I won't shamelessly advertise, but I will mention that I've written and self published 4 books.

I was part of a creative writing forum, which I was told would be a supportive environment. Recently some of the other members of the forum started to make fun of the front covers I had made, saying they were drawn in MS Paint. I tried telling them that I'd used Macromedia Fireworks 8, but they insisted I had used an inferior software package and drawn it in 30 seconds.

Not wanting to be made fun of, I tried deleting the conversation, but I was banned from the forum for doing so.
I don't need them. If that's the kind of behaviour that's allowed, I'm OK with being banned.
Their idea of a "good front cover" is just white text on a black background, or something resembling clipart from Office 2000.

Now I'll admit, my designs are kind of plain, but I'm no expert artist and I don't have much of a budget to hire a professional.