Book cover design course by Shannon Bodie of BookWise Design, includes details on how to assure your book cover design has strong impact and works for your target audience.

2. SHANNON BODIE
BookWiseDesign.com
COVERS THAT CONNECT
JENIFFER THOMPSON
MonkeyCMedia.com
Slides & handouts at: www.slideshare.net/Shannon_Bodie

3. Get your cover on the right track:
You only have seconds to reach your potential
readers—so make it count!
Before starting the cover design process
determine your target audience. This is
not all the possible readers your book will
have, but the most likely readership.
Knowing your target audience guides you
(and your book design team) in all aspects
of the design process: trim size, font, color,
imagery, even what paper and finish are
used when printing your book.
Know your genre—what books are your
audience buying? Gather genre research.

4. Know your genre visually:
Genre and category research is very important. Of course you
want to stand out in the crowd, but you don’t want to look out
of place. Fiction vs. nonfiction, then drill down to your specific
categories. Learn what books are selling well to your audience.
Best sellers
Fiction
Best sellers
Nonfiction

5. Your pre-design creative meeting checklist:
Target market specs: gender, age, ethnic diversity. Does
your target reader have any special training or knowledge, or
beliefs to consider? Be specific and realistic, not everyone is
truly in your book’s target market.
What are the top 10 best-selling competitors? How is your
book unique from these books? Also look at the books not
selling as well. How will your book be better?
Key team members with special knowledge, especially
authors and editors should be included. Don’t forget a
distributor with market info to share—can they review proofs
with their sales staff?

6.  Goals for sales of books: do you have the start of a series,
potential for market expansion, author-speaker support?
Share your goals for book sales: plan to start with a digital
print run or ebook version, then future print or add-ons
(guides, online courses, etc.)
 At least five samples of covers with design qualities you like.
Not to be copied—to help detail the visual or “gut reactions”
you have to design styles. Your personal preferences (and the
author’s) are important to work into the design. Don’t hold
back thinking you are “stifling creativity.”
Now we have the foundation for creating a design,
let’s explore what makes an outstanding cover . . .

7. You need to be able to read your title easily.
This may seem obvious, but it is a common mistake,
that best sellers rarely make . . .
Your cover needs to attract a shelf viewer,
and also look good at very small sizes online,
where you may have questionable screen
resolution and contrast, depending on the
device a viewer is using.

8. Color has a big impact on mood and emotion:
You can learn from what other publishers improve in new
editions. Why did they make an update, does it work better?

9. Cool colors tend to
have a calming
effect on the viewer.
Used alone, these
colors can have a
cold or impersonal
feel. So when
choosing cool colors,
it may be wise to
add a color from
another group to
avoid this and add
warmth.
COOL
Warm colors tend to
have an exciting effect.
However, when these
colors are used alone
they can over-
stimulate, generating
emotions of anger and
violence. When
choosing warm tones,
adding colors from
another group will help
to balance this.
WARM
Neutral colors are a
great selection to
mix with cool or
warm palettes.
They are great for
backgrounds, and
tend to tone down
the use of other bold
colors. Black is
added to create a
darker shade, while
white is added to
create a lighter tint.

16. Use good contrast for type and keep it concise. Try to keep
character count low so the type can be larger. Assure any
images used do not conflict with readability. Which text can
you read well?
Good contrast is crucial for readability of text: use light text
over dark areas, or dark text over light backgrounds.

17. Some examples to review contrast and text readability:
Difficult to read: text is running over
background with variation in light and
dark (poor contrast).
Similar design concept, but the text is
larger, and white, with better contrast in
the background for a more readable title.

18. Which title can you read? Which has better text contrast?
Difficult to read: text is running over
background with variation in light and
dark (poor contrast).
Text is over a background with less
variation in dark and light. Areas of the
image with variation in contrast (hands)
do not have text running over them.

19. Avoid text over images that interfere with readability:
Title is placed over a background with
variation in light and dark (poor contrast).
Text is also a hand written font style
which is more difficult to read.
Title over a background with no variation
—black background and light text—
contrast at the highest level. Equals a
very readable title.

20. Avoid showing too much or trying to represent every
reader possible on the front cover. Instead of attracting
“everyone” as you hope, you can overwhelm, and detract
from your message AND potential sales.
First cover
has too many
images, so
the cover
feels crowded.
The second
and third,
use multiple
images in a
clear and
balanced way.
Too much text or imagery can turn off the entire market,
instead of widening your audience.

21. What if I have a lot of copy and just can’t reduce further?
Tips for making dense copy work:
1)Make your title “pop.” Have a clear
path for the eye: vary size and color of
type to help the reader know what to
read first.
2)Leave some white space “open
areas” for balance.
3)It’s a balancing act—not all the text
will read well at reduced sizes.
4)Stay in the same font family when
you vary style (bold, italic, condensed
or extended).
5)Make sure any image balances well
with text and doesn’t angle the eye
away from content.

22. Cover design evolution and market testing:

23. Cover design evolution and market testing:
You can learn from what other publishers improve in new
editions. Why did they make an update, does it work better?

24. Cover design evolution and market testing:
You can learn from your supporters, if you have a list ask them for
feedback in cover design surveys. Here is a design that needed a boost
to color and contrast for more impact in the youth fantasy market.

25. Back cover and spine design check list:
Cover template from printer: Includes the trim size dimension,
bleed, and the spine width based on final page count. This is very
import to have exact. Any change in paper (change in printer) will
alter this measurement.
Headline: Can be a call to action, and include the book’s title.
Paragraph or two of concise marketing copy. Keep this
readable, most fonts need to be at 10pt or above.
Endorsements: Again keep these concise and readable, if
needed get approval for reduced version and run full version
if you like on a review page in the interior.

26.  Author photo: If your author is an expert/speaker, it is a good
idea to place their photo on the back cover. However, if they
are not well-known yet, better to use space for endorsements.
 Barcode/ISBN/price: Remember to order individual ISBNs
for ebook editions, and other future books if you plan a series.
 Category: Don’t use more than three; too many could be
confusing and difficult to make readable in the space available.
 Publisher: include name and logo with web url for connecting
on back cover.
 Spine: Include title, author’s last name and publisher logo. Only
use an image if your spine is wide enough to make this work
well.

27. After your front cover concept and artwork is approved,
on to the rest of the cover—the spine and back cover:
Unless you only
plan to have
ebook editions
the rest of the
cover is very
important to
sales.
For most books an author photo is not as key to sales as endorsements and
strong marketing copy. Don’t forget to include a url and publishing contact.
I like to wrap the spine image to avoid roll on the spine edge when possible.

28. When the author is a speaker, and/or building their brand recognition
a photo/bio can be important to their marketing efforts.

29. This publisher wanted the author photo featured because the author is
attractive, a speaker and a doctor. On the front we featured a bonus CD.

30. You can use an image wrap with blending in Photoshop to create a
wrap. Avoid too much text, it will overwhelm the reader.

31. Cover: before and after

32. Cover: before and after

33. Cover: before and after

34. Cover: before and after

35. Cover: before and after

36. Supporting your success:
We want you to succeed in publishing. As book industry
professionals we are here to learn from and support one
another in creating the best books possible. None of our
design comments are meant to criticize or judge your
efforts to date. We understand that you have worked hard
to get your book to this important stage. This feedback is
intended to support you in reaching your audience and
selling more books!
This review is also intended to help you develop an eye for
best book design principles. You will need this skill whether
you hire a freelancer or design books yourself.

37. 2016 cover design
2017 cover design

39. Note: check on trim size,
seems a unique size and this
could cost more to print,
difficulty in finding POD
printers that use the size.

44. Note: hard edges of contrast
on spines can be difficult to
bind on center, check carefully
with printer before finalizing a
design if you have concerns.

45. How is a cover design different for an e-book?
The same design principles
apply. Correct design for
your market is still key, and
good readability is even
more crucial.
Create your ebook covers
at press resolution. The
requirements for readers
are high resolution, and if
you decide to create a print
edition, you’ll be ready.
Simple answer—it isn’t.
File size for 6”x9” print: 1800x2700 pixels
Kindle preferred: 2500 pixels on longest side

46. Updates and new editions. With good planning you and your
cover will have a long successful relationship.
Slides & handouts at: www.slideshare.net/Shannon_Bodie