5. Be Unique! (But Not Too Unique) This one goes back to our discussion on genre.You want your cover to convey your book's genre, but you should also push a little bit farther and give those readers a reason to pick your book out of that sea of samey covers. I’ll give a standout cover … Continue reading On Book Covers: Part 5

4. Professionalism This is a pretty nebulous concept. In general, does it look like someone with thoughtfulness and skill designed this cover, or does it look like someone with no previous experience used a “make your cover” template? For those who are designing your own covers on a budget and don’t have access to fancy … Continue reading On Book Covers: Part 4

Today's lesson is on how to make that cover pop. 3. Visual Impact The human eye is naturally drawn to three things: movement, high contrast, and bright color. For a book cover, motion is out, but we have two tools left at our disposal. Contrast and color.Contrast: This is merely the level of difference between … Continue reading On Book Covers: Part 3

On to our second lesson on book cover design... 2. Genre Readers should be able to look at your cover and instantly know kind of story it is. Every genre has its cover conventions. Script font with two beautiful people in regency dress embracing on the cover? Historical romance. A dragon’s eye and a strong … Continue reading On Book Covers: Part 2

So where to begin our discussion of the 5 traits of good book covers? We'll start off with: 1. Clarity This concept is pretty simple. How easy is your cover to read? Readers should be able to determine your title in a fraction of a second. Make it prominent, give it high contrast, and make … Continue reading On Book Covers: Part 1