Did you know that it only takes us between 8 and 15 seconds to know if a book interests us or not? A very small interval of time. That is why it is so important to take care of every detail of our book cover.
A good cover design will capture the attention and arouse curiosity about its content in the potential reader. On the contrary, a careless or unprofessional cover will make potential customers pass by your work.
Designing a cover that is attractive to the reader is no easy task, as it must follow a harmony in both form and colour of all the elements. Remember that you must convince the reader to invest his or her valuable time and money in your work at a glance.
What are the magic elements that my cover must have to sell? In this post you will learn what steps to follow to design a successful book cover.
How to design a book cover?
Step 1: reflect the values of your work
It may seem difficult, but your book cover should convey the values of your work and your personality as an author. It should convey information about the genre of the book, the characters, the plot, etc… in other words, it should be as simple as reflecting on the outside what the reader will find on the inside.
It has happened to all of us to find a book with a cover that has awakened high expectations in us and on the inside it has not fulfilled them. And if you have given them the opportunity, the opposite is also the case, an unattractive cover that enveloped a great work.
It is therefore highly recommended that you convey exactly what your work is, no more and no less.
Step 2: Choice of colours
Can you imagine the cover of a book about nature without the colour green? The answer is obviously no. The choice of cover colours is very important as they directly influence how we feel and think.
Although it is not an exact science, there are certain guidelines that will help you decide on the colours for your cover.
Choose colours that are appropriate for the theme of your book. Red (passion and strength), blue (confidence and freedom), green (health and nourishment), black (elegance and sophistication), white (purity and perfection) and brown (credibility and comfort).
If you are going to use an image, use colours that complement the image or its primary colour.
The text should be legible, i.e. look for contrast between the background colour and the title, e.g. a dark font on a white background.
Choose a maximum of 2 or 3 colours, no more. When you use 4 colours or more, you create a distorted perception in the reader and all you end up doing is confusing him/her.
Step 3: choosing the typography
One of the most complicated issues is knowing how to convey the values of our work through typography. Some evoke elegance, strength, antiquity, youth… it all depends on the chosen theme.
On the other hand, it is very important the clarity and cleanliness of the text and the image, the size of the title must be big enough not to be confused with the rest of the elements of the cover.
We leave you this direct link to choose the perfect typography.
Step 4: choosing images and format
Once we have all the above, it is time to choose the image or images that will be part of the cover of your book. We recommend that you look for an image with a hook.
And what is a hook image? A leading image that looks directly at the reader. Avoid images that don’t look straight at the viewer or meaningless elements, as they scatter the viewer’s attention.
Once the image has been configured, any printer will ask you to export the image in one of these three formats: JPG, PDF or PNG.
Step 5: Final recommendations
Finally, we are going to give you some final recommendations to keep in mind:
Don’t sacrifice practicality for creativity. Sometimes we come across very creative covers that are not at all practical when it comes to printing. We are referring to words or images that are cut off, for example, at the edge of the book or elements that cannot be understood.
Be careful with the colours you use, you must differentiate between RGB colours, ideal for digital books, and CMYK colours, perfect for printed books.
Make a good synopsis, remember that you only have between 8 and 15 seconds for the front and back cover, so make the most of this time.
We hope that all these tips have been of great help to you to make a good choice of your cover. If you have already prepared your work, you only have to ask us for a printing quote, we will be happy to help you.
