Book cover design is a crucial part of the sale of a book. Design matters for two important reasons:
- It’s what gets people to pick up your book in the bookstore or click on the thumbnail when browsing online.
- Design helps you tell your story.
| USE WHITE SPACE TO CREATE FOCUS:
White space doesn’t mean that the whole cover must be completely minimal. It can used as a device to focus the reader. |
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| A classic and stunning cover designed by Emily Mahon with illustrations from Ray Morimura. Notice how white space has been used to draw attention to the title, The Wealth of Nations. |  |
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| In this cover by Helen Yentus, the designer has placed white boxes to mimic the sterile look of hospital lights. It also strategically anonymizes the doctor on the cover to make the book more universal. |  |
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| SET THE TONE BEFORE YOU START DESIGNING: The tone of the cover should match the tone of your book. Don’t betray your audience by showing a humorous cover design with grim content. It makes the reader distrust you as an author. |
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| Tokyo on Foot uses a colorful, cartoonish tone to express rich whimsy. Browsers know to expect hand-drawn illustrations in this graphic memoir. |  |
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| Crown + blood equals intrigue of the highest sorts. This cover doesn’t go into details, but it does give away the idea that you’re in for power plays, suspense, and royalty. |  |
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| It’s clear from the cover that this book is about obsessive compulsive disorder. There’s something so pleasant about the careful use of color and the almost perfectly lined up rows. |  |
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| STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD: There’s no need to stay flat with your cover. Adding dimension can make it a refreshing change. |
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| This Portuguese reboot cover image by Carlo Giovani for Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth smartly plays up the various layers of earth’s crust. |  |
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| Italian illustration studio Bomboland revamped the Treasure Island book cover with a fantastic use of layering to create movement. |  |
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| The cover of this book is simply a photograph of hand-drawn images on loose leaf paper. The perspective and the positioning of the images and text make this cover pop off the screen. |  |
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| WEAVE YOUR NARRATIVE INTO THE DESIGN: Your story begins as soon as the reader picks up the book and looks at the cover. Studies show you only have eight seconds to persuade the reader to take a chance on your book. Make it count. |
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| Looking at the cover of this book, the reader is immediately engaged in this vibrant, colorful world of Vietnamese immigrant Ha. The cover makes you wonder about the world she lives in. |  |
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| The cover image of this book shows the antagonist slowly drowning, which indicates her struggle to find life. |  |
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| In this cover brilliantly re-imagined by designer Tom Lenartowicz, there’s a sense of foreboding. The tip of the letter A becomes a shark fin, and the use of blue to gray gradient perfectly symbolizes the depth of water. |  |
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| EXPRESS THE COLORS OF YOUR STORY Colors convey tone. There’s no need to use attention grabbing colors if it doesn’t match the tone of your book. Use a color story that resembles the one you’ve told with words. |
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| Sometimes the most colorful cover wins because it demands the browser’s attention. |  |
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| Another cover that uses colors without sacrificing maturity is The Sky Is Everywhere . Here, the raindrops come in various colors, and there’s a sense of movement, yet the color does not obscure the title. |  |
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| OR KEEP COLORS SIMPLE Not every book needs a rainbow. Think about how color might reflect the story. |
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| Using only pink and brown colors, the designer created a clever cohesive color story to mimic George Washington Carver’s 105 ways to prepare peanuts for human consumption. |  |
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| MAKE TYPOGRAPHY THE STAR! Typography is often overlooked but, by using the right fonts, you can add clarity and depth to your cover. |
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| This cover is a beautiful reimagining of a spellbinding classic by Paulo Coelho. The carefully random placement of the text simulates the scattered sheep in the field. |  |
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| Using see-through text, the cover for An Object of Beauty literally gives readers a glimpse into the New York art scene. |  |
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| The skinny type with interesting perspective toward the cover’s focal point makes this cover promising and different. Notice that the designer is not afraid to take up the entire cover space with text. |  |
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| Beautiful in its restraint, Breathing Room shows underlined and evenly spaced out text. |  |
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| Designer Chris Welch cleverly capitalizes off of the idea by draining the type of its color. |  |
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| This book cover prominently features a letter Z as the main image with a person emerging from the type. |  |
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| YOU DON'T ALWAYS NEED TO BE LITERAL: Use hints to add interest |
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| 1984 is a classic, and this subtle cover reboot indicates suspicion and secrecy. It also references the idea that big brother’s always watching. |  |
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| Using words to create the one half of the image, this book cover suggests that the character is part real and part imagination. |  |
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| Designer Sebastian Andreas creates a fine focal point with this shackled fist, raised in indignation. You can see from the cover the promise of anger and injustice in the contents of this book. |  |
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| CREATE AN INTERESTING ATMOSPHERE: What does your audience fear? Use this idea to craft your book cover. |
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| Creepy imagery fascinates the reader. With this cover image, Brief History of the Dead successfully grips the reader into at least reading what the book is about. |  |
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| Not all foreboding has to be about death and gloom. Sometimes, a report card can conjure up all the feelings of fear, anxiety, and uneasiness. This cover by Evan Munday and Jon Paul Fiorentino and indicates raw honesty and sympathy |  |
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