Book cover design is important to the success of your book. People will judge a book by its cover, so you want it to be an attention-grabbing, eye-catching piece that conveys what your story is about.
The first thing it will be useful to understand is the workings of a good book cover. Once you know what these key elements are, you can use them as a checklist when designing or hiring somebody to design your book cover.
What are the elements of a good book cover?
A good book cover will focus on the following:
- Colors and fonts: What colors are you trying to communicate?
- Author name: Be sure that this appears prominently on the cover so that readers know who wrote the book.
- Title: Usually the largest font and more prominent than the author name.
- Subtitle: If the book has one, the font should be smaller than the title font but should still complement it well.
- Image of the book or cover illustration
- Additional text and placement.
There are other elements to a good book cover, of course, but focussing your efforts in these areas will increase your chances of making a sale over and over again.
Here are our top 10 tips for designing the perfect book cover:
1) Keep it simple - The more detailed and complicated your cover is, the less likely people will be drawn in. So, try not to clutter the cover. Keep it simple and avoid cluttering your cover with too many things. You want to make sure the most important elements of your book are easy to find and read.
2) Make sure it stands out - You don't want potential readers not being able to find your book amongst the crowd of thousands of others.
3) Consider the fonts you use - Find a font that compliments your book and makes it look appealing to read. The most famous fonts used on book covers are "Times New Roman" and "Garamond.""
4) Add visual elements like an image or design - Images can really add something to your cover, so try using one. Make sure the image you choose is relevant to your book topic and gives a hint of what the book is about.
5) Chose your colors wisely.
Don't overdo it with colors - It is good to have a color that complements your cover, but don't use too many different colors. Consider your color palette - If you're designing a book cover for fiction, choose colors that convey emotion and mood (eg: red for suspense). Colors can also help you target a specific audience. For example, green is associated with eco-friendly products and services while yellow often represents intellectual or academic books.
6) Title and subtitle.
Make sure the title and subtitle are readable - As I said earlier, people do judge books by their covers. So make sure both the title and subtitle are large enough for readers to see them without squinting or scrolling back up. The size and positioning of the title and subtitle are also important.
7) Make sure it can be easily scanned - You want to make your cover design scan-able, meaning that someone who sees it in passing will still be able to identify your book and know its genre. For example, if your book is a vegan cookbook, the potential reader should be able to tell that by looking at the cover.
8) Don't be afraid to stand out! Although I champion keeping it simple as one of my top book cover design tips, you should also try to let your creativity shine through when designing your cover. Stand out from the crowd by making your cover unique and exciting!
9) Be professional. Your cover should be professional and represent your work. Use a professional font, don't use clip art or type that's hard to read, and have someone design it for you if you can't do it yourself.
10) Think of your audience! The final book cover design tip is the most important: think about who will be looking at the cover. Different books are aimed at different audiences, so try to create a cover that appeals to the people who would be interested in reading your genre of book (for example children's book would usually be bright and colorful, displaying its characters and offering a glimpse of the setting and adventure).
How to create a professional-looking book cover for your e-book and paperback book
You can get FREE professional book cover design at Bookbaby. But, if you want to create a professional-looking book cover yourself but do not want to hire somebody to do it for you, here are some useful and simple tips to keep in mind.
1) Select a photo or use stock images. You can use all-in-one platforms, such as Canva to pick out stock images and design high-quality covers.
2) Choose the best font for your cover.
3) Edit the text to make it readable and attractive.
4) Add graphics and additional designs if desired (keep in mind that your cover must be a high-resolution image with an appropriate file size).
5) Save as either JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG or PDF files as these are high quality and will retain quality when printed.
I hope these tips help you with designing an amazing cover for your next great read!
