You work really hard to create your book. You put time, thought, energy and maybe money into creating your book’s contents. You have it formatted, edited, and even read by test readers. Your goals are balanced on the success of your book and the inside matters most, right?
Well, the truth may be a bit different than that. The truth is that we do judge a book by its cover. It’s important to put a lot of attention into your book’s cover. After all, the stronger your cover is, the more book sales you’ll have.
And yes, the inside matters too but to get to the good stuff, you have to motivate people to buy first. So what do you want to consider when making your book cover? Let’s take a look at some important things to think about.
What Is Your Genre?
Different genres have different cover styles. For example, a mystery book cover looks a lot different than a self-help book cover. A text book cover looks different than a coaching manual. So while you do want your book cover to stand out and grab attention, it also needs to fit within your desired genre. You want your readers to recognize that your book fits into their genre and you want it to match their expectations.
Should You Create It Yourself?
You can create your own book cover. There are certainly enough tools, stock photo sites and tutorials to help you create a cover. In fact, some technologies make it look quite easy. However, you also want to consider your own graphic design skills. If you don’t have a keen sense of design or an artistic background, then you may want to hire a designer.
Here’s the great thing: you can find a top quality designer to create your book cover for a relatively low fee. Yes, you have to pay money but in return you’ll get a professional quality book cover. This matters. If you want people to trust what is inside, the outside needs to be professional quality.
It’s Not Just the Front That Matters
If you’re printing your book or offering it in print, you’ll also need a binding and back cover. And digital, audio, and print books all require different formatting for the cover. For example, a print cover will require much better resolution than a small digital book cover. Each publishing service or distribution service will tell you their specifications. Share those with your designer or pay attention to them when you are creating your book’s cover.
There are many considerations to make when you’re publishing a book, and the cover is often the last step before launching. Make sure that your cover fits your audience’s expectations, grabs attention, and has professional quality and design.