Four Innovative Ways to Craft a Better Book Cover by guest @KJWatersAuthor

I love the cover for Stealing Time! But the tentacles cover … I guess that’s half the point. Designing a cover that appeals to our target reader, but not to others.

Your rule #3 is good. I see a lot of ugly covers but don’t always stop to think why I don’t like them. In hindsight, it’s often because they are too busy. It spoils the aesthetic.

Thank you so much for these great tips! I find that a good cover is so important to me, as an author to represent my book baby, and also as a reader, to get a sense of the story.

Practical, thank you

I love to learn about book cover designing. So many components to consider-even tentacles! Font style, size position can bother me. Thanks for all the good info!

Iola, thank you so much! The target reader is crucial, if you can nail this element you can sell your books.

I have seen my fair share of bad covers too and I always want to reach out and help them out.

The other reason covers can strike you as off without you being able to put your finger on it is if you have multiple images but the lighting is from a different angle in each one. I notice it because we work hard to avoid that issue even down to the lighting of the text.

Nice to meet you, Iola!

Thanks for the tips! I’m always looking to learn more about cover design. Getting covers just right is SO important, but also so very difficult. (I especially struggle with the fonts.)

Thanks for your time and advice.

This post is one that I’m going to read and reread, as I’m wrestling with the artwork for my first novel. Thank you for being straightforward and including such great examples. I’ll definitely remember the “tentacle cover”, even though I have no plans to buy or read the book!

Thanks so much for this. I’ve been lost in websites of book cover designs! There are many and the choices are overwhelming. You laid out a simple plan to follow for the creation of a great book cover. Thank you!

I am an amateur photographer and I completely forgot about the rule of thirds for the book cover. Now I know why our current cover just wasn’t looking right to me. Thanks for the reminder!

These are some great tips for covers. People say not to judge a book by its cover but they do!

There is so much to think about with cover design. Thanks for sorting some of this out!

I’m working on covers for a new series now, so this information is right on time!

That’s a great reminder that images can be layered so that you don’t (necessarily) need to pick just one.

For my genre, chick lit, many times fairly intricate illustrations are used, with lots of embellishments. So if I ever summon the budget and energy to rework my covers, I’d like to look into that.

I have a minor “hobby” interest in graphic design and have loved watching videos by John McWade on the topic. Who knew kerning could be such fun!

Maureen, very well summed up. It is important in so many ways.

Sorry to comment late and like this the website isn’t letting me comment in queue.

The Rule of Thirds is fascinating–and useful–advice. I will definitely keep that in mind in the future!

When I began writing in a new-to-me-genre, I checked out the bestselling covers in it and found many authors used similar fonts, a specific way of presenting the author name, and a particular style of cover model. I guess it’s a way of shouting (in three seconds or less), “Hey! This is the genre you’re looking for!”

I really like the idea of picking an image that evokes something of the story as well–great ideas here and a lot of food for thought!

I like the idea of looking at the cover as a thumbnail pic. That’s how many people will see it when they order it online.