GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Mac OS
GIMP Experience: New User

List any ERROR messages you received:
Your text cannot be rendered

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I have an error message reading: 'your text cannot be rendered. It is likely too big. Please make it shorter or use a smaller font.' I tried making it smaller, but it didn't help. Any ideas?

Also I have two lines down the side of my image & don't know how to get rid of them & I can't write my title at the top. I attach a screenshot.

Something to look at that is not showing in your screen shot:

In your screenshot the Tool Options ends with Justify. But lower down is an option called Box. Options are Fixed and Dynamic. If it is set to Fixed try setting it to Dynamic instead.

What type of lines? Guides? These can be removed by going to
Image > guides > remove all guides

If the lines are a selection go to Selection and click on none

Thanks so much Sallyanne, that's got it sorted. Now I just have a tiny line at the top of the book cover I'm not sure how to fill without loosing the rest of it.
Blighty II - I couldn't find box in tool options but that sounds just what I need.

I watch the online tutorials & it looks really useful to have the rest of the menu below, how do I get it there?

The Tool Options has its own little scroll bar. Use that. (It can be seen in the screen print from your first post.)

I see it Blighty, but it doesn't have that screen where you can put a colour in in the form of a number, or a colour column and screen where you can choose exactly which shade to use. How do I get to that one? Thanks so much for your help.

Look at the screen print from your first post. There are 2 places where you can change colour.

1.
Between the Tool Box and the Tool Options there are two squares (with a little overlap). In your screen print one is gold and the other is white. The gold is the foreground colour. The white is the background colour. Click on either of these to change colour. You then get a pop-up with several options to change colour. Adjust sliders or type in numbers etc.

2.
The second one in your screen print is in the Tool Options for the Text Tool. In your screen print it is gold. Click on this to change the colour of the text without altering the foreground and background colours. By default, the Text Tool takes the foreground colour. This is where you change it to another colour.