Social Media Post Images

Paint.Net is one of my favorite image editors to work with. It is free and easy to use. If you're not yet familiar with it, check out some tutorials on their Forum or on YouTube to learn the basics.

To create an image post about your upcoming book for social media in Paint.Net

Open the program and open your book's cover image. Then File > New and on the pop up box, set width and height both to 1000 pixels.
Then go to the cover image - Select all and click copy or go to Edit > Copy then click the blank square image's tab and go to Edit > Paste into New Layer.
Keep canvas size.
Play around what part of the image should be visible on the square then let go of it.:

This will be the background of your image, so we need to soften it. To do that, we can either use the eraser tool Tools > Eraser then go to Colors > More > Opacity-Alpha and take it down to 150. Set the brush size to 1500, then maneuver over the image, making sure that the circle covers the square fully, then click left mouse button once. :

You can even turn it B&W if you want:
Adjustments > Black and White

Now, you need to use your book cover image. Click on it and go to Image > Resize and click the circle next to "By Percentage" to select it, then change it to 20%. (Note: save this smaller version for later, under a different name, like cover - small version) Then go to Edit > Select All. Then Edit > Copy. Now go to the background image - the square one. Edit > Paste into New Layer. Drag and drop it somewhere to the left or right side.

Now go to Layers > Add New Layer. Then Edit > Deselect. Now go to Tools and select the Text Tool then Colors to pick a color. Now write at the top of the image and on the side. Something like "My Awesome Book (add the book's title) is Coming Soon" "Something so Awesome That Blows Your Mind" or even add a quote of the book.

Note: If you don't yet know the release day date, just leave the part out with the date...
Now, let's make it more visible by adding a frame around it. Go to Tools > Shapes then select Rectangle and select *Draw Shape Outline* at Shape Draw/ Fill Mode. Now Layers > Add New Layer. Set brush size to approx. 25 and draw a frame.

If you're not yet satisfied, change the layers' colors by selecting the layer, then Adjustments > Hue and Saturation, or Invert Colors or Sepia, however you'd like.

You don't necessarily have to use a part of the cover art as the background. You can easily create a custom one, like clouds: Get a new image (1000*1000) Pick up two colors a primary and secondary one, like white and blue, or even green and black, then go to Effects > Render Clouds. Use the preset settings or change to your liking. Then build from there.

For when your book is on sale (the price can differ, of course) you can make an image for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, that would grab the attention.Something like this.

Play with colors, just make sure you grab a contrast color that jumps out from the feed and calls for attention. Make sure you include all buy links in the post's body. You can add additional text on the image.