Five Top amateur mistakes when self-publishing book covers
A good cover design is essential in creating interest in your book. Readers take an average of a couple seconds to deem your cover worthy of their interest. It must catch the reader’s eye amongst an ocean of others waiting to be chosen.
I’ve seen many social media and forum posts about this topic and wanted to offer my opinion based on my decades of experience as a graphic designer. In my employment years, I produced hundreds of covers for magazines, catalogs, and more. Writing fiction came later after I retired. Since this topic is so broad, I will focus on a few basics for any type of cover.
Gear your cover to your genre
There is a tricky balance between standing out and fitting in. The last thing you want to do is confuse the buyer with mixed messages about your book. Research successful books in your genre. Create a Pinterest board or other collection of examples. Distill what your book is about and make the design unique. Just because you personally like bright, flowery images doesn’t mean it will work for your gothic horror novel.
Use image-appropriate visuals
Unless you’re going for a mixed-media collage look, avoid combining photos and drawings together. Images should blend into a cohesive, unified theme using the same style. Disparate elements stitched together haphazardly will immediately scream amateur. The best covers will have a focal point — an area that immediately draws the eye in to linger and capture attention. In many cases, this may simply be a clever way typography is used with no images at all.
Readable at various sizes
A common mistake I see often is a cover that looks fine at the actual book size but gets lost when reduced to a thumbnail. The book title should be easily read even when the cover is only an inch big. This can happen with poor typography choices and/or variations in background-foreground contrast. Script fonts are especially prone to this due to the nature of their ornate and thin lines. Images with a mix of light and dark areas in the background can obscure parts, or all, of the foreground text. Even in areas with a solid background color, if the overprinted text is too similar in tone, the lack of contrast will cause it to disappear.
Lack of technical knowledge
Commercial printing requires certain exact conditions to be met for a successful outcome of your published work. The printing press has different requirements than a digital eBook. These considerations include accurate size measurement, high resolution, color space for ink, bleeds, font licensing, and acceptable file types. Without getting into the exact details and terminology, be aware that knowing these things has a bit of a learning curve. Many DIY designers can be stymied and frustrated at this point.
Getting feedback
Many authors have made their cover or hired someone to make it, then seek feedback on forums or social media. Be aware that other authors, friends, or family aren’t always the best judges of what works in your situation. Hesitate to rely on opinions from someone who will never browse your section of the bookstore. Instead, consider using stakeholders like designers, marketers, booksellers, or potential/previous buyers. If anyone on CC would like an opinion about your cover, I’d be happy to offer my advice.
Visit my collaborative author website at www.BackroadsLiteraryReview.com
Fun exercise
When in the bookstore, look for covers with a figure or figures looking, walking, or running away with their back toward you. Once you see this motif, you’ll find it everywhere across genres.