Turn the Genre into Visual Evidence
These are editorial options drawn from the style library, not the only palette for each genre. Follow the book’s tone and the creator’s choices, then compare which picture communicates most clearly.
| Promise | Visual choices |
|---|---|
| Fantasy progression | Evidence in the subject: A character, magical artefact or mark of rank; Evidence in the background: A mountain gate, trial grounds or distant faction; Colour and lighting: Dark surroundings with one point of energy |
| Urban speculative fiction | Evidence in the subject: An ordinary person and an anomalous object; Evidence in the background: An office, street, bill, or screen; Colour and lighting: Cool realistic colours with one anomalous bright accent |
| Mystery investigation | Evidence in the subject: Evidence, a figure seen from behind or a confined space; Evidence in the background: A rainy night, archive room or empty house; Colour and lighting: High contrast and localised lighting |
| Emotional relationship | Evidence in the subject: The distance and eyelines between two people; Evidence in the background: A shared space or something separating them; Colour and lighting: Lighting and colour temperature suited to the relationship |
Keep only the one or two elements that best prove the genre promise. Do not crowd the cover with every story idea.
A Reusable Prompt Structure
Vertical novel cover; core reading promise; main character or symbolic object and its action; foreground / midground / background; main and accent colours; light direction and mood; clear title area at the top and author-name area at the bottom; illustrated-poster finish; no watermark or unrelated text.
List the wording, font style, placement and colour separately. Check any text produced by an image tool against the finished image; if necessary, generate a text-free background first and add accurate lettering in layout software. This page does not promise that a particular model will render Chinese text correctly.
Original Example: The Ledger of Fog Harbor
This is an urban mystery about an archivist who can hear the sounds left behind in altered records. A prompt might read:
Vertical mystery-novel cover. A young archivist stands in profile in the centre of a narrow records archive. Faint sound waves rise from an open ledger in their hands. In the foreground, a name field is crossed out in red ink; in the midground are the archivist and a desk lamp; in the background, metal filing shelves fade into mist. Ink blue and grey-white dominate, with dark red only to mark the altered entry. A single cool light from above illuminates the page. Leave a large, clean title area at the top and an author-name area at the bottom. Restrained illustrated-poster style. No watermark or extra text.
This example deliberately chooses a text-free background and separate layout with exact lettering. story-cover normally generates a complete cover including the title and byline. Specify the text-free alternative if you want it; a bare background is not a finished cover.
Complete the production brief for 雾港回声簿
Retain the text-free-background route above. Add the original example pen name 林渡, an author-selected 3:4 exercise canvas and save folder covers/雾港回声簿. This ratio is not a current platform rule; confirm actual use and delivery dimensions separately. Specify illustration and lettering as distinct steps:
Create a text-free portrait illustration for the urban mystery '雾港回声簿', by '林渡', in the author-selected 3:4 composition. One young archivist stands in profile in a narrow archive, holding an open ledger with faint sound-wave traces. Keep a red alteration mark in the foreground, the archivist and desk lamp in the midground, and metal shelves fading into mist behind. Use ink blue and grey-white with restrained dark red, and a cool light from above. Reserve a quiet upper title area and lower byline area. Render no readable text, watermark or slogan. Save a separate background candidate in the chosen folder.
The crossed-out name field communicates alteration marks, not readable names in a text-free picture. Inspect the generated person count, ledger, sound traces and depth. Then enter the exact title 雾港回声簿 and byline 林渡 in the author’s chosen layout tool. This is separate typesetting, not a claim that the native skill provides editable type layers automatically.
Export a distinct upload version after lettering. Check every character, overlap with the figure, final ratio and edges. At the actual display size, verify title and archive cue, then inspect the current upload preview. A text-free background is not a delivered cover. This is a complete plan, with no generation or upload performed. For a single generated image with text, follow the skill’s default using exact title and byline and inspect the result.
Continue with incorrect lettering, thumbnail readability, genre mismatch or reference purpose as needed.
What to Check After Generating or Designing
Reduce the cover to a phone-sized thumbnail and check that the subject and genre are still recognisable. Make sure complex highlights and faces do not intrude on the title area. Check the number of characters, what they are holding, period clothing and consistency with the story. Look for stray lettering, watermarks or incorrect symbols. Confirm you have the rights needed for the input materials and the final use.
If the composition does not work, first remove elements, enlarge the subject or clear the text area. More style keywords will not fix an unclear reading promise or a confused information hierarchy.
Check reserved lettering areas in the actual upload version. A different aspect ratio can crop the title or byline; see fixing cropped cover text.
FAQ
Should the title and author name be generated together or added later?
If you want the image and lettering to feel unified, specify the exact text in the generation prompt. If you expect to revise the title, font or layout, generate a text-free background first and add the type separately. Either way, check every character in the finished image and make sure it remains legible as a thumbnail.
What should I do if the cover has too many elements and no clear focus?
Keep one subject that represents the story’s promise and remove decorative elements that repeat the genre cues. Clear the title area of faces, complex textures and highlights, then reduce the image to check that both the subject and title remain easy to read.
Do it with the skill
When you need an actual generated cover, use /story-cover in Claude Code (or $story-cover in Codex). Provide the exact title, author name, target platform and save directory, along with a genre summary and composition preferences. This skill calls an image-generation tool and saves a cover; it does not merely return a text proposal. Use reference materials you have the right to provide, then check the title, byline and image content character by character.
Read the method: Cover generation, export, and review · Genre composition and lettering
Related reading
- Agent skills for writers: prompts, skill packs, plugins, MCP
- How to write a book with Claude Code or Codex: install to chapter one
- Oh Story
- How to Fix Incorrect Text on an AI Book Cover
- How to Make a Book Cover Readable as a Thumbnail
- How to Make a Book Cover Match the Story’s Genre
- How to Use a Reference Image for a Book Cover