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New Self-Publisher’s FAQ
Basics of Cover Design
You
know a good cover when you see it—but as you’ll shortly discover, it’s
not so easy to accomplish.
In this increasingly visual age, where few have the time to look beyond
the facade, you need to have a killer cover that screams “professional”
and “interesting” and “worth your time and hard-earned cash!”
That immediately eliminates any line-drawn illustration. Sketches and
etchings were nice for 19th century books, but they don’t make it in the
21st. Be careful about a 2-color cover
as well. Often, they just come out looking
poor.
If you want a fully illustrated cover (4 colors), be aware that these
fronts tell booksellers that it’s for children and young adults (YA).
For tips on what the market expects, go to your local bookstore and look
at all your competition. What’s everyone else doing?
[Please see the bottom of the
page for a discussion of this cover design.]
“Clip art” that came with your computer isn’t going to make a good
cover, no matter how many times you neighbor tells you it looks nice.
You need to have a good, professional-looking design. In all likelihood,
that means that
you need a professional cover designer. Yes, it will cost money. If you
don’t spend the bucks to get a good-looking
cover, you might just as
well not publish. However, if you have a background in art, graphics or
design, you should learn how to put together a cover in the book design
software Quark or InDesign
yourself. Especially if you plan on doing more than just one book.
You must think like a businessperson. Although writing the book is an
art, getting the boxes of books out of your garage is strictly
business... and everything about the book package is about business.
(Please see our page about creating
Marketing Plans.)
Make sure your image is the idea of the book distilled down to it’s
essence. It helps to have your cover designer read the book. A different
perspective is helpful. Listen carefully to their ideas. You may learn
something about your own book!
The font for the
title and author’s name should be the same—and
it should be the same as the title page inside the book. One of
Barnes
and Noble’s Small Press Department’s first “triage” steps for an
incoming evaluation is to check for a different font on the title page
than the cover. Choose a sans-serif font (without the little
curlicues)—you want to be able to read the title from ten feet away, or
on a thumbnail-sized picture on the internet (which should suggest to
you that shorter titles are better).
Here’s an aside: my first book, I chose a very period-looking font for
my cover, because it’s an historical novel. Not only can’t you read it
from across the room or on the internet, to this day, librarians have my
name spelled wrong, because it looks wrong on the cover. Since the ‘d’
got squished in the font, “Simonds” looks like “Simonas.” Uhg!
Make
sure the back cover matter (“blurbs” from enthusiastic early readers or
professionals in the field,
reviews of previous books, the synopsis, an
author bio, and
author picture) is in black type on a very light background.
Often a “text box” is used; a lighter box transposed over the overall
background for the cover. This is the most readable format. You can use
white type on a very dark background, but older (over forty) readers
will find this a bit of a challenge. Define your audience!
Always proofread everything! The worst thing you can do is put out a
book with misspellings on the cover. Have friends proof it, too. Don’t
depend on your cover designer; they can miss things. They are visually
oriented—not word oriented!
Unless the book has been reviewed by the likes of Stephen King or any of
those other “big name” authors, resist the temptation to put your best
blurb on the front. Don’t clutter the front with un-necessary text. Just
the cover image, title and your name are sufficient. Let the sales job
happen on the back cover.
[Please see the bottom of the
page for a discussion of this cover design.]
The spine should NOT have any recommendations on it (“Read this book!”
or some such). That just screams amateur. When lain on it’s side, cover
facing up, the spine should show the title and author’s name in letters
running from left to right, top to bottom. In some cases, the title can
read across the spine (if it’s a thicker book). Few, such as Dan Poynter’s
The Self Publishing Manual, run the lettering
from top to bottom “stacked.” It works for Dan, I’d advise you to skip
that. The publishing company’s name or
logo goes at the bottom across
the spine. Never omit this as it tips off booksellers that this is
self-published!
This is a very short primer on cover design and there’s LOTS more to
know. Hiring a professional designer and/or a
book-packaging consultant
can give your book a compelling “pick me up!” appeal that will lead to
sales!
Creative Minds Press would be
delighted to design your cover!
Return to Self-Publishing FAQ "How to
Make a Book: The Exterior" page
The first example, Washoe Seasons of Life, is an illustrated children's book about the American Indian tribe native to the Lake Tahoe region. The cover (a beautiful painting of Emerald Bay) is used in the book. While lovely and just perfect for a page with a fair amount of text, it was a little on the dull side for a cover. The eagle--which appears in another illustration in the book--was lifted and digitally placed in the cover illustration. Now the cover had extra interest and movement. When the painter saw it, she immediately loved the addition. This cover is done both as a dust jacket and book cover, since it was intended for the library and school market.
The second example, Women in Shadow and Light, is a book of black and white art photographs celebrating women who have healed from all types of abuse. To the photos, duotone, a process that added a third color (a gray-brown) to deepen the contrasts in the photos. While earlier we warned against two-color covers, in this case, a color cover would have been inappropriate. The cover photo was originally used as the advertisement for the photo exhibit that launched the book. To add some "pizzazz" to the cover, the title and, author and foreword author were done in dull gold foil, a separate process that adds a bit extra to the cost, but is worth it. Note that the foreword author, Iyanla Vanzant, since she is very well known, was included on the cover. This cover is done both as a dust jacket and book cover, since it was intended for the library market as well as the art market.
Creative Minds Press would be
delighted to design your cover!
Return to Self-Publishing FAQ "How to
Make a Book: The Exterior" page
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