Book Cover Design: 11 Tips to Increase Readers Attention

Self-publishing of eBooks is in the trend for a quite a few decades now. It is necessary to engage the readers in the competitive clutter. Book covers for self-published authors go a long way in moulding its sales mechanism. Unless you come up with a seamless eBook cover, your publication will go unnoticed and fail to grab the readers’ attention, regardless of the quality of content you produce. A professional book cover design enhances the visual appeal of the publication, making it palatable to the target group and to keep readers’ attention. A sophisticated design for your eBook cover increases its visibility to a substantial extent.

Here are some book cover design basics that will enable you to create a powerful impact among your readers.

• An insight into the context of the book

  

  The cover of the paperback should reflect the contents in it. Incorporate relevant design elements that provide an insight into the context of the book, which would in turn invoke readers’ interest. You may visually tell a story, or give an idea to the readers about the theme of the book. This evokes their interest in the book to a substantial extent, increasing the possibility of its sales. The professional book cover designers typically integrate the necessary graphics, illustration, animated characters, images and other visual elements in the cover to make them appealing. Take care not to expose the key plots or spoilers.

• Focus on the genre of your book

  

  Focussing on the genre of the book on the cover helps readers to mark it easily. Book lovers look out for particular genres of books. They can pick your manuscript from a vast plethora of genres in the websites when you integrate the genre on the cover. You can reach out to the reputed eBook designers for innovative cover design ideas. A professional support can help you break the jinx in a saturated eBook market. The problem with most of the self-publishers is that they lack professionalism in the cover. On the other hand, professional designers are well-acquainted with the rules of book cover design and incorporate the right design elements.

• Introducing your protagonist

  

  It is important to introduce your protagonist into the book cover when you design it. It connects the readers to your story and urges them to buy the book. You may approach the platforms providing best book cover design services to incorporate the hero or the central character of your story tactically into your cover. It creates a compelling sensation among the readers, increasing the sales potential of your book. A compelling eBook cover is the beginning of the connection between your story and the readers. You can attract the attention of your readers by introducing your protagonist in the front page.

• Comparing stunning book cover designs

  

  There are marked differences in the cover designs of books depending of their genre. For instance, the cover designs of fantasy books done by a typical cover design company are usually both photographic and illustrated while crime books tend to have exclusively photographic covers. Have you noticed the difference in font for book cover design for these two genres? Fantasy books mostly use Serif font with the title stylized boldly, while crime books confirm to sans Serif that is crisp and meek.

  These cover design norms can also be noticed in sub-genres. For instance, modern and dark fantasy titles opt for photographic and highly illustrated covers while illustrated and ‘painted’ covers are nominal for more traditional titles. Crime novels use illustrated covers that render insights to their thriller stories.

  While target audience are important so is their age, when you plan to design a book cover. For capturing the interests of the younger target audience, illustrated covers that depict a character are extensively used to evoke their curiosity. The different front page designs of Harry Potter are quintessential for this norm. No wonder that the series is highly popular among young audience and even adults!

• Setting the tone of the story

  

  The professional cover design service providers can help you set the tone of the story. Well, with so many publications available before your readers, it is difficult to make your mark among the target group. An inspiring tone can help you gain more readers. The readers should feel the happiness, melancholy or thrill of your book by glancing at the front page. The professional designers contextualize the design elements with the theme of your story to create the right tone.

• Sticking to the established rules of your genre

  

  It should not create a vague sensation about your theme. You need to stick to the established rules of our genre to make it impactful. Evert genre has got certain rules to follow. You may seek professional help from the experts while designing. Most of the successful publishers blend their ideas with those of graphic designing experts. For instance, certain fonts and typefaces are suitable for particular genres. Choosing a wrong font will affect the readability of the books.

• Focus on the details of your story

  

  Self-publishing authors often fail to penetrate into the market due to the lack of details. It is necessary to focus on the location, background, demography and other features of the theme that your project through your cover. They should be relevant to your storyline. Make sure what color gets people's attention and leverage the color psychology to obtain the response from your audience.

• Focus on typography and selection of font

  

  A title with even a single word speaks thousand words. It is not merely the words but mostly the typeface that communicates the idea of the words to the subconscious mind; it is in fact one of the most vital ebook cover elements. So, precise usage and arrangement of book cover typography is important. The fonts should be clear, bold and easy to read and understand. But do not employ overused or common font such as Times New Roman, Comic Sans or Papyrus. There should not be too much fonts on the cover of your book.

• Choosing cover colors to grab attention

  

  The way you select color is very crucial and you can’t ignore this fact. Choose colors wisely and set the mood of the readers; this is one of the primary tips for good book cover design. Complimentary colors would be a great combination to use on the cover. Analogous colors on the other hand can be used as a combination of dark and light tints.

• Consider your eBook cover dimensions

  

  While planning to publish your book online, make sure that the ebook cover dimensions are in line with requirements of market. Ensure that you select the most accurate ratio between height and width.

  The dimensions have to vary based on the market. Consider the chart providing the basic dimensions along with file perquisites that the best self-publishing book websites have. Accordingly, you can frame your book cover design ideas.

  Platforms	File Format	Dimension	Recommended
  Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)	JPEG and TIFF	2,560 x 1,600 pixels | Ideal ratio of 1.6:1	between 1,000 x 625px & 10,000 x 10,000px
  Barnes & Noble	JPG and PNG	Rectangle height & width at least 1400 pixels	minimum of 750px for height and width
  Apple (iBooks)	JPG and PNG	1400px x 1873px or 1600px x 2400px	atlest of 1400px wide
  Kobo Books	JPG and PNG	1600px x 2400px	minimum of 1400px wide
  Smashwords	JPG and PNG	1600px x 2400px	minimum of 1400px wide
  Draft2Digital	JPEG	1600px x 2400px	must be a tall rectangle

• Create your individual style

  

  In order to create a strong and long-lasting impact with your eBook among the readers, you may come up with your individual design style. Understand what makes a good book cover design and create it in your own way. Be innovative with the mix of design elements and presentation styles. Most of the self-publishers seek tips for ebook cover design from the experts while designing. They collaborate with the professionals to come up with their unique style. Setting an individual style will help you to capture your reader base in the subsequent publications too.

  Conclusion

  Good design can help you hold your readers’ attention to the very last word. These guidelines of designing book covers will help you to reach your readers and market your eBook with authority. Your design is a powerful tool for increasing book sales. Get across to a reputed eBook cover designing platform to make your publication a success.