Covers that connect: Book covers are crucial to book sales, but what makes a "good" cover design? How can you work with a designer to make sure you get the right cover for your book? Discover insider secrets from an award-winning book cover designer. You'll learn universal principles and tips that work on all genres, as well as common design mistakes that will kill book sales. Shannon Bodie has worked in the publishing industry for over 20 years. She has enjoyed sharing her knowledge of the industry as a speaker, consultant and design judge for the past 15 years.

1. SHANNON BODIE, BookWiseDesign.com
COVERS THAT CONNECT

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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?

5.  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 . . .

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. Color has a big impact on mood and emotion:
I found a cover, love the art, but it looking dull on the page.
So I “pumped” it up in Photoshop. Red is in the title after all.

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. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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?

23. Cover design evolution and market testing:

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.
Starting in May, 2014 this book was funded by regular people and
artists, and not by some corporation or publishing house. It was the
most funded art project ever on one of the biggest crowd funding
sites in the world, IndieGogo. Visit facebook.com/21draw to learn
more.

25. 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 still
very
important to
sales.
On most non-fiction 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.

26. The spine can use artwork, be sure to pay attention to how it
will wrap on binding. Does it have good contrast, is it readable?

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

28. 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.

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

30. 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 an interior page.

31.  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.

32. 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

33. 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