7 Tips for Creating a Successful Book Cover
They say, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, however consumer behavior towards any product approaches positivity by its appearance. In case of a book, cover does play a major part of book sales. Publishers put immense effort, hire art professionals and editors for the perfect cover design which best represents a book. A great book cover can be a powerful tool of book marketing for self-published authors too. Self-publishing doesn’t mean your book should not have a professional finish. At the end of the day, when your product sells, you get your profits and your talent finds the light of day.
Here are 7 important tips you should consider while designing the cover of your book-
1. Keep The Genre and Main Idea in Mind– Just like an insurance company cannot bear the name ‘Pizza Hut’ with the logo of cheese slice, so also your book cover cannot flaunt something absolutely alien to the concept of your book. The book cover should be representative of the genre of the book and the main concept. Like thrillers or murder mysteries often have drops of blood or a pistol painted on the book cover, so that the reader has an idea about the content.
2. Be Thoughtful on the Color Scheme– Colors can tell many stories. Emotions, ideas, and thoughts that cannot be depicted with words are often represented with colors. The cover of your book should have the right color schemes. If love, passion or anger are depicted in red, soft pastel shades can represent joy or morose. But again, the book cover can also be blank, white with just a single image or no image at all, like in the book Sapienswhich is white with a single thumb imprint on the front cover. Such a conceptual color scheme can actually convey more than many descriptions. Also, it is imperative to choose the right color fill for the Title of the book, author name, publisher name etc. Color contrasts make sure that your book is easily noticed and found on a shelf with multitudes of other titles.
3. Work on the Blurb– This is usually the first part of your book a reader will go through. The blurb appears at the back cover of your book. Book marketing for self-published authors can get especially difficult, however, when you are thoughtful on your blurb, you can easily cater to a lot of audience with similar interest. The blurb can be a short and precise summary of your book, or it can convey the main idea, or you may include some dialogues in the blurb from your book, which will raise curiosity in the mind of readers about reading on. For e.g. “Sharmila wasn’t aware about the darkness that was hidden beyond the dark night. She jumped out of her red Mercedes quickly covering her face. She carried an umbrella to avoid the howling droplets from cutting her skin. With careful observation she slowly and stealthily moved up the pavement steps to knock at the door and what is this! Who has brought back the days of rags in front of her?…..” Such a blurb does not reveal much about the story line of your book, but definitely points out something adventurous, unknown, from the past and such phrases which are likely to make a reader intrigued; the reader might be excited to know who is Sharmila or what did she see in front of her/who opened the door etc. are questions that your blurb raise.
4. Keep It Sleek and Simple– Some times, less is more. If your cover is too crowded with images, graphics, writings, words or letters, the reader might just be too overwhelmed. Juxtaposed objects on the cover can distract people; it is not even too appealing aesthetically. Again, you have to remember, a product which does not appear good is less likely to be bought, because before buying, audience is not aware of your story or anything else inside the book.
5. Make it Striking– Even though your book cover should represent your genre, you know your book is unique, stand out from a crowd, with a central image which nobody can expect from another book of the genre.
6. Less Can be Too Less at Times– Don’t let that happen. True, you must not overcrowd the cover. But a single striking image without any associated ideas can just leave readers confused than convinced. So, you may need to develop a provocative subtitle or buzz words to compliment your thoughtful cover image.
7. Hire Professionals, Spend on Arts– Self publishing doesn’t have to mean that you are on your own all the time. Book cover is especially important for book marketing for self-published authors and they should take it seriously. A Tale of Two Cities wouldn’t have been appealing to a youngster if it wasn’t for the detailed illustrations depicting the cities, markets and people of Dicken’s world in the abridged versions. It depends on the type of your novel or literary fiction, whether or not your work requires illustrations. For e.g. if your book begins with some historic account of a country or place, you may have to illustrate it through a map of that place. Similarly, if your book is for children or youngsters, you may have to use cartoons or illustrated drawings representing the characters of the book on the cover. It may not be always up to the mark, by yourself. Pay for professionals who do this work on a digital platform; it will pay you back.
Book cover is an interesting but often perplexing work for an author or publisher. Everybody who is creative with writing may not necessarily be creative with artistic displays. It is essential to invest on designers and artists who can prepare a thought-provoking cover for your book. A book is indeed judged by its cover, before it reaches the bookshelves in shops and library, before it is bought and before it is read. So do not hesitate to make your book the unique piece of art that you deserve.
Great insight. Thanks for sharing.
Great insight. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for taking time to read our blog.