How to design your book cover: quick guide

Decide what you want your cover to convey

When deciding on a cover for your book, you should meet the reader’s expectations for your cover as closely as feasible. Your book’s cover should make it clear to the reader what your book offers, for instance, if they are seeking for another book to read and have a preference (for instance, they enjoy stories about dragons or passionate encounters). It is clear from this approach that not everyone will enjoy your book.

Therefore, you must decide which reader demographics you want to reach. You can find information by using the categories and genres of electronic book retailers. Genre searches are how readers find their favorite books, thus authors create their book covers in accordance with these searches. This is especially true when approaching foreign markets, as we discussed in this previous post.

Select the platform and genre for your book’s publication

There may be variations in the catalogs and the genre distribution of various self-publishing websites. To specify your target market, you must decide on your main platform and the categories in which you’ll list your book. These readers visit this website and these parts in pursuit of the books they are looking for.

Study your competitors and get inspiration

You must now evaluate the bestsellers’ covers for your genre. The more thorough your study, the more obvious it will be what you show and how to present it on the cover.

Select a style

You’ll learn from your investigation that the majority of the covers in your category have a particular aesthetic. Illustrations, graphics, and photo collages may all fall under this category.

Select fonts for the cover

The name of the author and the title must be readable. Pick fonts that go well with the fashions in your category. For instance, you might see that whereas some genres love bold, straight typefaces, others choose thin, handwritten fonts.

Select a color scheme

Colors can stir up feelings. Pick a color scheme that lets the reader know what kind of book it is. For instance, whereas black and red predominate in horror literature, combinations of blue-violet and yellow may be common in fantasy books. A useful tool to get inspiration for your color palette is Color Kit’s palette generator.

Choose what will go on your cover

Additionally, cover photos differ by genre, and fashion is ever-changing. In the past, for instance, fantasy genres required that the main figure be depicted prominently with supporting characters in the background, with the setting acting as the backdrop. These days, a lot of novels are created without any representation of the characters, instead using images on the cover that represent symbols important to the plot.

Create a brief for the designer ​

You must create a brief regardless of whether you or a professional designer will be creating your cover. Make a list of all the key components of the cover that you found during your investigation.

Work on a design

You must have access to a range of design possibilities whether you work with a pro or are able to create your own cover. Make sure your concepts stay true to the brief and that you’re making a cover for readers, not for yourself.

Get valuable feedback

Friends, relatives, or writing groups are not your intended audience, so there’s no use in showing them your design. Only people who frequently purchase books in your genre should be asked for comments. Utilize their suggestions for improvement.

Following this method, you’ll design a book cover that is sure to motivate readers to open your book. Now, you’ll have to make sure the content is appealing and when it comes to international markets, that means making sure the book is properly translated. Whatever language you want your books translated into, hiring a professional translator is the safest option. We provide high quality Italian translations from English, German and Spanish and help you promote your book in Italy. If you’d like a quote, feel free to contact us.