You glance across a crowded room and lock eyes. You are inspired, beguiled. Suddenly, “love-at-first-sight” makes sense and you feel the spark of a love affair blossoming with . . . the BOOK of your dreams?…

Ok, that might be taking the metaphor a bit too far, but work with me on this. The ultimate goal of your book’s cover is to grab your readers’ attention and tell them in an instant, “Take me HOME, I’m just what you need! Pay no attention to all those other books, I’m the one!”

Think of it like your favorite little black dress that shows off your curves, and accentuates your . . . assets.

Let’s face it, there are really only two reasons to write a book:

1. To say you did, and
2. To sell it.

Unless you only wrote your book so your grandmother could read it, and your target audience is your crazy cousin Emma, Auntie Eileen, and Uncle George, the cover does matter. Let me say that again, in case you missed it in all the humor: If you want to sell your book, your cover DOES matter, a LOT.

So, let’s assume you wrote your book to actually sell a few copies. The key then is that you must:

Treat your writing as a business,

your book as a product

and the cover as its packaging. 

The cover is your most important marketing tool, and as such, must be properly packaged to be visually appealing to your target market.

A successfully designed book cover, like that little black dress, will give hints about its content, convey the tone of your book, and entice readers into actually picking up your product to read your meticulously written and diligently edited words. Metaphorically, you’ve just been asked out for a first date. Only then can your inner beauty be discovered.

Let’s have a look at some examples and see what they tell you about what’s under the covers . . . (Ok, I’ll stop.)

Ponder on this cover package for a moment.

What does the color story tell you about what’s inside? It’s fresh, clean, green grass, blue sky. How does it make you feel? Cheerful, hopeful?

What’s under the cover, you ask? A letter from Pope Francis about caring for our common home, Earth.

The cover I created for the Pope’s Encyclical Letter is designed to make you think about our environment, ecology, and children’s future. The fresh greens, calming blues, and flesh tones are used intentionally to evoke a feeling of newness and concepts of youth, growth, and springtime rebirth.

 

 

 

 

What about these next two? How do they make you feel?

The color red in both of these images tells us they might be about death, but the fonts also tell us a story too. Notice that the bold modern font on The End Of Snow tells us that the story is based in modern day. If you zoom in close, you’ll also notice the texture of the font feels like a blizzard.

With Rebel Nation, we can surmise from the font that it has something to do with history. The rebel flag also gives a historical clue, but why is there a modern day rifle site? Hmmm, intriguing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the case of these next two, the softer font tells us this is a more feminine story. But what else can we discover about these two? Do they belong together? What clues tell you this?

With a sequel, it’s important to have consistency in the overall look and feel from one book to the next so your readers (or searchers) will know these stories belong together. This is known as “branding.” Typically, the color story will likely match and text treatment is usually similar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the repeating elements. The spherical object at the top of the design space, the light source just below, the city-scape in the foreground, and the similar text treatment. All these elements let us know that these are part of a sequel.

Another important thing to note is that there should be a strong contrast between the text and the image behind so that your words are legible.

And, you should always keep in mind that the cover will be displayed on digital browsers at a thumbnail size, so it is important the elements are minimal. Including every detail from your story only serves to make your cover busy and confusing and gives away too much, too soon. Remember our little black dress and keep it simple and classic.

One final little tid bit of advice I always give new authors is, if you are beginning to write a book, start saving from day one so that when it’s complete, you’ll have a tidy little nest egg to invest in what it takes to make your product look professional.

Because it matters. A lot.

 

Tamian Wood, winner of numerous print and cover design awards, uses art, photography, typography, and digital collage techniques to create book covers that sell. She works with several publishers and a growing number of indie authors. Tamian’s most famous client to date is Pope Francis, whose Encyclical Letter won first place for cover design. With over 25 years in the design trenches, she is also a partner member in good standing with the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and a co-judge for a monthly cover design contest at Discovering Diamonds Historical Fiction Review site. Tamian has a weekly featured post (Critique Corner) at the Writers of Non-Fiction Facebook group. And she is the director of the LinkedIn group, Authors’ Resource. Tamian holds degrees in computer science and graphic design technology and is a proud member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honour Society.

Over the years, I’ve collected a few tips to help navigate the troubled waters of finding and working with a book designer. The tips below are generally about cover design, but the same holds true for book interiors.

 Tip # 1: Know your genre and target audience

Research what is available for sale in your genre with the big publishing houses. Don’t skip this step, no matter how boring it might be.

These will be your competition, so you’ll want to have a cover that’s on par. Publishers like Harper Collins, Hay House, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin all have marketing specialists on staff. They generally know what sells and how to reach your target market.

Use this information to your advantage when searching for the designer that will help you create a cover that will attract your readers. This may seem like a silly place to start, but the more you know, the better you’ll be at discerning good design from bad.

 

Tip # 2: Research your cover designer’s style

Look for designers whose style closely matches the books you are seeing in your research from Tip #1. Do you need an illustrator? Are the images hand drawn or photo compilations?

I mention this because sometimes an illustrator is absolutely the only way to go (especially for children’s books). The downside: they tend to be a good bit more expensive, so you’ll want to start saving early. Photo compilers, such as myself, are generally a bit more affordable.

You’ll want to pay attention to details like the fonts they use and the way they present their titles. Are their covers generally busy and hard to read? (If so, RUN, run fast! And find someone else.)

 

Tip #3: Get a personal recommendation

You are never going to see a bad testimonial on a designer’s website. If you ask the designer for references, they will never give you the contact info for a client that didn’t work out.

Consider the kinds of things you can only know from a personal recommendation: Is this designer reliable? Do they have experience? Do they listen to your ideas/needs? Are they pleasant to work with, or do they make you feel like you’re bothering them? Are they deadline oriented? Are they prompt in responding to your correspondence?

And, most importantly, do they produce works in your specific genre that will compete well with traditionally published works? (If you are unsure of the answer to this last question, as many new authors are, be sure to run any potential designer portfolios by someone in the publishing industry, to get a professional opinion about their skills.) These are things you can only find out from someone who has worked with a designer directly, not from reading info on their website.

 

Tip #4: Don’t let $$ be everything

I recommend that you do not make price your only deciding factor for your most important marketing tool. Budget is important, no doubt. Most indie authors have to consider costs. That’s a given. But you want a quality cover, and a good designer is going to cost more.

We have more experience — years in the trenches — and more often than not, that experience shows. Start saving early so you can afford the best designer possible.

 

Tip #5: Get a contract

It’s always best to get a contract. This way you’ll see, in writing, exactly what is expected of you and your designer. It should cover things like: How many design concepts are included? How many revisions are included? If you go over that number of revisions, what is the additional cost? What is the expected timeline for deliverables? How long do you have to review the deliverables? Is a deposit required? What forms of payment are acceptable? Are there any additional fees or expenses?

 

Tip #6: Share your vision

If you followed through with Tip #1 about researching your genre, you should now have a good idea what’s out on the market. So, how is your story unique? What is your vision for the cover? Be sure to share your vision with your designer.

There is one caveat to this tip, and that is to be sure to listen to your designer’s advice. Assuming you’ve chosen a good designer, with lots of experience, if your designer is telling you it’s probably not a good idea to include the spinning cat, taco truck, tanning salon, AND the angels with swords, your designer probably knows what they are talking about.

 

Tip #7: Be clear and decisive

Phrases like “I want it to POP!,” “It needs to be more dynamic!” or “I’m not sure, but I’ll know it when I see it.” are all extremely unhelpful to your designer. Many of us are, for the most part, wizards at what we do, but mind reading isn’t in our skill set. Knowing and expressing exactly what you want will save you time, money, and aggravation in the long run.

 

Tip #8: Save samples of what you found in Tip #1 to share with your designer

Remember the research you did in Tip #1. If you found some covers that you love, and even some that you hate, share them with your designer. Explore the reasons you love them or hate them. It helps us to know your likes and dislikes.

 

Bonus Tip: Make sure that your designer is either creating original works of art or sourcing images from a reputable stock photography house and getting proper permissions to use them.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen someone steal an image off the internet and alter it slightly and call it their own. It doesn’t work that way. You can be sued. If you are at all unsure, ask to see early sketches or variations of an original artwork. If you are getting a photo compilation, ask your designer which stock house they used, ask for license information and the image numbers, so you can verify.

 

Tamian Wood, winner of numerous print and cover design awards, uses art, photography, typography, and digital collage techniques to create book covers that sell. She works with several publishers and a growing number of indie authors. Tamian’s most famous client to date is Pope Francis, whose Encyclical Letter won first place for cover design. With over 25 years in the design trenches, she is also a partner member in good standing with the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and a co-judge for a monthly cover design contest at Discovering Diamonds Historical Fiction Review site. Tamian has a weekly featured post (Critique Corner) at the Writers of Non-Fiction Facebook group. And she is the director of the LinkedIn group, Authors’ Resource. Tamian holds degrees in computer science and graphic design technology and is a proud member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honour Society.