If you have come this far, it may be for two reasons: because you are a writer and you want to design the book cover that you just wrote; or because you have been asked as a designer for a cover for a book and you don't really know how to put this project together.
Either way, the process is simple, but there are some aspects that must be taken into account to avoid falling into errors or failures that, later, when the books are printed, is a design (and time) wasted. Do you want us to talk to you about it?
The cover of the book
The cover of the book is perhaps one of the most important parts out there. Keep in mind that readers do not usually stop to see all the books in a bookstore, but instead focus only on the ones that catch their attention. And that's where the cover comes in.
This It has to be captivating enough that a person, when they see it, cannot help but pick up the book and analyze it more closely. In other words, the cover of the book is the first impression you are going to make on a reader.
Therefore, it is important to pay a lot of attention to details to get an acceptable set. And it must be characterized by:
- Be related to the book inside: you can't put a kitty cover if your story is about dogs.
- Be clear and understandable enough: if you put a black spot on a white background, people will not know what your book refers to, what literary genre it may be, and they will skip it.
- Having all the data of a book cover: and what data is it? We will comment on it below.
The essential data of a book cover and back cover
Both the cover and the back cover of your book must carry some information that are repeated in all the books, and that ignoring them can be a danger (because being different, they can be reluctant to buy it).
In the case of the cover, the data that it must have are: name of the author and title of the book. There's no more. There are many who put subtitles or phrases from the story, but you really only need those two pieces of information.
The author's name is because you have to specify who has written it (who is the person behind that story) and the title to be able to focus whoever sees it on the genre that that book encompasses.
What if it's the back cover? Here there is a bit more freedom, but in general it contains: synopsis of the story, barcode with the ISBN of the book, and optionally, biography of the author.
The synopsis of the book is important, it will be a summary of the story that is told in it, whether it is fiction or non-fiction. In addition, the ISBN code (represented by a barcode) is essential to be able to physically sell the books.
Finally, the author's biography, this is optional. There are those who decide to put it and those who use one of the internal pages to do it.
Design the front and back cover of your book
Now that we have told you about the importance of the front and back covers of your book, as well as the data that you must include in each of them, it is time to start designing them. But how to do it?
Make front and back cover separately
We recommend that you do it separately. That is, you create an image file that is the cover and another that is the back cover.
And this is because, if you are going to upload it digitally, you will not need a back cover, but you only have to put the cover of the book. If you only have one image with both, it will not look good and you will give a bad image.
Use appropriate programs
The programs that you should use to do so are image editing programs, since you will have to mix, combine and retouch the image and the text (for the author's name and the title) so that everything is framed and with quality to be printed. If you do it with a program that is not image editing, the quality will be "compromised" and when it comes to printing it will not turn out well.
If you are not good at it, it is best to hire an expert. We're talking about a pretty big topic that can ruin your book sales, and you can't play around with it. But if you are an expert, or are good at it, then go ahead.
Keep an eye on the measurements
We recommend that, when making the front and back cover, you do it based on the size you should have complete, that is, the front, spine and back cover. On the Internet you can find templates for this based on the size of your book, whether it has flaps or not. You can guide yourself with them and then divide each part. In addition, the images should be obtained with the best quality and size. It is better to use ones that are large and make them smaller than the other way around, which are pixelated.
Images and fonts consistent with the book
Always try to choose images and types of fonts that are consistent with the genre of the book. And, if possible, they have something to do with the story; since then the person who sees it will be able to know what it is about just by looking at the image.
Yes, try not to overload the cover. Experts recommend that no more than 3 types of fonts be mixed between the front and back covers, and that the illustration or cover image is not too ornate because it can give rejection (or the feeling that it is chaos and will not be understand the book). Sometimes less is more in these cases.
In general, when designing a book cover and back cover, what should come first is creativity and visuals. Depending on the genre, you will have to opt for one type of cover or another, and that will cause you to get different interpretations. Our recommendation is that you make several covers and test them. So you can know which of them is the most accurate for your story.