People say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover…
When creating a cover for your book you need to keep in mind what message you are trying to convey and the overall message you are giving possible buyers. People say one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but everyone does.
To help put across the most appropriate message consider the following:
- Book titles: Your book title might be catchy, but does it explain what’s inside? If the answer is no, then think about adding a subtitle. For example, the title ‘Personal Growth’ is not clear enough for someone who has no idea what your book is about. So, adding a subtitle can fix this, e.g. ‘Personal Growth: Learn to overcome everyday stresses’.
- You could also add extra text to the front cover to give an even clearer message about what your book is about. Testimonials are also useful either on the back or front cover.
- Images: Images used on your book cover can tell the viewer a lot about what your book is based on before they even read the title. We suggest you use at least one image or graphic on your book cover, and avoid having a book cover with just plain text. It’s also important to make sure the images/graphics used are appropriate. You might love an image you’ve found of a fairy, but if your book is about witches then it won’t make sense.
- The overall look of your book: You may notice that many business books for example often have similar looks to their covers, with similar images and styles. Although it is important to follow a professional look by using certain fonts for example, if you are showcasing a business book, at the same time you don’t want to blend in too much with the crowd. Sometimes doing something slightly out there or unusual can be much more eye-catching than the bog standard.
- Your photograph: One of the most attractive things to the human eye is another eye. Having a photograph of yourself on either the front (if appropriate) or back cover can work well to attract attention.
- Your choice of colours: research shows that red colours are the most popular. What works best is if your colours are complimentary to your theme. E.g. a book about the environment might be green, books on corporate business might be blue – which is considered a conservative colour.
