Let us never ignore one important fact in book writing, which is that people always judge a book by its cover. Despite the fact that we have been repetitively told by everyone to never judge a book by its cover, we still judge a book by its cover, as this is the simplest way that people are.
So, keeping this aspect in mind, you will want to understand what people want in a good book cover and how we can position that in order to sell more books because, essentially, a good-selling book cover is so much different than a good-looking book cover.
Make Cover Aesthetics Meet Reader Expectations
There is a fine line between balancing what a good book cover looks like aesthetically or what you like as the author, and then balancing what is expected in the respective genre and what people are drawn to for that genre.
So, when it comes to non-fiction books, if you are writing one, you must keep in mind that it is not easier in terms of book cover design compared to a fiction book. Now, we know that most people believe that fiction books require all the hard work to come up with the best book covers; however, the truth is the other way around.
Establish a Clean Design
The truth is that non-fiction books have a variety of genres that come with different expectations for what the cover should look like. So, the first tip that can help you get the perfect book cover design that will actually help you sell the book is to have a clean design and ensure that the title is easy to read.
Say if you are self-publishing your book in Australia, you will need to hire illustrators in Australia who are well aware of the niche you have written in. This will ensure that your book stands out in the crowd and that people are actually drawn to the book. Your book cover is the first contact point for your potential readers, which is why you must ensure that your book cover speaks volumes.
Make sure that the main title and subtitle of your book are easy to read from afar. You must keep in mind where the people are looking at these books. Where is your ideal reader when they might be looking for your book? The most probable answer is Amazon, which is why they might be on their tablet, computer, or their phone.
You must remember that these are specifically small screens, especially when your ideal readers look at your book on their phone, which is why they should be able to read the title from the cover in just a little thumbnail from the website.
Meet Your Reader’s Expectations
You must ensure that the book design—or the titles of your book—are really clear and easy to read from afar. However, when it comes to meeting expectations, you must also ensure that the title and book cover are based on what is expected in your genre.
To meet the expectations, you will need to thoroughly understand who you are writing to and who your avatar is. You must get a clear understanding of who your main audience is, as this will dictate the potential categories and keywords you choose from your book and where it shows up on Amazon.
Believe us when we tell you that all these different aspects really dictate how well your book will sell, especially as you will be self-publishing. You get the point – everything follows who you are writing your book for.
Be Clever and Clear
When it comes to your book cover design, you will need to remember that clear is always better than clever, especially if clever is confusing. Now, you can be clever only if it is also clear and if you can make something make sense. So, when we say clear, we mean that when your ideal readers get to your book, they shouldn’t have to think too much about it and try to figure out what you are trying to say or what potential image you are trying to create with your book cover design.
The book cover and everything that is on the book cover should be very clear – but – merging that clearness with cleverness is going to be your golden spot.
Understand the Dimensions of an Audiobook
You will want to keep in mind that your audiobook will be a different size, which means that your audiobook will be a square instead of a rectangle. So, if you are hiring a legitimate book cover designer, you will have nothing to worry about as the professional will already know that the audiobook cover is a different size, and that will accommodate this aspect for you if you have an audiobook that you are selling.
What Are the Rules for Fiction Books?
If you are writing a fiction book, you should know that the rules for the book cover are the same but super different, too. When it comes to book cover design, fiction books are way different than non-fiction books, as you don’t see many non-fiction books with super intricate art and backgrounds, as well as environments for their main character on the cover. This aspect perfectly indicates where fiction and non-fiction differ; however, many of the rules are quite similar, too.
Your cover is dependent on your genre, which is why your book cover has to be something that will sell in your genre –unless you are writing a book for yourself and not the readers and you also don’t care about the selling of your book.
Often, what the writer wants more for their cover may not be what the genre needs in order to sell. So, by finding what you want to have on your cover, you might be able to bring your idea to life with the genre’s expectations. So, you will need to understand who your audience is and what the age range is that you are writing to. You will also want to understand the genre and the sub-genres as well to come up with a book cover that will actually sell.
