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How to Make a 3D Mockup of Your Book for Free

Hi friends! While I wait for the paperback proof of The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers to arrive in the mail this week, I’ve been creating some 3D mockups of the book to use on my site. I tried out a ton of tools, both paid and free, and found two services I really like. I wanted to share them with you all to save you the hassle of doing your own research if you ever want to do this for one of your books. It’s REALLY EASY to do and both of these tools are completely free with no account required to download your images.

Option #1: Smartmockups


Smartmockups offers 3D mockups of all kinds (t-shirts, coffee mugs, business cards, etc.). I used their site to create and download this cool 3D mockup of my ebook on a tablet and phone:

What I like about Smartmockups:

No account required to download your mockup.

Download as many free mockups as you want.

Internal cropping tool–if you look closely you can see that these covers don’t exactly match the device’s dimensions, however I was able to crop it within Smartmockups without creating a new image.

Transparent background

Multiple download size options


Keep in mind you will need a cover image that you created elsewhere to upload into their editor.

To find their free mockup templates, go to their site > Browse All Mockups. From there, choose your category on the left, then filter by “free.”

Option #2: DIY Book Covers 


I also liked DIY Book Covers, and used their site to download these paperback and mixed ebook + 3D paperback mockups:

The quality is not as high in my opinion, but it still looks much better than comparable tools I found online, plus you can download as many as you want without making an account.

What I like about DIY Book Covers:

Easy-to-use tool

Transparent background (be sure to download in PNG)

Option for an image of a paperback next to an ereader, which is not available in Smartmockups

No account needed for free downloads

The site has a lot of other information and tools for authors, like a cover design creator, tutorials, and marketing advice


From the homepage, go to Book Design > 3D Mockups. Again, you will need your own cover image to upload. One thing to note is that I could not get the DIY Book Covers uploader to work in Firefox. I had to use Safari.

If you have tools you like to use to make 3D Mockups, please share them! These are the two that worked for me but I’m sure there are other good ones out there. I liked that they were free, high-quality, and I wasn’t required to make yet another online account in order to download them.

Hope this helps!


#writerslife #writer resources #Book mockups

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Articles related to Carcasses I have Written

When an Animal Dies in a National Park, What does the Park Service Do With it? - Bay Nature

Human Skulls are Being Sold Online, but is it Legal? - National Geographic

Everything You Were Afraid to Ask about Roadkill - National Geographic

The East Bay is Full of Cattle Skeletons. Here’s Why. - SF Gate

Soap Mummies: Why some Bodies Turn into Soap Once They’re Buried - Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

These Flesh-Eating Bugs Create Museum Exhibits - Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

The Morbid Remains of a Harpy Eagle Home -  Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

Fertilizing Crops with Ancient Cat Mummies -  Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

She Took her Amputated Leg Home, and You Can Too - PBS Newshour

'Amazing' Two-headed White-tailed Deer Fawn Found, Studied, Turned Into Taxidermy - Newsweek

Funeral Homes Selling Body Parts From Dead People Could Be Banned in Colorado - Newsweek 

What is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act? The Bird Law Weakened by the Fish and Wildlife Department - Newsweek

Scientists Are Studying Rotting Animal Carcasses to Understand Why Complete Dinosaur Fossils Are So Rare - Newsweek

Exclusive: Whatever happened to the mouse with the ear on its back? - Newsweek

Dog Stuck in Tree for 60 Years Doesn’t Rot - Newsweek

Don’t Call it a Body Farm - Boston University News Service

Ancient Bond Between Human and Animals Revealed in 14,000-Year-Old Diseased Dog Teeth - Newsweek

#bones bones bones

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soft fuzzy man like in that one song by that one guy 

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Running with the pheasants

(via)

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Dragons: Lanterns and Signs 🐉

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I just got a text from the AVA confirming a case of Hendra in New South Wales near Scone, which is a major horse area and significantly further south than it’s been identified before.

Unvaccinated elderly Mare. Euthanised.

That’s distinctly not good.

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Great Horned Owl’s broad, but short wings make them surprisingly maneuverable during flight. 

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“Real magic can never be made by offering someone else’s liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.” – Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn | 2/31

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“I love you, said Ophelia, and I love that dark bird you hold in your arms.” – Richard Brautigan, The Castle of the Cormorants | 4/31

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“You think I’ll be the dark sky so you can be the star? I’ll swallow you whole.” – Warsan Shire | 24/31

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Writing Tools

just wanted to share my list of bookmarked sites that I use for writing

GENERAL

A to Z World Culture (comprehensive culture and country information)

Fantasy name generators

Item & Artifact generators

Item generators

Law generator

Medicine name generator (science-y sounding, not fantasy)

Paranormal & Weird Event generator

Reverse dictionary (you know, when you can’t think of that one word)

Tropes (it helps to know when to use them)

Vulgarlang (conlang generator; absolutely love it, as a fantasy world builder, the full version is worth the price)

WorldAnvil (I can’t recommend this site enough if you’re worldbuilding)

CHARACTER DESIGN

Clothing

Clothing generator

Clothing references (also good for artists)

Outfit & Wardrobe generators

Random dress generator

Random fashion style preference generator

Steampunk outfit generator

Villainy

Mindsets and rational for villainy

General

123 idea for character flaws

Basic character appearance (helpful for background/throwaway characters)

Build a better backstory (remember, take all advice with a grain of salt)

Cause of death generator

Character interest generator

Character motivation generator

Character skills generator

Harrie’s character sheet (this one is really nice and comprehensive but not too long)

Hero Forge (technically for creating minis, but I like to use it for planning out/visualizing my characters in 3D)

Morality tropes

NPC generator

Personality generator

Random character quirk generator

Random name generator (also tells you the name’s meaning)

This Person Does Not Exist (makes photo portraits of people through a deep-learning AI; also good for art references)

Titles (in case you’re like me and don’t know the difference between an Earl and a Duke)

LOCATION

Azgaar’s fantasy map generator (makes a world map, can take a minute to load)

City generator (just words, no map)

Location & Setting generators

Watabou’s fantasy city generator (makes a city map; can take a minute to load; connects to Azgaar’s generator)

RELATIONSHIPS

8 ways to write better characters

How to write strong character relationships

Writing better character’s relatives

#writing tools #writing resources

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On the day when the rain fell and flooded the ground, the sign of the wolf appeared, outside of town.

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Bearer of Spring

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A Sloughi (Arabian greyhound) herds a group of dromedaries (camels) in the desert of Morocco. Photographed by Rosa Frei, source.

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Me: okay, we got stuff to do today, let's go!

My body: sweet! we're out of energy btw

Me: ??? I just woke up???

My body: yeah uh well you see we kinda,,,, forgot to make energy

Me:

My body:

Me:

My body:

Me: you FORGOT-