When you create book cover designs for self-publishing authors, you get to work with a lot of very creative people, which is always an enjoyable experience, taking the synopsis for their book and developing a cover design which is something that we love to be involved with.

Over time we have created countless book covers for all genres and for print on demand services such as KDP Publishing, IngramSpark, Lulu and many others (both big and small).

When creating a cover there are things that we look for, in the design, layout and requirements of both the project and the required format (whether that’s in print as a paperback or hardback, or as just an eBook cover design). You’ll also find that the print on demand service being used will also have different specifications for the book too.
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So, here are some of our favorite book covers with a little detail on what went into the design and where you can find the book too.

If you’re publishing a book with a print on demand service, then you may well have decided to use Amazon KDP (formerly Createspace) for your new title, after all, being a part of Amazon, they have one of the biggest platforms in the world for online retail and offer a great free to use service for authors.

Using their platform for self-publishing is fairly straightforward and we have written lots of articles showing you how to upload books, tweak your KDP account and even promote your book on Amazon with their own advertising options for authors & sellers.

But an important part of your publishing journey with Amazon KDP will be your book cover design.
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The first thing to remember is that you will likely publish your book as both an eBook and in print, the eBook will be sold via Kindle and the cover has to be created to certain specifics to work with their book readers, whereas the book cover design for print will need to be created specifically for your paperback and/or hardback (taking in to account the spine width based on the page count) and a different set of specifics.

We all understand that a great book cover design is essential when it comes to catching the eye of your potential reader, ensuring that your book stands out upon the page, looks professional and is readable as a thumbnail.

But what do you need to consider when creating an eBook cover?

The first thing that you’ll need to look at will be the actual dimensions of the eBook, because when it comes to publishers, they do require different sizes for the eBook cover.

We have all heard the old saying not to judge a book by its cover, meaning not to take things at face value, and try to look a little deeper, the only trouble with this is that we’re subconsciously predisposed to make quick decisions based on how something looks. This is something that we have kept within our subconscious minds for millennia, and as such, we all make assumptions about a person or product based on looks all the time.

From this, the world of advertising has developed and pushed boundaries to ensure that what you look at when you walk into a store has the best chance of grabbing your attention, this goes for the online stores too.
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Now, you may say ‘well advertising doesn’t work on me’ and if that truly is the case, that’s great, however, it does work on lots of other people, and if you want to give your book the best chance of being considered by a potential reader, then you should think about the design you choose for your book. 

So, you’ve spent months and possibly years on completing your manuscript, you’ve edited, proofread, edited, re-written, edited some more, and now, finally, you’ve finished it! What’s next?

Well, the obvious next stage is in publishing your book, but before you go rushing to KDP or IngramSpark, you should give some very real thought to your book cover design (strange you say, a book cover design company talking about the merits of having a professional cover...hmmmm).
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Of course, we’re bound to be of the opinion that having a professional cover will help your book, but whether you like it or not, people do judge a book by its cover, so ensuring that your book looks professional and grabs the attention of a reader (and in a good way), is vital to the success of your book.

The back cover of your book gives you an opportunity to sell the content to a potential reader, but what elements do you need to have upon it, and why should you spend more time that you may think in getting this right?

First of all, the book’s back cover is a sales opportunity for you as an author, it enables you to give a clear reason as to why the reader would want to delve into the pages within and buy your book, the message you have upon the back page will differ slightly from fiction to non-fiction, but it’s job will be the same.

The Blurb
Looking at fiction first of all, the back page should contain a short synopsis of your story, giving some tantalizing details where you introduce the main characters, hit the reader with a hook to make them want to find out more, set out the landscape (time and location) and be aimed at your target audience (the language you would use in a historical adult fiction novel will be different to that of a children’s book for the under 10s of course).

There are a lot of details which should go into the front and back cover of a book, as the face and advertising of your publication, the cover design should be eye-catching and at the same time sell the title to a reader, but aside from an image with your name and the book’s title upon it, what should you consider for the cover?

To begin with you need to understand two things, firstly, the book and its concept, and secondly the marketplace and its space within it.

So, let’s look at the first element, your book and its primary focal point.

Now no one knows your book like you, after all, you did write it, but, you still have to step back a little and look at the overall concept, this can mean condensing the message down to one main focal point. 

Having created thousands of book covers for authors from all genres, backgrounds and corners of the world, you gain a great understanding of what you should ask when starting on a new cover, what details you’ll need, what you won’t and the specifics that would make creating a book cover design impossible without.
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There are basic details that most authors will naturally pass on to a designer and others that maybe they’ll forget about, so, here is our list of seven of the most important things you should consider when letting your book cover design know about your book.