Content, design and delivery are key essentials of successful ebook publishing. Top 11 book cover design tips for independent authors designhill. The chapter start has three decorative elements of good book design. No one likes to actually finish a book because it means the end of the story. But the truth is, book cover design can make or break a book. Apr 28, 2020 these covers are the winners from joel friedlander, the book designer s monthly ebook cover design awards.
In this video i share a few design secrets that will help you create better covers and attract more readers to your books. 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. To fully cover both points, weve split this post into two sections. Authors and publishers can choose from a wide range of styles to find the one that is perfect for their book. The preferred cover design software for thousands of independent authors, publishers, and graphic designers around the world.
Seven book design ideas for new selfpublishing authors. The design also must be adjusted for the style and genre of the book. Choose from our library of professionally designed layouts. 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. 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. So many books are published each yeara good book design must. Book cover design rules, tips and tricks presented by fred showker as part of judging the wiley design challenge. Note that the page starts down a few inches from the top, and the page number has been omitted. A portraitoriented, rectangular size is typical for a book, but you can alternatively use a custom size to really stand out from the crowd. It was my intention for the cover to convey a feeling that would target those readers who would. 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.
Selfpublishing basics the complete beginners guide to. 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. Every book requires and deserves a certain degree of customization. If your book stands a chance at succeeding, its design has to match or, if possible. Chris payne is corporate controller at 99designs, a design marketplace that specializes in book cover and book illustration design. 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. 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. Decide if you are going to tackle this project yourself or hire a professional cover designer to do it for you. Tell each student that they will be responsible for creating three alternative covers for their book. Each of these covers fulfills at least most of the criteria for good book cover design. In the crowded space of a bookstore, real or digital, a book may only have seconds to break through to a reader.
Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. Work within your genre reflect on who you are as a writer, and what genres your writing fits into. 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. Lets look and learn from 50 fascinating book cover designs. Design is the visual manifestation of that promise. Learn the steps for designing your books cover and sourcing and manipulating images for your ebooks. What makes a good book cover of course, catching a potential book buyers eye is only part of mendelsunds job. 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. Book design made simple is best known for giving stepbystep instructions on how to use indesign to design and typeset a book. Creating an attractive comic book cover is necessary to draw people into your comics and capture their interest. I chose the design i felt best captured the dark nature of the story.
The interior of a book is easy to overlook because we dont often think about it, but if the. Choose the fonts that have a good range of weights and options so that you. Upload your own photos or choose from over 1 million stock images. 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. If you have limited time, you can ask them to create one cover. 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. 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. Joels site has an astonishing number of fantastic posts on all aspects of. For interior design, give your designer the most perfect manuscript possible.
Nov 15, 2019 want to create awesome book covers but cant seem to get them right. Applying professional design principles to book cover design. 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. A great book cover design, at its most basic level, is something that will help. Kindle ebook cover design and book illustration guide udemy.
Below are some of my favorite design software, book cover design templates, and places to find book cover designers. 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. 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. Fix your images, add stunning filters and edit text. 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. 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. Ebook cover design tips and techniques digital publishing 101. This is the exception, with a huge contrast between the idea made in the title, and the brilliant picture that fills the background. Open canva and select the kindle cover design type or insert your own custom dimensions. Generally speaking, it is a very good intro to basic graphical design concepts.
Sep 22, 2016 whether or not you decide to design your book cover yourself, you still need to be aware of the best book cover design techniques. Here youll see some outstanding photoshop work but are they good book cover designs. Online retailers like amazon do not distinguish between traditional and selfpublished books which means independent authors are often competing again big 5 publishers. 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. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Design a book cover affinity publisher basics youtube. How to build the back of a book cover with template reedsy. Learn how to design a book cover template in this stepbystep tutorial. Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Book layouts are particular and definitely not onesizefitsall. Dec 28, 2016 a poorly designed cover that confuses the reader can ruin sales of even the best book. 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. Want to create awesome book covers but cant seem to get them right. With kdp, you can design a paperback or an ebook cover or both. The image suggests a storya good quality for a book cover to have.
I cannot rate your software high enough, and the automatic updates work a treat. When you are designing a book cover, you are visually representing the chapters, paragraphs. 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. What makes a good book cover business of illustration. 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. This will help you determine a theme around which to center your cover. A truly great jacket is one that captures the book inside it in some fundamental and.
These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn canva. Applying professional design principles to book 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. The best design for your cover art will incorporate elements of composition, psychology, and technique. How else will you now if you have a really good book cover that conveys the message in your e book. Kindle ebook cover design and book illustration guide 3. Mar 21, 2016 a good book cover stands apart from the other books in its category. 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. And its an easy way to be sure youre getting something that fits all their specifications. Nov 16, 2019 learn how to design a beautiful book cover. Why you should care about best book cover design techniques just tell me simply.
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. 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. They want a book they can be proud to hold on the subway or read on their e reader. 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. Following these book design basics is a good place to start. Youll need the artwork to be clean, balanced, true to the content of your story, and also alluring. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. How else will you now if you have a really good book cover that conveys the message in your ebook. 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. But having a good cover certainly helps, while having a poor one might, unfortunately, hinder the books success. Book covers should let readers know the book s genre. Heres a handy chart with the basic dimensions and file requirements for the. In my opinion and experience, the two most important things to invest in as an indie author are professional editing and professional cover design, and finding the right designer to work with is an essential part of any author business. Send them the covers and logos you liked before the call.
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. How to design a comic book cover with pictures wikihow. The big publishing houses controlled what was published, and the balance was tilted in favor of stories and authors with established audiences. The cover design also must be readable as a thumbnail on amazon and in black and white. The first half of the book, examples focus on specific concepts of good design, and explains them well without unnecessary verbiage. Book covers should give readers a sneakpeek of whats to come. The importance of cover design writers and artists. 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.
Design book cover for free with online templates adobe spark. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. And its not just about someone buying a book, but about them investing their time reading it. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. A successful book cover needs to make a reader feel the manuscript rather than tell about it. Hosseini is an established author signed with a major publisher. Book cover design grabs the attention of potential buyers and.
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. A poorly designed cover that confuses the reader can ruin sales of even the best book. Whether or not you decide to design your book cover yourself, you still need to be aware of the best book cover design techniques. I received my book from the printers today and the cover is brilliant. Books with good graphics, eyecatching font and good quality covers. A welldesigned cover can help readers find and purchase your work. This cover promises that after the last page, the story will go on.
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. 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. Selfpublishing basics the complete beginners guide to selfpublishing a decade ago, most storytellers would have found their audiences limited to friends and family. 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. A good cover designer will give you a simple cover that offers readers instant recognition of the book. The book design templates at book design templates are a wonderful resource to see the basics of great book design in practice. May 08, 2017 content, design and delivery are key essentials of successful ebook publishing. What makes a good book cover of course, catching a potential bookbuyers eye is only part of mendelsunds job. Book covers should follow the rules of design in a way. A great book cover design, at its most basic level, is something that will help readers take you and your book seriously.
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