Suggestions for Great Book Cover Design for Independent Authors

People will often judge a book by its cover; that’s normal because there are simply so many books out there that it can be overwhelming trying to choose your next read. That’s why as an independent author you should be designing an engaging and memorable book cover. Something that’s unique and different can drive a potential customer to look at it with more interest. Here are the top suggestions for getting a great book design.

1. Hire a Professional Designer

As an author, you’re probably a great writer but you don’t have much experience creating a book cover. That’s why you should hire a designer that has experience and can make sure your cover is optimized to appeal to readers. Look at their design portfolios and styles and hire one that works in your budget. On top of designing it, they can explain to you the different aspects of a successful cover.

2. Come Up with a Unique Concept

Once you have your designer, you need to decide your cover concept. Discuss with your designer the theme for the book, and if you can, they should read your book as well. Afterwards, you can develop the concept.

3. Choose One Element to Emphasize

As per George Ford, creative writer at Dissertation Writing Service and Essay Help, “a good book cover should have only one element highlighted. That’s because you want one particular thing to dominate the whole cover and draw in your customers’ eyes. That can be either an image, a symbol, an object, or even text.”

4. Play with Sizing

You need to have some different sizes and scales for your cover because if everything is the same size, nothing will stand out. Make one of your elements in a bigger size to draw the attention. For new authors, you don’t want that to be your name since no one knows it. Instead, focus on the title of the book.

5. Don’t Clutter the Cover

If you have too much going on on your cover, such as images, type, and more, it will create what’s known as visual noise. Too many aspects will be fighting for the viewer’s attention. Floyd Weir, a business writer at Professional Essay Writer and Assignment Writing, says “that means the viewer won’t know what’s the core message and won’t be appealed by this cover. To avoid clutter, don’t use too many colors, fonts, or quotes.”

6. Choose Your Typography

Using the right typography has a big impact on your big cover. Colors speak to our emotions but the typeface will give your design a personality. Use only one or two so the cover isn’t too busy, and try to stay away from all caps typefaces. Play around with different weights and options and try different combinations. Don’t use font smaller than 8 points, and don’t outline it because that’s rarely a pleasant look. 

These are the main points to think about when you design your book cover. If you’re in doubt about any step, consider hiring a professional. 

Bea Potter, a writer and editor for Custom Essay and Assignment Writer services, helps independent writers and artists get successful. She enjoys helping them with marketing and social media strategies and is passionate about giving indie artists a platform. In her spare time, she travels and writes at BoomEssays about her adventures.

The Saturday Slash

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Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

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William Ross needs a jump start. He’s sleepwalking again but that’s not the worst of it. Just two weeks after he clears a client of child abuse, she murders her son, Latrelle. This is definitely your hook. Not a jump start, not sleepwalking. Blaming himself for the boy’s death, William quits law, and finds work as a party clown. I definitely think we need to know why a party clown. That's a huge leap from what he did in his former life. As he fights to make a living as a kids entertainer, a desire grows to give someone the protection he couldn’t offer Latrelle. How does this manifest? Is it already there in the clown aspect? Or is he searching through other avenues? His girlfriend, Clara, embarking on her own new venture, has not bargained on a beau-turned-clown. The two, along with their friends, Alessia, a performance artist with a heroin past, Nick, a millionaire who can’t sustain relationships, and Felicia, a driven perfectionist, comprise the Second Chance Club. Mediumship, a humpback whale, Sing Sing Prison, and a $1000 baby doll, all figure into William’s attempt to find his way. While this eclectic grouping might help make the book sound quirky, it might also make an agent wonder if it's not grounded enough, or question where this fits in the bookshelves in a store.

Second Chance Club is my debut novel. I was a grumpy criminal lawyer who portrayed my career change in a NY Times essay that generated 465 reader comments: http://ow.ly/fuI030iK7TC Great bio! And very smart to include the link. This will give the agent a chance to read your writing style and hear your voice beyond the query.

The intended market of Second Chance Club is readers who want to find their place in the world. Well, that's incredibly broad, and it further muddies the waters concerning both readership and genre.Complete at _ words, Is it not finished yet? Don't query until you have a full manuscript. it will appeal to fans of The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie and The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick.

Right now I think the biggest problem with this query is that I don't have a good idea what this book is about. You start with sleepwalking (which I don't see how it ties into the larger story), then child murder compounded with guilt, and then list some things that make it sound like a screwball comedy. I don't know what the genre of this book would be, and your stated audience is equally broad. You'll want to write the query in a way that conveys the tone and voice of the book, and as I said, right now it just feels like a grab bag.

Middle Grade Graphic Novel Giveaway! Anti-Hero by Kate Karyus Quinn & Demitria Lunetta

Two of my best author friends have combined forces with DC Comics to bring you - Anti/Hero, a new graphic novel for middle-grade featuring all original content and characters!

Piper Pájaro and Sloane MacBrute are two 13-year-old girls with very different lives but very similar secrets. Popular, outgoing Piper is strong. Like, ripping-the-doors-off-cards strong. She longs to be a superhero, even if she tends to leave massive messes in her wake. Snarky Sloane, on the other hand, is super smart. Like, evil-genius-smart. To help her family, she has to put those smarts to use for her villainous grandfather.

When a mission to steal an experimental technological device brings the two girls face to face with each other, the device sparks, and the two girls switch bodies! Now they must live in each other's shoes as they figure out a way to switch back.

Anti/Hero is a story that explores what makes a hero, how one can find friendship where it's unexpected, and what it means to walk in another person's shoes...literally!