
- Your name
- Your email
- Cover image of your book
You can choose just one for free, or after you create your free one you'll have the option of buying a pack of 28 more mockups with your same book cover image at a really affordable price.
Example Book Mockups – Amazing Images You Can Create
A book mockup can really make your book look super professional.
But you don’t just have to do physical books. You can create mockups on Kindles, iPhones, desktops, pamphlets, for audiobooks, etc.
If you’re creating a course or software, you can create a mockup for that as well.
There are so many options, and many of the book mockups are free or super cheap.
Now, Start Creating Your 3D Book Mockup
As you can see, book mockups are super professional looking and can be great for putting on your website, social media, or even in an email.
And creating them is super easy too. You can just download a free book mockup or use a service for less than ten bucks.
Once you have a mockup, you have the ability to change it to make it perfectly fit your author brand if you'd like.
It’s that simple.
So, get going to start turning your 2D book covers into stellar 3D book mockups.
Cheers,
- Kindle Direct Publishing
Smartmockups does have a paid version, which is what I am using. I am a landing page and web designer so I create product mockups often, I used to design Kindle book covers for my clients as well.My “secret”: 1) Create a flat cover in Canva with the right dimensions, save as PNG 2) Pick your template and upload the image to Smartmockup. 3) Remove the white background to make it transparent, crop the picture if necessary. 4) Export!Derek Murphy from CreativIndie.com has created a free book cover mockup for authors as well. http://diybookcovers.com/3D…
Yeah, I just heard about that. I’m getting in contact with him so as to add to this article.
I’m surprised you have not heard about Derek before this, because I could have sworn I found you through him. The only 2 things I’ve bought as an author is your KDP Rocket and Derek`s tutorial. I highly recommend both.
No, I’m actually good friends with Derek. I said I just heard about “that” – as in his new diy book covers thing. He has so many awesome projects and irons n the fire. It showed I needed to reconnect with him to find out more about what he`s up to. I think he`s back in the States now…but he jumps between Portland and Taiwan a lot.
Yes, I see. So sorry! And yup, he`s definitely livin’ the dream life! And I love both of you guys for the help you’re providing! I told Derek I’m putting in a dedication to him in my next book and I’m serious. He gives hope to the hopelessly overwhelmed.
Yeah, his book “Book Marketing is Dead” was one of my favorites. Iove his stuff too.
I’ve used Derek`s software, It is awesome! I’ve even created a cover myself (and I’m no artist, cannot even draw a stick person without making them look like trees) using his tutorials and free software!
I have watched that video several times and still have no clue how you did that. I have Photoshop 2018 and I downloaded a template. Dragging and dropping my book cover into the template does nothing. Is there anywhere I can go to find exact detailed instructions on how to accomplish this?
Some of the psd book mockup files you download come with a video on specifically which layer or mask you need to drop it in.
Hi, will these work in Photoscape X on Mac?
I’m not sure. I do not have that program. But if it will open up a .psd, then yes.
Awesome! again!
Thanks – glad to help 🙂
Thanks, Dave, for the great article. What I’d love to find is a mockup that includes a paperback, ebook, and headphones in one image so I can show all the formats my book is available in. Do you know where I could find a mockup like that (free, if possible)?
Not off the top of my head, but check out the free mockup sites listed in the table above. They might have one.
Why do not you make real photos? This way, you could also be creative.