How to design a book cover is one of the most frequently asked questions once your book is finished.
You only have to browse any social media platform frequented by writers to realize that many of the covers released achieve the opposite of their intended effect. To prevent this from happening to you, I’ve written this article.
Creating a book cover isn’t easy. It’s not difficult either. You just need to know how to do it, without making beginner mistakes.
How to make a book cover?
Designing an original and impactful book cover is important, but it’s even more essential that it fulfills its purpose. That’s the question I’ll answer in this article. If you follow these 9 tips for creating a good cover, your book will have a much easier time achieving success.
You’ll reach your target audience and feel proud of your work, as well as gain more readers. Ultimately, a cover serves this purpose, aided by a good synopsis. Anything that deviates from this objective has no place in this vertical rectangle. Let’s get started:
The impact of a book begins with its cover
It has to make an impact, in a good way, mind you! Not like a kick in the shin. Or a blow to the back of the head.
Or a finger in the eye. You already know that. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. But what you don’t know, or maybe you don’t know, is that it doesn’t have to be the mother of all colors.
Sometimes, a sober cover, in elegant tones, is more effective than a fluorescent one (yes, this adjective is accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy, believe it or not. Anyway, for a cover to make an impact, it just has to be original.
A market study of books on your topic
Take a look around Twitter, your nearest bookstores, or any website. You’ll see what the current styles are. Select the covers related to your theme, analyze them carefully, and choose those that align with all the basic requirements we’ll see below, which can be summarized in these three points:
- That they speak well of the work and the author
- With a professional finish
- Saying a lot with a little
Of all the options, choose those that best align with your goals and use them as inspiration to create your own. This market research is crucial.
Often, the author’s isolation can work against them. In this case, if there’s no budget to hire a good designer, the author has no choice but to do this research themselves.
One picture is enough
If possible, use only one image. You only have to look at Twitter to understand this:
And some magazine covers are just insane. Explicit scenes, constipated people, mouths gaping like mailboxes, legs, bucolic scenes with girls, boys, ladies, gentlemen… with their backs turned… they all have one thing in common: stock photos + a lack of professionalism.
Beware! You can do wonders with a stock photo, even a free one. What matters is the vision, but if your aesthetic sense is lacking and you’re full of poorly researched clichés, and on top of that, you’re unwilling to invest a single euro, the result is hundreds of thousands of covers that are absolutely awful.
And let it be known that perhaps, just perhaps, many people make those kinds of covers because they want to emphasize, right off the bat, that the book is rubbish and that what they’ll find inside is a series of X-rated scenes, quite literally, without rhyme or reason. I’ll accept that, but please, everyone should know what they’re doing beforehand.
Potential reader
One important factor to consider when designing your book cover is your target audience. Depending on your potential readers, you should tailor your cover accordingly, always maintaining professional standards to give it a competitive edge.
The quintessence of the book
We continue our quest for the Holy Grail: how to design a book cover. Another key point is that it should reflect the essence of the book, but not summarize it. Sometimes, even a single detail from it is enough. If your book has a short title, it can look fantastic to give it the prominence it deserves with good typography, without much else.
Calling effect
Simplicity above all. Never overdo it. The primary function of a book cover is to evoke places the reader would like to imagine. A single, consistent image that sticks in their mind is enough.
Sometimes, they already know exactly the book they’re looking for. In that case, there’s little you can do. Think of it like a casting call or a job interview; the reader has a specific type of book in mind.
So, generally, they’ll have in their hands (the prelude to purchase) those that fit that profile. But with a good cover, you might just get them to pick it up and change their mind, taking your crown jewel home. When this happens, you’ve undoubtedly got an effective cover.
Beware of subtitles
In line with the above, choose your typography carefully and never sacrifice the legibility of your title for the sake of readability of the subtitle. Ideally, no subtitle is better. Remember, simplicity is always best.
While readers obviously buy your book to read, for the cover to make an impact and fulfill its purpose, everything needs to be very quick and easy to grasp.
So, the simpler, the better. They should be able to understand what your book is about in a snap and enjoy it. It’s complicated to explain, but please, trust me. Simplicity above all else.
Search for zero readers
Once you’ve designed your cover, ask yourself if you would choose that book over others. Would it catch your eye enough to turn it over and read the synopsis, check the price, or open its pages? (Fun fact: sometimes people only read the last paragraph; I’ve been told this more than once.) It’s also a good idea to ask as many strangers as possible if they would choose it.
One trick is to post on social media with several cover ideas and your own, and let the brainstorming—or the flood of ideas—come in.
Warning: this advice is risky. You’ll have to deal with the consequences later. If people don’t like it, it will be difficult to publish the book with that cover you’re so passionate about. If they do, you’ll have to explain yourself afterward to avoid offending anyone.
What should I write on a cover page (the most important things)
I never tire of saying it, but the most important thing for your cover to always be a success is that you write well. If you’ve managed to write a good book, readers will seek out more of your novels, regardless of the cover.
Of course, this advice only applies to those who already have a loyal readership. That’s where you need to be, and, interestingly, when you get there, other factors don’t matter much.
I hope my tips for creating a good cover help you, and please let me know how it goes . Those of you who are regular readers of the blog will probably have noticed that this post was shorter and has been suspiciously lengthened. That’s right, I like to keep improving, and if I find a way to make it better or more comprehensive, I do it. So I’ve updated it.