The cover of a book represents its face. It employs a variety of design features to maintain the content genre’s major concepts. Many authors consider the book cover to be an extension of the book itself.
Without a doubt, the book’s cover is the most crucial factor that helps it to stand out in a crowd. Creating an appealing book cover design isn’t easy..
With the introduction of eBooks, the importance of a decent book cover design has grown even more.
Let’s get started with some inspiration for the 11 best book cover design ideas for new authors.
What Is the Purpose of a Book Cover?
The purpose of a book cover is to interact with the reader and intrigue them enough to turn it into sales. It gives the reader a sneak peek at the content within. That’s why the book cover must be beautiful and appealing to get the reader’s attention.
You can work with book cover designers to effectively achieve the goal of a book cover, which is to improve the acceptance of a book.
The following elements should be included in a book cover:
- The design should represent the content theme.
- Hints at the moral story of the book.
- A unique design style to stand out among other books.
- Genre-specific designs that readers are familiar with.
What Are the 11 Best Ways to Design a Book Cover?
Creating a book cover requires a tremendous amount of imagination. A designer must combine several elements to display appealing content on a cover.
Without further ado, let’s go through the 11 best book cover design ideas that new authors can try out.
1. A Simple Cover Design
The best advice for amateur writers is to keep their book covers simple. It helps the readers understand your book at a glance.
The book cover should show some of the essential parts of the content without going into great detail. You can look at inspirational book covers and try to figure out what works best for you!
2. Type of Content
What type your content is has a significant impact on the cover design. Nonfiction, for example, uses images that are relevant to the subject. On the other hand, fiction uses images that make the reader feel more interested and engaged.
Make sure the title and design don’t clash. These two elements should complement each other to give the right vibes about your book.
3. Match Up the Genres
Every genre has its own distinct design aesthetic. Following the distinctive “genre design,” readers can identify their favorite books.
Slight modifications to the design can help it stand out. However, there is a risk of losing the market.
Make sure to stick to the well-worn genre rules to create an effective design.
4. Handpicked Typefaces
Your typeface is responsible for enhancing or taking away from the impression your book is trying to make. It gives the design a personality. However, you should avoid using many typefaces on a single cover to prevent clutter and maintain uniformity.
It is best to utilize one serif and one sans serif font for visual connection and balance. You can choose typefaces that come in various sizes and alternatives. This way you get to play around with them while maintaining the consistency of the various components.
5. Perfect Size and Scale
The exact size of the book cover element is crucial. The reader might overlook a book if the size and scale are not pleasing. As a result, size and scaling are essential considerations when creating a book cover.
The title is the most important part when it comes to a book cover as it clearly emotes the emotion behind the article. The use of large, bold type and prominent placement of the title on the cover draws the reader’s attention.
6. The Core Message
Figure out what your book’s central point is and make a note of it! Keep the basic meaning of the content in mind when creating a cover or reviewing it. The key message adds value and appeal to the surface.
However, you may have to give up some of your favorite covers to make sure the cover design shows the main point of the book.
7. Unique Book Cover
It’s crucial to have a unique cover concept. Examine your resources to gain a deeper understanding of the concept. It helps in creating a special cover.
If you hire a designer, then discuss it with them. If you want a unique cover for your book, let the designer go over the contents of your book and make sure they understand the subject.
8. Combining Print and Digital Factors
For printing purposes, a book’s cover must have better quality than an eBook edition. It’s a good idea to save it as a large file size to enlarge the design later.
A web-ready 72 PPI file, for example, cannot be printed. That’s why an attempt to meet the ideal file size of up to 300 pixels per inch (PPI) is made.
9. Observe the Visual Brand
Are you planning a sequel to the previous book series? Then you should use the same typography, photos, typefaces, illustrations, and other elements from the last book covers of the series. It suggests to the reader that the book series is continuing. In addition, it improves a brand’s cover.
10. Employ a Professional Designer
Most independent writers don’t have any idea about how to create an excellent book cover. This interferes with the subsequent promotion and sales of the book.
Professional book cover designers solve the problem by making a one-of-a-kind cover, giving advice, and putting the content on the surface of the book.
You should hire a professional cover designer only after going through their portfolio, various drawings, and sketches. You should be able to select a decent designer even if you have a limited budget. Or, you can employ a freelancer artist to work on the design of your book cover.
11. Stay Optimistic
You need to be optimistic about the designs and the designer. Provide the designer with adequate details so they can get a better perspective. It could include the intended audience, book style, characters, moments, and so on.
The designs may appear different from what you had in mind at the outset.
The designer may surprise you by elevating your design to an unexpected level. Be positive and try out some fresh cover designs!
Conclusion
An author should pay attention to the cover because it attracts readers. A cover containing colors, typefaces, and simplicity can easily attract a buyer. Moreover, scalable design in smaller sizes helps sell the book online.
If you follow the 11 best book cover design ideas for new authors discussed above, you can make an excellent book cover.
However, if you can’t make a cover design yourself, hire a professional designer. But do not compromise on the importance of a book cover in promoting your book.
