Why Book Cover Design Matters
I recently had the opportunity to review over 1,000 indie authors' book covers during an online event. What I discovered was instructive for self-published authors.
While there were many high-quality book covers that were genre-appropriate, eye-catching, and appeared professional, there was an abundance of poorly designed covers that turned me off of wanting to read the book.
Let's break down the qualities of a well-designed book cover.
- Images were clear, well-rendered, and consistent with the genre. This means that I didn't see grainy images or cheap clip art. I didn't see a wolf on the cover of a Regency romance, or a sunny beach on the cover of a fantasy novel. They were either photo-quality images or illustrated with skill.
- Fonts were the appropriate size, style, and placement. The title and author name were easy to read on a thumbnail sized image. The words were aligned properly, so that they were neither cut off the top or bottom, nor placed off to the side like an afterthought. Each font choice matched the mood of the genera/subgenera.
- The colors were eye-catching and matched the mood of the genera/subgenera. The font color contrasted the images and background to allow the words to stand out. The background colors complemented the images and fonts, and were appropriate for the genera/subgenera.
- The overall look was consistent with the top 100 books in that genera. This doesn't mean that the author copied the covers of those books, it's that they chose a design that was consistent in color, mood, and style with the types of books readers are favoring.
Why does book cover design matter?
As a reader, I was drawn to books in this event based solely on the cover. If the cover looked professionally made, I wanted to find out more about the book, ultimately influencing my purchases.
If the cover looked amateurish, I made assumptions about the quality of the writing.
Like me, many people assume a poorly made cover reflects a poorly made book. For self-published authors, this is one of the most important things you should focus on when producing your books. The cover can quite literally lead to a sale. Next to editing, book covers are another expense that should not be skimped on.
When you are first starting out, paying for book cover design can seem like a cost you don't want to incur. But unless you have studied graphic design and are confident in your skills, you need a professional to make your covers. Designers understand fonts, colors, placement, images, and how all of these interact to make an overall design that lures the viewer in.
Book cover design has a direct impact on your sales. After all the work you put into writing the book, why not give it the best chance for reaching your readers?