Your Book Cover Sucks (and how to fix it)
You judge a book by its cover. We all do.
There is a reason why it became such a poignant phrase, the simple basis is that if we don’t like something upon first glances it’s doubtful that we will indulge in it. Imagine being at the supermarket. Are you going to buy that box of cereal on the shelf, untouched and undamaged? Or will you purchase the one that has been seemingly kicked around the warehouse and attacked by a racoon.
This extends into everything we interact with. Film trailers must grab your interest in a short space of time otherwise you won’t remember them. Music must have memorable hooks to play on the mind. Video games have to pique your interest enough to warrant a purchase. It is the exact same concept when it comes to book covers. Sure, they can be arty, they can be minimalistic, but they have to be gripping! Authors are not working with an immediately visible medium, it’s an investment in time. A gallery of artwork can be scanned in an instant. Those who write do not have this luxury and have to make the cover of their books count.
So why do so many who release e-books get this, rather simple concept, wrong?
It would be rude of me to point fingers, but run through the Kindle store and it soon becomes apparent who is self published. It’s apparent. Let’s not beat around the bush here. They’re plagued with badly laid out stock images (if not roughly scanned artwork), terrible text style and the like. Have a quick look at one of these titles and ask yourself this very simple question:
Would you buy it if it sat on a shelf in a bookshop?
The answer is inevitably no. Even if you love indie fiction there are limits. The title could be a magnificent hidden gem but looking through Amazon, Smashwords or iBooks is no different than flicking through Boarders or Waterstones and this is your one chance to create a potential sale.
Obviously we are not all designers. I am not a designer. I am the furthest thing from a designer, but I know what looks bad and I say that as a reader, not as an author.
I have been pretty negative in all of this but only to highlight my point. So how do you prevent yourself from falling into this pitfall? Follow the steps below.
1: Get Photoshop
There is a reason why Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard when it comes to image editing and if you’re going to have to learn the basics if you want to create a decent looking cover. I know. It’s daunting. It’s scary. There’s a reason why it’s so expensive. Be that as it may, download the trial and play about with it. Keep away from Microsoft Paint. It’s an abomination when it comes to image creation. Download it. Spend some time with it if you want to seriously make a good cover image. I won’t say it’ll be easy. I will say it’ll be more than worthwhile. Get it here.
2: Learn Layers
The fundamental thing to learn in Photoshop is Layers. Think of layers as animation cells that are placed on one another to build a complete picture. That means instead of having one single, complete image, you can build the image up. Look into blending backgrounds and overlaying objects. It will make all the difference.
3: Pick a Good Font
Never, ever use Comic Sans for anything. I’m not joking. Comic Sans doesn’t make your title look quirky or animated. There are a million fonts out there better suited. In fact, compared to Comic Sans, anything is better suited. Also, any font with dripping blood on it should be avoided. You are not making a flyer for a school Halloween party. Keep it clear, keep it within the theme of the novel and make it readable. Don’t sacrifice readability for something that looks good. You can find lots of fonts at http://www.1001freefonts.com/
4: Pick Suitable Art
Unless you’re a brilliant photography with a few grands worth of studio equipment you’re no doubt going to want to get hold of some stock images, paid or free. You can commission an artist of course, but be aware of the following, especially if you’re trawling through Deviantart:
Badly drawn, overpriced anime influenced artwork is the devils spawn. If you’re going to go down the anime route then make sure that you get someone respectable, won’t rip you off and isn’t a 13 year old girl insisting on making everyone look like Naruto.
5: Composition
You have your font. You have your images. When keeping them together remember to keep some sort of structure. Don’t overburden the cover with a mess of images. Less can be more. If you have numerous titles then keep branding in mind – keep things similar, the text and logo, if you have one, the same. Keep it all consistent and after some playing about you’ll create something that you’ll be proud of. A good example of keeping things consistent is the In Her Name series by Michael Hicks. I shouldn’t name drop, but have a look. It works.
There we go. A quick and dirty overview to help with cover creation. It’s a long and difficult process but if you’re serious about self-publishing and you have the burning desire to do everything by yourself getting something substantial in place is a must. You may have the best novel ever written but if the cover doesn’t grab people, then you won’t make the sales.
It is a harsh truth.