Tips on making a book cover

On the other hand, a print book sits on a shelf of a bookstore where consumers can physically pick the book, feel it in hands and flip through it. When you are designing a book cover, you are visually representing the chapters, paragraphs, characters, events, settings, and ideas, all in a single image. Here, weve pulled together ten book covers were currently crushing on. Even though weve all been told since childhood to never judge a book by its cover, the fact is that book cover design does attract readers. Were here to help turn your swipehappy snaps into pageturning treasures with a photo book that chronicles your travels. It is better to have a welldesigned cover that can help increase sales. Making a comic book requires a lot of work and a lot of cooperation, but it is an incredible thing to see your writing or art come together to tell a story. A common assignment given to middle and elementary school students is to design a summarizing book cover. How to build the back of a book cover with template. Cover designer ninai freitas urges authors to think of covers for books as a longterm investment.

When you hear about authors being asked to blurb a book, its this endorsement theyve been asked to provide. Top 11 book cover design tips for independent authors. Top 11 book cover design tips for independent authors designhill. The author is the blogger behind photo book girl a resource for finding the best photo book companies, the latest photo book deals and helpful tips on designing your own photo book. Books with amateur covers sell poorly or go out of print quickly. To fully cover both points, weve split this post into two sections. The book cover design is one of the most critical factors in a books success.

Many teachers are partial to this literature assignment because it contains elements of crafting, allowing more room for creativity, and provides students with a new way to summarize the plot and theme of a book. Tips and tricks for making the writing process easier duration. A hardback books pages are sewn or glued into a case made of. Youve got months scratch that years worth of digital photos waiting to be enjoyed in print. Here youll see some outstanding photoshop work but are they good book cover designs. Read story tips on making book covers by bookwormelephant fruited writer with 2,592 reads.

The secrets to a killer ebook cover can be boiled down to five key elements. Draw a line with your pencil across the bag, where the top and bottom of the book are. When you work with a cover designer, keep these tips in mind and make sure you give them creative direction that wont. Select a good cover font sometimes people really only focus on the cover image, but the font and title design should definitely not be overlooked.

Looking for some tips on how to get your book cover designed. To make a book cover with a brown paper bag, start by cutting the bag open and removing any handles. This is a critique and a tutorial to teach and illustrate good cover design rules dtg magazine design department dtg magazine, the original design zine since 1990. Here are top 11 book cover design tips for independent authors 01. Here are some book cover design tips, tricks and design rules that are universal, meaning they are tried and tested techniques and guidelines that work on a large variation of book covers. Have a good author profile picture and a professionallooking book cover. Amateur designers usually add it because they dont know how else to make their. Skilled authors contracted to a publisher will have a professional book cover designer create their killer book cover for their novel or nonfiction book. Theres an ageold saying that we should never judge a book by its cover.

At the end of 20 i put out a package of diy book cover templates in microsoft word and revolutionized publishing with a howto guide to designing amazing book covers in an easy to use program youre already familiar with. Remove the book from the bag and then fold the top and bottom of the bag where the pencil marks are. In here, i will give secrets about the photo editing, tips about the picture, and more. In case you dont end up reading cover design secrets or watching the videos tutorials, here are my top ten tips on book cover design that will help you.

Place the book back on the bag, right in the center, and line the edges of the bag up with the edges of the book. Then part 2 contains tips from our top designers on the best ways to design an aesthetically beautiful jacket. A paperback book s pages are glued together with a paper cover and then cut to size. An effective book cover makes a positive first impression on potential readers. Easy instructions for making a paper bag book cover. Therefore, hire an experienced designer who will advise on. I know that most of my followers are writers, and often selfpublished as well, or considering that route. Our redesigned hardcover photo book complete with new fabrics, cover designs and layout options offers just the place to celebrate these stories. Book cover design rules, tips and tricks presented by fred showker as part of judging the wiley design challenge. But it took me a while longer to figure out how to customize your front cover into a full print cover for createspace or other pod providers. If you liked this article on how to make a comic book, you should check out these as well. Book cover designer joshua jadon offers nine tips for creating a visually intriguing book cover.

An ebook cover should look and feel like a book cover. How to make your own digital photo book and her prior guest post for. How to make a comic book, design, characters, and cover. See more ideas about fabric book covers, notebook covers and journal covers. Open the front cover of the book to bring a fold over of plastic paper. Browse our book and ebook cover templates and choose the one you like, or choose a blank canvas. Decide if you want your book to have a softcover, a hardcover, or a premium leather cover. You do not have to use pressbooks to create your book coversyou can source those separatelybut you can use our book cover generator to produce both your ebook or pdf covers.

Blurb distinct from the back book cover blurb is this 12 line endorsement of a book by a celebrity or another author that sits on the books front cover. The 5 most common mistakes in book cover design and how to. Book cover design tips that will make you more sales. If you reduce your book cover to a oneinchsized thumbnail on your computer and you cant read the title, you need to change it.

Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Here are a couple of book cover design tips and tricks to think about and use when you go about actually designing it. So here are a few tips on ebook cover design, highlighting ways that it differs from printed book covers and things that might help your print cover designs too. Whitespace doesnt have to be white, it is just visual silence and if used wisely it can add visual appeal to your book cover. Place the cover artwork either on the first page of your indesign document, or create a. Nothing screams amateur like a square or misshapen book cover image. Next, use those dimensions and to cut out the spine and covers out of hardboard. A professional book cover design for selling on the web is created for visibility as the book will be sold on the platforms like amazon as a thumbnail. Next, cut a strip of fabric thats as long as the sheets of paper and glue it over the spine of the pages. Covers need to make a reader feel something rather than tell them something. To make a homemade book, start by cutting 2 equalsized pieces of cardboard for the front and back cover. In this video he gives advice on the main things to do and not to do to create a successful book cover for your comic book. The basic elements to include on a comic cover are.

Could a book cover redo double or triple your sales. Edit the design to your liking by modifying text, colors, images, effects and much more. If you discover a designer whose work you love, you can continue working with that designer on future products. Then, fold 6 sheets of paper in half, stack them, and sew the folded edges together. The five secrets to a killer ebook cover magnolia media. Youll also choose between standard pages or layflat book pages. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. Include something interesting about yourself on your profile page, as well as links to other social media sites. These are the things that inspire someone to buy your book. Many people on wattpad are making their very own book cove. Feel free to use my dimensions if youre making the same size book. Elements of a cover its important to pare back an ebook cover to its essential elements and to make some hard choices, given how little cover real estate you have in shopping.

Make sure the typeface is clear and easy to read, and conveys the genre of your book instantly. In this post, well outline the five most common mistakes in book cover design and how to avoid them. There are only really three things that make people pick a book up. You will want to apply a small piece of tape to hold the plastic in place. See our guides for formatting your manuscript and creating a cover. An eyecatching design can make the difference between a book that sells and one that stalls, so dont let your future bestseller get passed over due to a soso cover design. So dear readers, as promised im going to talk to you about the dreaded book cover. Tips for making your own book cover updated version. Tips for creating the best travel photo book snapfish us.

Before you start laying out your design, you should know which elements to include when making your comic cover. A paperback books pages are glued together with a paper cover and then cut to size. There are often image resolution requirements, file format and even multiple size requirements to consider. A poorlydesigned cover tells the book reading public that. Give emphasis to the typography of your book, blowing up the title to an exaggerated size, and setting the text in a highly contrasting color to the background. After using the platform for a while now, here are my best tips for writers using wattpad. After youre done making a book cover design that impresses both you and people you dont know, turn your flat 2d image into an awesome 3d book mockup to create more professional looking advertisements for your book. Here are 10 tips for creating a perfect facebook cover image that people will want to click.

Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. Here is an easy and quick way to make a book cover. An online reader or consumer will scroll down hundreds of titles on a computer screen. There were many book cover designs i was fond of, but they just didnt convey the right message. Save and download your book cover design in the file format you need. In summary we want the cover to have an 18 overhang and a space between the spine and the cover to allow the book to open freely.

Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. To get started click the create my free book cover now button below. More important than color or pictures is that your title is clear and easy to read. Most independent authors usually have no idea of how to create book covers. Selfpublished authors must fend for themselves and use a diy graphic program or independent book cover designer. How to make a good book cover on wattpad make an actual. Add a teacher note to share how you incorporated it into your lesson. But having a good cover certainly helps, while having a poor one might, unfortunately, hinder the books success. They recognise the authors name and liked their earlier work. Tips for creating custom print photo books shutterfly. These tips can help you whether you are creating you own cover with a program like canva, or working with a designer. Tips for making your own book cover updated version posted on december 7, 2017 categories writing.