How does an author make book covers?

Question

Stephenie Meyer got my attention on this little detail when she posted all the different covers she had experimented with on her site: http://stepheniemeyer.com/otherprojects_craptastic.html

But how did she make them all? Obviously she didn't draw the covers that are currently on her books. Is there some kind of program or something that lets you do that? Because it's my guess that she isn't an amazing graphic designer or something too, and I would love to be able to do that.

Answer 1

They don't. The publisher or a graphic artist does that. She probably just photoshopped something together so she could send out her manuscripts with a cover. Just aesthetic value.

Edit: Microsoft Publisher can be a big help.

Answer 2

The publisher commissions cover art from illustrators. The author is rarely involved; they even need a special deal for the art to be required to meet their approval. The covers on the site do look like they were made on a graphics program. You probably wouldn't get the same results, but you could try Photoshop or Pagemaker (both are Adobe applications).

Answer 3

They don't. Usually they have a separate illustrator do their covers.