14 tips for book cover design

Jan 09, 2012 since we started the monthly ebook cover design awards ive judged hundreds of ebook covers. If your book stands a chance at succeeding, its design has to match or, if possible, exceed what the. Whitespace doesnt have to be white, it is just visual silence and if used wisely it can add visual appeal to your book cover. Best for when you want to work with a single designer only. Book cover design really matters and it affects our decisionmaking process when we would buy a book.

Book cover design is a complex balance of images, text, and information and you need someone who understands how each of these elements interacts with the others to best sell your book. Top tips, help and thoughts on how to design a good kindle book cover. Book cover design tips that will make you more sales. Designing a book cover is like encapsulating the entire story or content of the book into a single page.

Thanks to all the authors who entered our book cover of the month competition in september. Top 8 cover design tips for selfpublishers weve all seen them. It should summarize the content of the book in the best possible manner. I hired a designer who i discovered via your ebook cover design awards. The objective of cover design is not just to make book covers that you can submit to createspace or another selfpublishing company. When we buy books out of whim, it could be for two reasons. At the end of 20 i put out a package of diy book cover templates in microsoft word and revolutionized publishing with a howto guide to designing amazing book covers in an easy to use program youre already familiar with. How to commission a cover design for a book 17 easy tips. Dec 09, 2012 cover creator is our custom designed book cover creation software is a dream to use and produces professional looking book covers in just minutes using amazing pushbutton technology and requires. A professionally designed cover will instantly and attractively convey the essence of what your book is about. Joanna penn also explains in this post how you can use word to create a book cover.

Typography in cover design rules, tips and tricks presented by fred showker as part of judging the wiley design challenge. First of all, lets revisit my own strategy for choosing book titles. A designer who specializes in book jackets understands how readers respond to layout and typography. If you have limited time, you can ask them to create one cover during. Now we focus on the layout and type design for covers dtg magazine design department dtg magazine, the original design zine since 1990. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. If you want your book to standout and gain traction, i believe it is essential that you hire a graphic designer with at least some experience in book design to craft your books cover. Here are some book cover design tips, tricks and design rules that are universal, meaning they are tried and tested techniques and guidelines that work on a large variation of book covers. Brainstorm cover design tell each student that they will be responsible for creating three alternative covers for their book. Heres a quick look at some of tips that might come in handy for you to create some amazing ebook covers.

The 3in1 book cover trick with adobe indesign cc 2018. This tutorial shows you how to make a full cover for a print book in just one file, using indesign cc creative cloud 2018. The goal is design that improves the overall experience of your book and increases book sales. Its by the cover that the readers are first attracted. Aug 14, 2014 now, of course, the strategy that i use to generate book titles will not necessarily work for someone writing a fiction book or novel. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. The cover is the first thing your reader sees, and gives the first impression of what your book is about and how interesting it will be to read. Book cover design secrets you can use to sell more books. And the theme of the design should depend on the title of the book.

If your client does not yet have a barcode, you can reserve a 2 x 1. And needless to say, getting that cover right can make a huge difference to sales. A great book cover design, at its most basic level, is something that will help readers take you and your book seriously. Designing book covers few people think about the way book covers come into life, and most think you just call an artist and say make a book cover. This is a great tutorial for beginners to indesign looking to learn more about book cover design and publishing design.

This will allow you to visualise the arrangement of type and images, and judge how well elements are centered on the page. To get the official isbn barcode, you will need to contact your client. Humble nations kindle ebook premade book cover design. For that reason i have dedicated a section to choosing book titles for books in those genres. Book cover design tips that will make you more sales logo.

May 26, 2014 joel, i am new to book design and am getting so much out of your blog posts and e book cover award comments. Key elements of a professional book cover design it takes just a few vital seconds for an editor or reader to decide whether your selfpublished book is worth reading or not, so the design of the book cover is incredibly important. Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Sep 27, 2018 this tutorial shows you how to make a full cover for a print book in just one file, using indesign cc creative cloud 2018. Now, of course, the strategy that i use to generate book titles will not necessarily work for someone writing a fiction book or novel. Book cover design rules, tips and tricks presented by fred showker as part of judging the wiley design challenge. A successfully designed book cover will convey the tone of your book, will whisper hints without giving it all away, and will excite readers into actually opening up the book and reading. Apr 14, 2008 book covers are hard to design and nice to look at.

He changed his book cover design for the first book in his threepart seriesand his sales of all three books tripled. Excellent book covers and paperbacks smashing magazine. How to design a classic book cover with a modern twist. Knowing absolutely nothing about art or cover design, i bought this book to discover how to choose a design for my own books. In addition, it is important for the ebook cover to have all the text and pictures perfectly places, so that it appears great. A couple of years ago, martin lakes book sales were dismal. So here they are, my guidelines for how to succeed at this important publishing task. Cover creator is our custom designed book cover creation software is a dream to use and produces professional looking book covers in just minutes using amazing pushbutton technology and requires. Book cover design tips a book is judged by its cover. But it took me a while longer to figure out how to customize your front cover into a full print cover for createspace or other pod providers. I used canva to design a book cover for one of my selfpublished short stories. How to become a book cover designer creativindie book cover. Here youll see some outstanding photoshop work but are they good book cover designs. Online retailers like amazon do not distinguish between traditional and selfpublished books which means independent authors are often competing again big 5 publishers.

This is a critique and a tutorial to teach and illustrate good cover design rules dtg magazine design department dtg magazine, the original design zine since 1990. If you insist on designing a book cover yourself, canva provides free draganddrop templates. See more ideas about book cover design, book design and cover design. Since we started the monthly ebook cover design awards ive judged hundreds of ebook covers. If you need help, make sure to download my free guide. Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Getting the right tone for the books subject is essential. First, i selected a canva template and then i uploaded a stock image. We launched an ebook earlier this year and are now in the process of designing the print book and its cover. Dec 02, 2015 if you want to start book cover design watch all the videos on. Jeff brown graphics scifi and fantasy book cover design. With kdp, you can design a paperback or an ebook cover or both. If you want to start book cover design watch all the videos on. Top 5 tips to design an effective ebook cover designbeep.

Despite the proverb, people really do judge a book by its cover. It was great to see so many authors creating professional covers using the completelynovel cover creator. Our knowledgeable team has years of experience in print design in a wide variety of genres. Show me your vision, be it written, verbal, or handdrawn, and then lets work. Book cover design design a creative book cover online. Book cover design book cover designs online designhill. If your book stands a chance at succeeding, its design has to match or, if possible. Wolfsparrow covers premade and customer book cover design. The book cover shop book covers that fit your book and story. No need for three separate files front cover, back cover, spine. Lets look and learn from 50 fascinating book cover designs. I offer custom, original, book cover designs at reasonable rates.

No matter how many times your grandma tells you otherwise, people do judge books by their covers. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. We also received some great cover design tips from authors, that were too useful to keep hidden in our inbox. And its an easy way to be sure youre getting something that fits all their specifications. See more ideas about cool books, book cover design, book design. How to become a book cover designer creativindie book. As a selfpublished author, he was selling just 15 books per month. So you can fit the art over the template, leave the white space as is, save as pdf and it will still work just fine. Ive helped design over book covers, including hundreds of bestsellers download my free book to learn all the insider secrets i use to sell more books. This tutorial shows you how to create a book cover for print, but if youre looking for a template to help transform your book cover into an ebookfriendly version, discover these epublishing templates on envato market. Well, martin didnt just accept those sales and move on. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer.