Basics good book cover design

Kindle ebook cover design and book illustration guide udemy. As the first book in the series, it tells the readers that when they finish this one, the story isnt over, and for most readers this is great news. A portraitoriented, rectangular size is typical for a book, but you can alternatively use a custom size to really stand out from the crowd. What makes a good book cover of course, catching a potential book buyers eye is only part of mendelsunds job. A great book cover design, at its most basic level, is something that will help. I cannot rate your software high enough, and the automatic updates work a treat. Choose the fonts that have a good range of weights and options so that you. But it also spells out important book design basics that will make it all look good, such as in this section on the principles of good book design. The cover design also must be readable as a thumbnail on amazon and in black and white.

Lets look and learn from 50 fascinating book cover designs. How else will you now if you have a really good book cover that conveys the message in your ebook. I received my book from the printers today and the cover is brilliant. The design also must be adjusted for the style and genre of the book. Fix your images, add stunning filters and edit text. Upload your own photos or choose from over 1 million stock images. Applying professional design principles to book cover design. Generally speaking, it is a very good intro to basic graphical design concepts. Youll need the artwork to be clean, balanced, true to the content of your story, and also alluring. The importance of cover design by jd smith jd smith, graphic designer, editor and writer, has written a series of articles for us on cover design first up, she explores the importance of a strong and professionallooking cover design. The chapter start has three decorative elements of good book design. Kindle ebook cover design and book illustration guide 3. With kdp, you can design a paperback or an ebook cover or both. Nov 15, 2019 want to create awesome book covers but cant seem to get them right.

Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Learn the steps for designing your books cover and sourcing and manipulating images for your ebooks. A welldesigned cover can help readers find and purchase your work. This is the exception, with a huge contrast between the idea made in the title, and the brilliant picture that fills the background. Learn how to design a book cover template in this stepbystep tutorial. Note that the page starts down a few inches from the top, and the page number has been omitted. Here youll see some outstanding photoshop work but are they good book cover designs. What makes a good book cover of course, catching a potential bookbuyers eye is only part of mendelsunds job. Hosseini is an established author signed with a major publisher. Book covers should let readers know the book s genre. Book covers should give readers a sneakpeek of whats to come. Book layouts are particular and definitely not onesizefitsall. In this video i share a few design secrets that will help you create better covers and attract more readers to your books.

Chris payne is corporate controller at 99designs, a design marketplace that specializes in book cover and book illustration design. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. Apr 28, 2020 these covers are the winners from joel friedlander, the book designer s monthly ebook cover design awards. If the image had been allowed to do the talking an always encouraged design principle, the type would have been minimized and the effect would have been dramatic.

Book cover design rules, tips and tricks presented by fred showker as part of judging the wiley design challenge. A truly great jacket is one that captures the book inside it in some fundamental and. Authors and publishers can choose from a wide range of styles to find the one that is perfect for their book. Learn more on how to design book covers for any genre a lovely cover by l1graphics that stays true to the recognized historical elements while still feeling fresh, modern and cinematic. The best design for your cover art will incorporate elements of composition, psychology, and technique. They all serve to make a book a little easier to read and understand in some way, so its worth knowing the basics of good book design before you make any choices before you do your own thing. The basics of cover design a good cover is vital to your books success because its the first thing your potential readers see. Now you know the basics of how to use this ebook cover creator to form your book cover, but you can take as much time as you need to ensure your artwork is spoton. This will help you determine a theme around which to center your cover. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners.

The book cover is a really important part of designing a bookits the first impression your readers getbut so is the interior of the book. Mar 21, 2016 a good book cover stands apart from the other books in its category. The book design templates at book design templates are a wonderful resource to see the basics of great book design in practice. So many books are published each yeara good book design must. If you have a good eye for design, the right software and the experience to use it, theres no reason why you cant try to create your own cover. A good design supports your content, besides being attractive and easytoread, it helps create good impression in the mind of the reader, and establishes your. Applying professional design principles to book cover. For interior design, give your designer the most perfect manuscript possible. Choosing a book font the worlds greatest book posted on december 20, 2015 by dave bricker december 20, 2015 s electing a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the average writer. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn canva. Joel friedlander has an excellent post on common mistakes book cover designers make, and i have a post here covering design basics and the process i go through with my designer. Jun 19, 2017 whether a book will ultimately be read on paper or an ereader, interior book design can make or break a readers enjoyment of a book. Want to create awesome book covers but cant seem to get them right.

If you have limited time, you can ask them to create one cover. Each of these covers fulfills at least most of the criteria for good book cover design. Seven book design ideas for new selfpublishing authors. You can adjust your color palette to reflect the genre or create an emotional impact, and you can even put a filter on your background image if you need a unique effect. This is a critique and a tutorial to teach and illustrate good cover design rules dtg magazine design department dtg magazine, the original design zine since 1990. They want a book they can be proud to hold on the subway or read on their e reader. How to design a comic book cover with pictures wikihow. And its an easy way to be sure youre getting something that fits all their specifications. So here are a few tips on ebook cover design, highlighting ways that it differs from printed book covers and things that might help your print cover designs too. Then part 2 contains tips from our top designers on the best ways to design an aesthetically beautiful jacket. Nov, 2019 creating an attractive comic book cover is necessary to draw people into your comics and capture their interest. Design is the visual manifestation of that promise. In the crowded space of a bookstore, real or digital, a book may only have seconds to break through to a reader.

Following these book design basics is a good place to start. Content, design and delivery are key essentials of successful ebook publishing. Tell each student that they will be responsible for creating three alternative covers for their book. Ebook cover design tips and techniques digital publishing 101. The importance of cover design writers and artists. And its not just about someone buying a book, but about them investing their time reading it. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. Book covers should follow the rules of design in a way. In addition to working at 99designs, chris founded journalstone publishing in 2011, where he has published four of his own books and continues to work with awardwinning authors such as adam nevill, jonathan maberry and christopher golden. In addition to working at 99designs, chris founded journalstone publishing in 2011, where he has published four of his own books and continues to work with awardwinning authors such as adam nevill, jonathan maberry and christopher.

Designing a book cover is the process of getting an authors manuscript into the hands of a reader, by materializing it giving it a form. But having a good cover certainly helps, while having a poor one might, unfortunately, hinder the books success. Open canva and select the kindle cover design type or insert your own custom dimensions. Dec 28, 2016 a poorly designed cover that confuses the reader can ruin sales of even the best book. No one likes to actually finish a book because it means the end of the story. The preferred cover design software for thousands of independent authors, publishers, and graphic designers around the world. A poorly designed cover that confuses the reader can ruin sales of even the best book. Why you should care about best book cover design techniques just tell me simply. The five steps to creating an awesome book cover design. Online retailers like amazon do not distinguish between traditional and selfpublished books which means independent authors are often competing again big 5 publishers. Decide if you are going to tackle this project yourself or hire a professional cover designer to do it for you. To fully cover both points, weve split this post into two sections. While it shouldnt be entirely out of left field for the audience remember, you have to appeal to buyers with expectations and preconceived notions of the genre, it needs to establish itself as something unique on the shelves. Design book cover for free with online templates adobe spark.

Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Elements of a cover its important to pare back an ebook cover to its essential elements and to make some hard choices, given how little cover real estate you have in shopping. A great book cover design, at its most basic level, is something that will help readers take you and your book seriously. Book design made simple is best known for giving stepbystep instructions on how to use indesign to design and typeset a book. Book cover design grabs the attention of potential buyers and. Nov 25, 2014 the basics of cover design a good cover is vital to your books success because its the first thing your potential readers see. It was my intention for the cover to convey a feeling that would target those readers who would. Below are some of my favorite design software, book cover design templates, and places to find book cover designers.

The first half of the book, examples focus on specific concepts of good design, and explains them well without unnecessary verbiage. A successfully designed book cover will convey the tone of your book, will whisper hints without giving it all away, and will excite readers into actually opening up the book and reading. The image suggests a storya good quality for a book cover to have. Designing book covers few people think about the way book covers come into life, and most think you just call an artist and say make a book cover. Nov 16, 2019 learn how to design a beautiful book cover. Selfpublishing basics the complete beginners guide to selfpublishing a decade ago, most storytellers would have found their audiences limited to friends and family. See more ideas about cover, book cover design and minimalist book. The interior of a book is easy to overlook because we dont often think about it, but if the. Choose from our library of professionally designed layouts.

How else will you now if you have a really good book cover that conveys the message in your e book. Jul 08, 2019 the book design templates at book design templates are a wonderful resource to see the basics of great book design in practice. Selfpublishing basics the complete beginners guide to. This cover promises that after the last page, the story will go on. May 08, 2017 content, design and delivery are key essentials of successful ebook publishing. Paula brandonwhen it comes to book covers, contrasting elements can have either a positive or a negative effect, but either way it is usually something small that doesnt particularly make or break the cover itself. I chose the design i felt best captured the dark nature of the story. The covers for ve schwabs shades of magic tip their hat to the fantasy stylings while also building a recognizable, gorgeous brand that is all their own. What makes a good book cover business of illustration. But the truth is, book cover design can make or break a book. Choosing a book font the worlds greatest book posted on december 20, 2015 by dave bricker december 20, 2015 s electing a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to. If your book stands a chance at succeeding, its design has to match or, if possible. How to build the back of a book cover with template reedsy. Work within your genre reflect on who you are as a writer, and what genres your writing fits into.

A good cover designer will give you a simple cover that offers readers instant recognition of the book. Every book requires and deserves a certain degree of customization. In the second part of the course, you will learn why your books cover plays such an important role in the selling of your book and you will discover the various options that are available to you, regarding the designing of a professional looking book cover that works effectively in your particular genre or niche. Creating an attractive comic book cover is necessary to draw people into your comics and capture their interest. Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Now you know the basics of how to use this e book cover creator to form your book cover, but you can take as much time as you need to ensure your artwork is spoton. Heres a handy chart with the basic dimensions and file requirements for the. Send them the covers and logos you liked before the call. Books with good graphics, eyecatching font and good quality covers. Design a book cover affinity publisher basics youtube. Joels site has an astonishing number of fantastic posts on all aspects of. Top 11 book cover design tips for independent authors designhill. A good design supports your content, besides being attractive and easytoread, it helps create good impression in the mind of the reader, and establishes your authority as a writer and publisher. The importance of cover design for selfpublished authors, collaborative groups and independent press has become less of an argument as the competition and potential sales revenue from book sales has become obvious.

A successful book cover needs to make a reader feel the manuscript rather than tell about it. The big publishing houses controlled what was published, and the balance was tilted in favor of stories and authors with established audiences. Whether or not you decide to design your book cover yourself, you still need to be aware of the best book cover design techniques. Titles are readable and command attention, illustrations are appropriate, and overall visual feel is appropriate for al ward, and the photoshop techniques he generally hones in on.