It goes without saying that a book cover plays a very important part in how your book is received. Yet many authors, especially those who self-publish and have a role to play in the design of the book cover, consider it an inconvenience that comes in the way of getting their book out into the market. Given the freedom to do so, many would use freely available templates or images downloaed from the net and slap it onto the cover. Nothing could be more harmful to the success of your book than such a hastily (and badly) designed cover.
Here is a quick checklist to consider while designing your cover:
a. Stick to one element: Choose an element (or feature) of your book that is perhaps its best selling proposition. Resist the temptation to include everything within the cover. Usually, with covers, less is more.
b. Design for the full cover: Cover designers sometimes forget that a cover is made of the front cover, back cover, and spine (and the flaps, if those exist). The cover should therefore be designed in toto. A cover whose front and back look distinctly different does not sit well with many buyers, and conveys an impression of bad design.
c. Design for the genre: The book cover should convey the genre of the book, to the extent possible. Using a good mix of typography and imagery, an accurate metaphor of the book (and its genre) must be conveyed.
d. Pay attention to the spine: On many bookshelves, it is the spine that holds out so pay attention to what you include in it. At the least, try to incorporate the author and title. You should be able to read the title left to right when the book sits on its back cover (with the front cover pointing upwards). Like we mentioned above, unless you have good reason, the spine should blend with the rest of the cover.
e. Do not crowd out the back cover: Use the space on the back cover to include a synopsis of the book, a small bio, perhaps, of the author, even some blurbs from people who are easily recognized (or provide an introductory line from them). However, you should resist the temptation to include too much text. Adequate space should be left for the publisher’s logo, the barcode and the price.
f. Pay attention to bleed and type safety: This ensures that sections of the cover that you wish to retain do not get cut off during the trimming process (while the cover is made).’
g. Typographic covers can leave a lasting impact too: While most designers are tempted to use only images for their covers, a good typographic design can have an equally powerful impact.
Here are a few of the covers we have designed:
The Vanishing Stripes
Check out the Book Cover Archive for good ideas on how to develop a book cover. Or read this article for a deeper understanding of book cover design.
Here are other examples of book covers on Flickr and Pinterest.