A few more thoughts about book cover design.

Given the importance of every book cover, here I offer a few more thoughts about book cover design

There are programmes available free on the web – so much is free to use on the web to assist indie publishers – for anyone who wants to design book covers. The wealth of experience grows more sophisticated and user friendly every day. There are tutorials and lots of free on-line help – as well as some excellent books! – to get us started with book cover design.

But, speaking as someone who loves to write, has a busy life and lots to do, I decided early to outsource many aspects of book cover design. I rely on a wonderful designer who not only has done many fabulous book covers, but who works incredibly fast and has an incredible grasp of detail.

There is a lot to think about, when considering book cover design. As my first book has a certain look and feel, and since my first three books are a sort-of series that hang together, we decided early on to try and emulate that in the later covers. Which gave my designer something to work with.

If you are coming to the market with your first book, think about design, style, the unique ‘fingerprint’ you want your book to have, and what it says about the genre and content. To make a cover that is distinctive, that stands out from all the other books of its type in the market, and yet which fits in with the broad conventions of that genre – I hesitate to offer examples, in case that causes offence to some readers – might be a challenge, but has to be attempted. A quick glance through book covers in different genres will show that there are distinctive differences. (Tudor epics have often featured a woman in period dress with her head enigmatically missing. Recently, heads have been reinstated…)

First find an excellent image, which works well as a thumbnail – the size of an image typically viewed for on-line sales – and which has the image the right way round. (If landscape, with the image at the right-hand-side). The search for a good image is time consuming but actually a lot of fun. You’ll know if it works for you when you see it.

Thanks for reading

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