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Looking for a professional cover designer for your books? A stunning book cover is one of the best marketing tools for any writer! You will never have a second chance to make a first good impression with your book cover – online and offline! From the moment a person picks up your book, you have about 6 seconds to convince them to buy it. Effective book covers have a “hook,” something that intrigues readers to purchase your book.
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Ask to see the designer’s portfolio. Compare the portfolio to the covers of best sellers on Amazon. Does the designer’s work stand up to the best sellers? A no-brainer: Choose a designer who specializes in book covers. It’s harder for designers who specialize in, for example, brochures and posters, to understand how the elements work together on a book cover. Clarify your expectations upfront. What does the designer need? Ask for references from the designer, or if you are still searching for a designer, ask your friends and colleagues for a referral. Get at least three quotes from different professionals for any book cover design project
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Joel Friedlander’s List of Tips for Working With Your Cover Designer:
- Check the designer’s portfolio to make sure she understands and has worked in your genre, category, or niche.
- Make sure the designer’s fee is within your budget.
- If you need to have the work completed by a specific date, make sure this is communicated to the designer at the outset, and that he agrees to your schedule.
- Review the designer’s contract or agreement under which the work will be done.
- Let your designer know exactly what you’ll need besides the basic front cover.
- Review the formats you’d like to receive your cover in when it’s done: PDF for uploading to print on demand, a JPG of the front cover for your e-book, a high-resolution file, etc.
- Supply the designer with necessary background material (see the list above).
Give the designer photos or drawings that you think will be useful as background or visual inspirations. - Don’t dictate that the designer must use those elements, but leave it up to him or her—that’s why you hired a pro!
- Talk over the various approaches to your cover in the sample designs he/she will provide you with.
- Remember that you and your designer are collaborators trying to reach the best approach to packaging your book for sale.
- It’s wise to have a written agreement with your designer that addresses the exact work to be done, what it will cost, how payments will be made, how either person can cancel the contract if they wish, and the ownership of the artwork used to create the cover as well as the files the designer creates.
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Front Cover Tips
E-books are bought online, usually displayed on a page with many other books. Therefore clarity, simplicity, brightness, and information must jump off the screen. Use simple, yet stunning graphic elements and bold clear text for the title and the authors’ name, both must be easy to read on the tiny online image.
Never, Ever:
use the word “by” before your author name. Using the word ”by” screams DIY self-published.
Do not use a white background for your book! White on white is barely visible and on websites, your book will not stick out, as the sites’ background are almost always white.
Visit a Bookstore
Check out all the books that are similar to yours. Place your book (or a mock-up) between these. Does it look better? Is the spine eye-catching? Ask other patrons what they think about every book, but don’t tell which one is yours. Listen to their opinion. Place your book on the first table in the bookstore where the NY Times bestsellers are placed. Does your book cover really stand out?
Book Spine
The majority of books displayed in bookstores are shown “spine out” to maximize limited shelf space. So, one of the key tasks for the book designer when it comes to books sold at retail stores is the design of the book’s spine. It means to have clean, clear spine designs that actually help sell the book. What belongs in a spine:
- The author’s name, frequently only the last name to conserve space
- The book title, and if it contains information that helps define the book, this should be the dominant element
- Publisher identifier, typically a logo alone
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Discuss these Points with Your Cover Designer:
- Use bold or complementary colors
- Use light on dark for dramatic effects (if it fits your book content)
- Use not more than different two fonts in total
- Use not too wide vertical spaces between lines of text
- Use few shadow, bevel, gradient or glow – keep it subtle
- Align the cover text – center left or right
- Place text on a plain background to stand out
- Let the front cover design flow into the book’s spine
- Use the same fonts for all your books and readers will be able to identify them easily – think branding!
- Test the cover in thumbnail size to make sure it looks good at online seller’s website
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Not that an appealing cover means automatically a great book, but a book that is accurate and even interestingly represented by its cover, is more likely to catch the eye of someone who is going to enjoy reading it.
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Read more:
Lousy Book Covers
http://lousybookcovers.tumblr.com/
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Inside Random House: “The Art of Cover Design”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Z86L25v30
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Beautiful Books: Designer Editions & Sets
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/books-beautifully-designed-editions-sets-187414
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23 Creative Book Cover Designs and their Story – a showcase of fabulous book cover designs
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/creative-book-cover-story
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Books by Doris-Maria Heilmann:
111 Tips to Create Impressive Videos:
How to Plan, Create, Upload and Market Videos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYDH41S/
111 Tips To Make Money With Writing
The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing
An Essential Guide for More Income as Freelancer
https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz
111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free:
Detailed Plans and Smart Strategies for Your Book’s Success
https://books2read.com/u/bMre1a
111 Tips to Get Free Book Reviews:
Best Strategies for Getting Lots of Great Reviews
plus 1,200+ reviewer contact links
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5nx5
111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
How to Create, Where to Upload and How to Market Your Videos
https://books2read.com/u/mVZkjr
Book Marketing on a Shoestring:
How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending a Lot of Money
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5gdp
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