Cover design is one of my favourite perks of being an independent author. I’ve always been creative and artistic, which is why this is a task I look forward to rather than one I wish to outsource. 

When it was time to design the cover for Dark Rock, I knew I wanted something that captured Gibraltar's dramatic presence without looking like every other thriller on the shelf. So, here's how I went from a blank canvas to a cover I absolutely adore.

Starting with AI Inspiration

I began by asking ChatGPT to create a mockup featuring the north face of Gibraltar with a silhouetted figure running toward it over the runway, set against a dramatic sky. The result was actually pretty good and gave me that initial spark of inspiration – The Rock needed to dominate the cover, striking and unmistakable. (As you can see, Dark Rock had a different working title.)

But I would never use a one-prompt AI image for my cover. Like I said, I enjoy the design process. And, I thought the image was too busy. All those elements competing for attention would get lost at thumbnail size on Amazon. I needed something cleaner, more focused.

Finding the Perfect Base Image

Next, I requested a simpler image: just the north face of Gibraltar from a low angle, with no people cluttering the composition. This version immediately felt right. Less busy, more moody, and I could already see how to transform it into something bold and colourful that would pop on a bookshelf.

The Magic of Affinity Photo

Using Affinity Photo, I started by removing the sky entirely, leaving just the Rock and the runway. This gave me a clean slate to work with – Gibraltar in its pure, iconic form without any distracting background elements.

Now came the fun part: colour experimentation. I wanted a bold orange theme that would stand out in the crowded thriller market. 

Orange, Gibraltar’s true colour, she thought. It was everywhere: the salmorejo before her, the oranges that adorned the trees along Main Street, the sunset bleeding into the bay, the vivid monarch butterflies that danced through the parks, the bird of paradise flowers erupting from every garden. 

I tried an orange sky with the Rock left in grayscale, then experimented with tinting the entire image orange. The latter approach won – it gave the whole cover a cohesive, dramatic feel.

From there, it was all about fine-tuning: adjusting brightness, contrast, and vibrance until Gibraltar looked powerful and mysterious rather than just orange-tinted.

Creating Drama with Positioning

I positioned the Rock at the top of the cover, then used a vignette and blur effect to gradually fade to black at the bottom. This created depth and drew the eye upward to Gibraltar while providing clean space for the title and my name.

Bold Typography to Match

Finally, the text. I went bold and all caps. Sticking with my orange, black, and white colour scheme kept everything cohesive and punchy.

The Result:

All done! I absolutely love how it turned out. Gibraltar looks imposing and iconic, the orange theme makes it stand out, and the clean design works perfectly at both full size and thumbnail.

I plan to keep this same approach for all of Spencer's adventures. Different landmarks, different bright colours each time, but maintaining that consistent, dramatic style. Readers will know a Spencer Bly thriller just by looking at the cover design.

What do you think? Sometimes the best covers come from keeping things simple rather than trying to cram every story element into one image.

Dark Rock can be ordered here:

Amazon UK 

Amazon USA 

Amazon Es

Apple, Barns & Noble, Kobo and more: Click here