The cover of a book is the first thing a reader sees, and it’s often the only thing that gets talked about in reviews. It needs to stand out. It needs to be eye-catching and clear enough that someone can identify it at a glance on Amazon or in Barnes & Noble.
A great cover will make your book memorable, but as an indie author, you may not have access to top designers or even know how to create one yourself. Luckily there are ways around this—and we’ve got them! Here are ten essential elements every book cover should have:
Contents
Cover Copy
Cover copy is the first line of text that appears on your cover. It’s essentially a teaser for what lies within and can be used to draw readers in.
You may be tempted or drawn to simply write “by [author name]” or “[author name]’s latest work!” as your book’s copy or document, but this is not ideal: it comes off as generic and uninteresting or dull. Instead, focus on creating a personal connection with readers by using something like “[author name] has brought you an incredible journey through time in this unforgettable story…”
Be sure to include keywords that relate specifically to the content inside the book (so if it’s about how much coffee you drink every day, make sure those words are included). This will help potential customers find yours among all of the other options available.
Title
You should include the title on your cover. It is the most visible element of a book cover, and it should be clear and concise. If you have trouble coming up with a title for your book or if you’re not sure about it, ask others for feedback. Your title should be consistent with the title of your book—for example, if the title is “The 100 Best Ways to Cook Spaghetti,” don’t put “How to Cook Spaghetti” on your cover.
Image
The image on your book’s cover is the next thing readers will see, so it needs to grab their attention. It should also be relevant to your book’s content, but don’t just slap a stock photo of a girl in a tank top reading on the cover of your mystery novel about a serial killer. Make sure the image you use is high quality and in focus—if it doesn’t look good, no one will want to buy it!
The size of the image should be appropriate for its placement on the cover: if you’re using photos from inside your book, make sure they aren’t too small (the reader won’t know what they’re supposed to be looking at). If you’re creating an illustration or graphic yourself rather than using an existing photo, make sure that it looks good when scaled down into thumbnail size—you want people who see this thumbnail preview on Amazon or Goodreads before deciding whether or not they want to buy/read your book!
Your spine business logo design may already call for images that are larger than those used elsewhere; these images should also match up with their counterparts from other sides so everything flows together seamlessly when flipped over onto its backside during browsing sessions without making any sudden jumps between pages where content suddenly changes drastically due to changes in page orientation (e.g., going from landscape mode into portrait mode).
Author’s Name
It’s important to consider the author’s name when designing your cover, as it should be an integral part of the overall design. Here are a few tips for how to make sure your author name is displayed on the book cover in a way that looks good and works well:
- Your author name should be easy to read, so make sure it’s large enough. You don’t want your reader squinting or getting a headache trying to figure out who wrote this book!
- Make sure that wherever you choose to place your author’s name (on top of or below the title) matches both font styles and sizes with other elements like subtitle(s) and series titles.
- Use a serif font if you choose an ornate typeface such as Times New Roman or Garamond; use sans-serif typefaces such as Arial or Calibri if you prefer more simplistic designs.
Spine and Back Cover
Another thing to consider is the spine of your book. The spine is that part of your cover that runs along the edge of all four sides, at the top and bottom, and connects them together. It’s what makes up a book’s backbone (pun intended).
The spine should be attractive, easy to read and also easy to read from across a room. The title should be clear so that anyone can tell what it is from far away on a library shelf or Amazon listing.
Colors
There are many different colours that you can use. You might choose to use one of your favourite colours, or one that you feel represents the content of your book. Perhaps you’re writing a book with a historical setting, so it would make sense to choose colours that are relevant to this period. Don’t forget: there are colour schemes which work well together and ones which don’t work at all! Here are 2 general rules for using colour on your book cover design:
- Use an appropriate colour scheme for the genre of your book – e.g., romance novels tend to have bright red covers
- Make sure the colours complement each other – if you place two contrasting shades next to each other (e.g., blue and pink), they will clash instead of looking harmonious
In addition, a business logo and book covers should always be designed with a clear purpose in mind. For example, if your business is selling a particular kind of product, it’s best to choose colours that are relevant to this product (e.g., green for eco-friendly).
Cover Synopsis
A cover synopsis is a short summary of your book. This might be a few sentences or a few paragraphs, but it’s important to include this because it can be used by readers to decide whether they want to buy your book or not.
A good cover synopsis will summarize the main plot points and themes in your story, as well as introduce any key characters who appear throughout the course of events. It should also focus on what makes your story unique—its setting, theme(s), and tone will help potential readers determine how interesting it might be for them personally before they ever begin reading!
Keywords
Keywords are used to help someone find your book. Using keywords in the title and subtitle, as well as the description, helps people find your book on Google, Amazon and other platforms like Goodreads and Shelfari.
Your keywords should be relevant to the genre of your book: if you have a science fiction novel set on Mars, you may want to use “Mars”, “science fiction” or “space travel” as some of your keywords.
Tagline or Snippet of Praise
If you’re like most authors, you will want to include a tagline or a snippet of praise on your book cover. A tagline is a short catchy phrase that sums up what your book is about. It can be an interesting quote from someone else or something that describes how you feel about the subject matter.
A snip of praise is usually taken from another author talking about how great your book is and why they think it’s worth reading. These quotes are often included in marketing campaigns because they make people wonder if this book has received critical acclaim by other writers they respect.
Barcode (ISBN) & QR code
A barcode is a unique number that identifies your book. Your publisher will provide you with an ISBN, and it’s important to include this on the cover so that retailers and libraries can easily identify your book.
A QR code is a machine-readable code that links to a website or online content, including information about your book. You may want to consider putting one on the back of your cover as an easy way for people who don’t know what an ISBN looks like (or how long it is) to find more information about your work from their smartphones.
Final words
If you’re like us and have spent countless hours poring over blogs, articles, and other resources on book cover design, it can be difficult to remember all the elements that go into making a good one. The best thing we can recommend is keeping it simple!
Start by choosing one color scheme for your cover (maybe two), then choose a few fonts that work well together. Don’t try to cram too much information onto your book cover—you want potential readers to be drawn in by what they see first (or second). Finally, don’t forget about things like spine text and back cover copy: They’re just as important as what goes inside!
Remember, the company logo is not part of the book cover design. It’s a separate element that you can use to brand your book and promote future sales. And, the Designhill logo design tool is the best way to create a logo for your book. They have hundreds of professional designers at their disposal, so you’ll get high-quality designs from them every time. Just add your design brief and let them do their magic!
