How to Create the Perfect Book Cover – Tips and Tricks 

Despite the saying, people still often judge a book by its cover. It’s the first point of contact a reader will have with your book, so it’s important it grabs their attention. Humans are visual beings, and we absorb and process information based on what we see. 

In this article, you’ll learn what makes a good book cover and how to go about the process. Get familiar with the different elements to take note of, some best practices, steps to create a book cover design, and how to get professional help.

What Makes a Good Book Cover

The cover should be a representation of what the book’s about without giving it all away. Good design is more than just colors and shapes, it’s how all these visuals work together to tell a story. The primary function of good book cover design is to hook someone into picking up your book and getting them to read it. 

Things to Consider When It Comes to Your Book Cover

What is your budget?

The first thing you have to consider is the budget you’re working with. Your answer to this will help you decide who takes on this task - will you hire a professional designer or handle it on your own? In one of our recent posts, we share the kinds of costs associated with getting professional help. If this doesn’t fit your budget, consider creating a cover yourself.

Who is your ideal reader?

With so many books on the shelf, how do you make your book stand out to readers? A good cover for a business book will be completely different from a fictional novel, which is why the key is understanding who your audience is. Take time to define your audience so you can keep them in mind when designing.

• Who are they?

• Why would they be interested in this book?

• What design elements would attract them? 

• What are they looking for in this book?

Once you know who your ideal reader is, you can figure out which direction to take your design.

Start Designing Your Book Cover

Let's get into the next steps on how to create a great cover for your book.

Get Inspired

Before you dive into designing your book cover, create a mood board to help you visualize what you want your cover to look like. It’s a useful way to piece together elements that will guide your design process. There are no rules for creating a mood board; you can work with a digital (using tools like Pinterest or Canva) or physical board, whatever works for you.

Plan Your Layout

Once you've gathered inspiration and figured out what the cover should look like, it's time to start the actual design. Begin with laying out your design elements; how you balance the space, size, and position of each will determine the look, and ultimately, the success of your design. 

• Size
• Placement
• Proportion

This visual hierarchy helps draw attention to the important elements of your book cover. Play around with the size, placement, and position until you’re happy with the outcome. The point is to make sure your layout is cohesive and draws attention to the right places. 

Decide on a Font

Fonts can convey the mood of your book. Each font has its own artistic style, and choosing the right one can impact how your book is perceived - is it modern, professional, academic,  etc.? You can use more than one font on your book cover, but don't go crazy. Typically, keeping it to a maximum of three fonts (main font for the title, second font for things like author name, and third font for small details like publisher name) is a great way to add visual interest without overwhelming the design. 

Think of a Color Palette

People have strong emotional reactions and associations with colors. This concept is called color psychology, and if you understand it, you can choose a color palette to evoke the emotional response you want from your audience. For example, seeing a book about meditation in hues of green and blue can help your audience feel calm and serene. On the other hand, a book about making money with a pop of red can make readers feel passion and excitement. 

Select Graphics

You don't have to include graphic elements in your book design, but in most cases, it can make your design feel more alive. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to choosing graphic elements. The best strategy? Think about your message and then experiment with elements until you find ones that work.

For example, a book on a particular city could include a picture of the city skyline or a children’s book could include illustrations of the characters. These graphics can help improve the messaging of your book, so choose ones that not only look great, but also tell a story. 

Good Book Cover Design Best Practices

Now that you know more about what makes up a good book cover, let's take a look at some examples and see why they’re so good:

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

The cover for Tim Ferris's "Tools of the Giants" uses color to help the title stand out, while the interesting font combinations add to the visual appeal.

The cover for Tim Ferris's "Tools of the Giants" uses color to help the title stand out, while the interesting font combinations add to the visual appeal.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

A good cover design should reflect the content of the book. This background of the night sky with twinkling stars and a crescent moon - what could be better associated with sleep?

Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold 

This book explores the experience of the famous climber Alex Honnold. What could be more fitting than a picture of him in action? It teases the adventure that awaits readers.

The cover is like a sneak peak of what to expect from the book. People should be able to tell if they’re holding an epic adventure story or an educational book.

This book explores the experience of the famous climber Alex Honnold. What could be more fitting than a picture of him in action? It teases the adventure that awaits readers.

The cover is like a sneak-peak of what to expect from the book. People should be able to tell if they’re holding an epic adventure story or an educational book.

Create Your Own Book Cover

The ideal software needs to be affordable, functional, intuitive, and user-friendly. We highly recommend using Canva, which is a great option for creating professional looking designs. 

• Create a design

Search Canva for the Book Cover design to start.

• Prepare your layout

Begin with a blank page or get inspired from the different templates Canva has to offer. You can use the template as a starting point and build from there.

• Customize your book cover

Upload your images and graphics or find options from their library. You can search by topic to find images that will fit your theme. 

• Try different design elements

It’s always good to test different images, fonts, colors, sizes, placements and proportions until you’re happy with the end result.

• Save and print

All that’s left to do is make sure to save your book cover design in the highest print quality available. And you’re all set, you now have your finished book cover!

How to Hire a Professional Designer for Your Book Cover

If you have the budget to hire a professional, here are a few points to keep in mind while searching for a designer to collaborate with. 

Know your Budget 

Many first-time authors don’t have tons of money to spend on a book cover. Additional artwork like a photoshoot or some custom illustrations can significantly increase costs as all those things are made from scratch. On average, you’re looking at upwards of $300-600. 

Choose a book cover designer

The best place to start is to look at book covers you like, and find the designers behind them.You can also find designers on sites like Behance (a portfolio site for designers) and Fiverr. 

Now that you know where to find designers and what makes up a good book cover design, you’re ready to take what you’ve learned into actionable steps. Book covers play a big role in marketing your book, so create something your readers will want to pick up.