Your friends and family love you. They’ll buy your book no matter what.
Now we have to concern ourselves with everyone else—The people who don’t know you and need a reason to buy from you. We want to do everything we can to get your wonderful into their hands. And then we want them to read it and love it so much they tell all their friends.
Let’s talk about book covers.
At the very least, a book cover should not stop a person from buying your book. In other words, if I’m looking at a book and the cover looks shoddy and poorly done, I can’t help but imagine the story itself is also shoddy and poorly done. That might be wrong, but how am I to judge between the hundreds of books around me? It’s unreasonable to expect people to read your book if the cover is bad, so no matter what you do, don’t let your cover be bad.
Everyone can get a good cover. There are loads of talented cover designers and artists who can make something good. A good cover is something that will keep your book in a person’s hand just a tic or two longer so that maybe—just maybe—they’ll be persuaded to buy a copy. When a cover looks good, it gives the other elements of your book (the blurb on back, the subject matter, your photograph, the interior pages) a chance to persuade that person. Everything works together.
A great cover will sell your book all on its own. These are the book covers that are so compelling that they’ll stop a person in their tracks and force them to pay attention. If you can get a great cover, people will assume that your book is great and it becomes far easier to persuade them to buy it.
I’ve seen a lot of bad book covers. Don’t let yours be one of them.
A bad book cover makes everything harder. It becomes an obstacle to overcome as your try to market and sell your book. It leaves a bad impression on everyone who looks at it.
A great cover is exactly the opposite. It will help you at every stage, and it gives you credibility just be being so good.
In a sense, as an author, you are your book covers.
So don’t slap something together at the end and call it a cover. You wouldn’t spend years honing your job skills in a field, then wear dirty, wrinkled clothes to your first job interview. Don’t let a bad cover hold you back.
Here are some tips for getting incredible books covers:
Hire a professional - I believe in hiring plumbers to fix my pipes and mechanics to fix my car. If you’re not a professional designer, hire one with a great portfolio of work.
Keep it Simple - A cover should have impact, and it won’t have impact if the viewer can’t make sense out of what they see. It doesn’t have to be simplistic, but simple to decode.
It should clearly show your subject - The cover should evoke the subject matter of your book. If your book is about adoption, show that; if it’s about a kid who’s scared of the dark, show that; etc. A person looking at the front and back cover should know what your book’s about.
Great composition - You may not be a designer, but I bet you know when something bothers you. Things to look for: too busy; wasted space; boring; hard to make out visually; cluttered; tension between the elements; cold or warm color that is inappropriate; if you see something that feels off, let your designer know or ask them to explain the decision. Or, show a mock-up to people you trust and get their opinions. Don’t be afraid to revise. (As a side-note, don’t try to solve your designer’s problems for them. State the issue you have and let them justify their decision or solve the problem in a way that makes sense to them.)
Great fonts - There are thousands of fonts. It can take time to find just the right ones. Two or three for your front and back cover is plenty—too many fonts feels chaotic. If you’re looking at the cover and the text doesn’t feel good, try something else. You might have to try 10 different fonts—who cares, you only have to get it right once!
Your cover doesn’t have to be the greatest of all time—an icon for the ages. That’s unreasonable. But your cover can absolutely be good and it might even be great. Let your cover work for you, not against you.