howells/cover

Generate cover art prompts for your book using the cover-artist agent.

What This Does

1. Asks whether you want image-only or text-inclusive covers
2. Reads your project materials (README, themes, characters, world, tone)
3. Synthesizes the story's visual essence
4. Produces 3-5 distinct cover concepts as image generation prompts
5. Optimizes for Kindle dimensions (1600 x 2560, aspect ratio 1:1.6)

Usage

/fiction:cover                    # Generate cover prompts for current project
/fiction:cover /path/to/project   # Generate for specific project

Text Options

You'll be asked whether to include text:

• Image only (recommended) — Clean image with negative space for title overlay in post-production. More control over typography.
• Include text — Title and author name generated as part of the image. Works well with GPT Image 1.5 and Gemini 3 Pro.

Output

For each concept, you'll receive:

• Approach — The visual strategy
• Prompt — Ready to paste into GPT Image, Gemini, FLUX, or other generators
• Why it works — Genre signals and design rationale
• Variations — Style/mood alternatives

Generating Images

Use the motif CLI to generate cover images directly:

motif "your prompt here" --cover          # Kindle cover: 2:3, 2K
motif "your prompt here" --cover -m gpt   # GPT model (best for covers)
motif "your prompt here" --cover --dry-run # Preview cost first

For illustrated books: After generating your cover, use /fiction:illustrate to create a motif series from the cover and generate consistent chapter illustrations in the same style.

Prompt Compatibility

Prompts are optimized for:

• GPT Image 1.5 — Conversational prompts, specify dimensions
• Gemini 3 Pro Image — Natural language, descriptive prompts
• FLUX.2 (via fal.ai / motif) — Subject-first prompts, use --cover flag
• Other generators — Adapt aspect ratio parameters as needed

Design Philosophy

The agent prioritizes:

• Symbolic over literal — Evoke the feeling, don't illustrate the plot
• Cut-through — Stand out in crowded genre thumbnails
• Genre signals — Honor conventions while avoiding cliches
• Thumbnail test — Readable at 80px width
• Title space — Negative space in upper third for text overlay

After Generation

If you chose image-only:

1. Generate images with your preferred AI tool (or falcon)
2. Select the strongest result
3. Add title and author name in a design tool (Canva, Photoshop, etc.)
4. Test at thumbnail size
5. Upload to KDP

If you chose text-inclusive:

1. Generate images—inspect text carefully for errors
2. Regenerate if any letters are wrong
3. Minor touch-ups in design tool if needed
4. Test at thumbnail size
5. Upload to KDP

When to Use

• Final stages of manuscript completion
• Before submitting to beta readers (motivational)
• Marketing preparation
• Series branding exploration