Did you know that book cover design is "packaging?"
Whatever your genre, your book's packaging needs to say, "Look at me. Pick me up. Buy me now!"
And you don't get much time to communicate this to your book buyer.
In fact, the following quote was printed in the The Wall Street Journal:
"The average bookstore browser who picks up a book spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds reading the back."
Quality book cover design attracts potential readers faster than any other element, regardless of who you are or what you've written about. Royalty publishing houses and established authors all know a creative cover beckons to their devoted fans while also attracting new readers.
Self-published authors have learned, sometimes painfully, that an amateurish jacket often signals unimportant work inside--and never even gets picked up.
You can't tell -- but you can sell -- a book by its cover.
What are the elements of a professional-looking book cover?
-- Using bold graphics and colors
-- Showcasing striking photos or illustrations (from stock photos or hiring an illustrator or photographer to create a custom image)
-- Integrating the symbolic use of images and color
-- Providing contrast with shapes, colors, or images
-- Using appropriate images for the subject matter
-- Branding the personality of the book through texture, mood, and style of graphics and type
-- Creating simple, elegant designs without clutter
What goes on the front cover?
The front cover presents your book title, subtitle, and name. A golden opportunity often overlooked is listing a few short endorsements or testimonials from VIPs.
What types of graphics and lettering work best?
I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the front cover. When choosing colors, consider how these colors will look when converted to black and white so your cover will reproduce well in black-and-white ads, catalogs, and flyers. Also make sure the font you use for the title is legible from a distance and appropriate for the book's subject.
What goes on the spine?
Your name, book title, and publishing company logo show up on the spine. Make sure the information on the spine is clean, uncluttered, and legible. I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the spine as well.
What goes on the back cover?
Place the category name of your book in the upper left-hand corner to help bookstores shelve your book properly. Write a headline that clearly addresses who should buy the book. Follow it with sales copy explaining what the book is about and bulleted items listing its benefits to readers.
I recommend including no more than three testimonials and endorsements, as well as your bio and photograph. Close to the bottom, put "sales-closer" copy in bold print. Position the price in the lower left corner of the back cover. Also include the ISBN number for cataloging and the bar code in the lower right corner (below ISBN number), which bookstores use for scanning information and price.
Don't forget to include credits for your book cover's illustrator, photographer, and/or designer.
If your book is a hard cover with a dust jacket, you may include the following on the inside flaps:
-- Sales copy
-- Short "teaser" description of the book
-- Your bio and photo
Covers that scream "amateur" and have a made-at-home look make it difficult to sell your book at all. If you lack talent in this area, seek the services of an experienced book cover designer. A professional designer has the creativity, skills, high-end page layout software, and printing knowledge that will make your cover stand out above others in the marketplace.
Remember, book cover design is a form of packaging -- and good packaging attracts buyers to products. That's why successful organizations spend millions researching and developing the best product packaging possible.
======================================...
Karen Saunders, MacGraphics Services
"Where your ideas become distinctive designs"
I have put hundreds of tips collected from my 25 years of design experience--into a book called Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily create powerful graphic designs and persuasive writing for marketing materials, branding, advertising and sales promotions. By having this quick reference at your fingertips, you cut short your technical learning curve and avoid costly mistakes.
Whatever your genre, your book's packaging needs to say, "Look at me. Pick me up. Buy me now!"
And you don't get much time to communicate this to your book buyer.
In fact, the following quote was printed in the The Wall Street Journal:
"The average bookstore browser who picks up a book spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds reading the back."
Quality book cover design attracts potential readers faster than any other element, regardless of who you are or what you've written about. Royalty publishing houses and established authors all know a creative cover beckons to their devoted fans while also attracting new readers.
Self-published authors have learned, sometimes painfully, that an amateurish jacket often signals unimportant work inside--and never even gets picked up.
You can't tell -- but you can sell -- a book by its cover.
What are the elements of a professional-looking book cover?
-- Using bold graphics and colors
-- Showcasing striking photos or illustrations (from stock photos or hiring an illustrator or photographer to create a custom image)
-- Integrating the symbolic use of images and color
-- Providing contrast with shapes, colors, or images
-- Using appropriate images for the subject matter
-- Branding the personality of the book through texture, mood, and style of graphics and type
-- Creating simple, elegant designs without clutter
What goes on the front cover?
The front cover presents your book title, subtitle, and name. A golden opportunity often overlooked is listing a few short endorsements or testimonials from VIPs.
What types of graphics and lettering work best?
I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the front cover. When choosing colors, consider how these colors will look when converted to black and white so your cover will reproduce well in black-and-white ads, catalogs, and flyers. Also make sure the font you use for the title is legible from a distance and appropriate for the book's subject.
What goes on the spine?
Your name, book title, and publishing company logo show up on the spine. Make sure the information on the spine is clean, uncluttered, and legible. I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the spine as well.
What goes on the back cover?
Place the category name of your book in the upper left-hand corner to help bookstores shelve your book properly. Write a headline that clearly addresses who should buy the book. Follow it with sales copy explaining what the book is about and bulleted items listing its benefits to readers.
I recommend including no more than three testimonials and endorsements, as well as your bio and photograph. Close to the bottom, put "sales-closer" copy in bold print. Position the price in the lower left corner of the back cover. Also include the ISBN number for cataloging and the bar code in the lower right corner (below ISBN number), which bookstores use for scanning information and price.
Don't forget to include credits for your book cover's illustrator, photographer, and/or designer.
If your book is a hard cover with a dust jacket, you may include the following on the inside flaps:
-- Sales copy
-- Short "teaser" description of the book
-- Your bio and photo
Covers that scream "amateur" and have a made-at-home look make it difficult to sell your book at all. If you lack talent in this area, seek the services of an experienced book cover designer. A professional designer has the creativity, skills, high-end page layout software, and printing knowledge that will make your cover stand out above others in the marketplace.
Remember, book cover design is a form of packaging -- and good packaging attracts buyers to products. That's why successful organizations spend millions researching and developing the best product packaging possible.
======================================...
Karen Saunders, MacGraphics Services
"Where your ideas become distinctive designs"
I have put hundreds of tips collected from my 25 years of design experience--into a book called Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily create powerful graphic designs and persuasive writing for marketing materials, branding, advertising and sales promotions. By having this quick reference at your fingertips, you cut short your technical learning curve and avoid costly mistakes.
Source:
Create Professional-looking & Eye-catching Book Covers