Why Readers Do Judge Books by Their Cover
In the world of self-publishing, where words weave magic and stories come to life, two unsung heroes often determine a book’s success before the reader even dives into the first chapter, book formatting and cover design. In this blog post, we unravel the importance of these often-overlooked elements that can make or break an author’s literary masterpiece.
The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” is often overlooked. The truth is, readers do judge books by their covers, and the design of paperback covers and dust jackets plays a crucial role in attracting potential readers. This blog explores the art and science behind book cover design(paperback or dust jacket) and interior formatting (what the words on the page look like).
The First Impression
Picture a potential reader scrolling through an online bookstore or perusing a shelf at their favorite bookstore. What catches their eye? More often than not, it’s a captivating book cover. A well-designed cover serves as the visual ambassador for your work, enticing readers to pick it up and explore further.
Branding
A professionally crafted cover captures attention and sparks curiosity. It also conveys the mood, genre and style of your story guiding them to understand what lies within. This is also known as branding. Not only do you want to remain consistent with your book’s appearance on the outside but the interior as well. Moreover if you will be writing a series of books, maintaining that consistency throughout your series is crucial. Even if you plan to write many books not part of a series, many others begin to carve out their visual brand across stand alone books they’ve written. This helps your reader immediately recognize your work in a store without even looking for the author’s name on the book jacket.
Marketing Advantage
In a crowded market, a standout cover gives your book a marketing edge. It increases the likelihood of readers clicking on your book in online listings or picking it up in a physical store. And if you have a clear branded look among your books like hiring the same book cover illustrator or artist, or using the same cover fonts, if a previous reader liked one of your books, they will quickly start to recognize newer works increasing the chances of another purchase.
Formatting: Where Beauty Meets Readability
Say you did your homework and commissioned a stunning cover but neglected to properly format the interior. Your reader may have purchased this book with enthusiasm only to discover when they crack open the first page that the font is too small or margins weren’t considered and your text falls into the gutter (the center of the book where pages meet) They are eager to read the story but feel exhausted, overwhelmed and ultimately abandon it in frustration. They may not even know why.
Well-executed formatting ensures a seamless and enjoyable reading experience. Design is a powerful tool that visually breaks up your story so the reading experience reflects the pacing intended by the author.
Just as a well-dressed person makes a good impression, a well-formatted book exudes professionalism. It reflects an author’s commitment to delivering a polished product. In the digital age, e-books are prevalent. Proper formatting ensures that your book translates well to various devices, providing a positive user experience for digital readers.
Formatting Tips
If you decide to take on formatting yourself, here are a few things to consider when designing.
Font Choice:
Use a clean, evenly weighted font for your body copy. If you’re unsure, test some fonts in your document and see if they’re easy to read. This is where function takes precedence over form. Chapter headers are where your creativity can shine. Find a bolder font or something that stands out from your body copy to separate the two. Consider your book cover design, many authors pull the same fonts for their chapter headers to keep consistency and branding as mentioned above.
Alignment:
All programs provide customization on how your body copy lines up. The recommended standard is left justified alignment meaning each line of text aligns evenly to the left of the page. Even better, select the option where your text lines on both sides to avoid the right-ragged edges. These can be distracting for your readers and encroaches on clean margins. It results in a clean rectangle of copy further communicating organization and professionalism.
Margins:
Make sure you give enough space in your margins. Not only does it give the page a clean and spacious look but it allows space for your readers fingers to hold the book without covering text. Most importantly it keeps your words from creeping into the gutter.
Running Heads:
Running heads are repeated pieces of text that typically appear at the top of each page in a book or document. They usually include information such as the book or chapter title, the author’s name, or other relevant details. Running headers serve to provide readers with context about the content of the page they are currently reading. A common beginner mistake however is placing running heads on your chapter pages as they are not necessary and makes your spacious break in text look busy.
These are just some helpful tips to get you started. Every book is different and each decision informs the next. For example, if you’ve chosen a more full bodied font your line spacing may need to be larger as well. If you are unsure, we’re happy to help!
Book Covers
What are the Elements of a Good Book Cover?
Front Cover
- Book title
- Subheader or tagline
- Author name
- Publisher or editor if applicable
Back Cover
- Summary of your story (this could also live on the jacket sleeve)
- Publication information
- ISBN Barcode
Spine
- This is a smaller space so typically book title and last name of the author is suggested
What Kind of Cover Do you Need?
If you plan to publish your book digitally, you don’t need to look at print formatting options but if you want a physical copy of your book there are many factors to consider to ensure your design prints exactly the way you want.
Paperback, if you are printing a paperback you dont need to worry about a jacket design but you need appropriate spacing for your front, back and spine
Hardcover: Suit up that book with a jacket! This is the trickiest design as you must account for not only the spine but the inner sleeves and the space required to fit around the width of your book flap.
Looking to Design your Own Book Cover?
While we recommend leaving it to the professionals to ensure your cover looks professional, here are some questions to determine if you’re ready and equipped to do so.
Do you have access to graphic design software like adobe indesign?
Do you have a template suited for your book size?
Do you understand what bleed, margins, color space, artboards, resolution, trim and crop marks are?
If you answered no to any of these questions you’ll need to do a little more homework and invest in the correct software. Once you feel ready here are a few tips on how to visually balance a successful book cover.
Download our Free
Book Cover Template!
Ready to create your own book cover? Your free downloadable template is just a click away!
Designing Your Book
Visual hierarchy:
Hierarchy is a design principle that refers to the arrangement or presentation of elements in a way that implies importance. It guides the viewer’s eye through a design in a specific order, helping them understand the relative significance of each element.
Some key aspects of hierarchy include, size (biggest is most important and smallest is the least) Color, vibrancy pulls the viewer’s eye while less saturated allows information to bleed into the background. Contrast, typography, spacing, and alignment.
Arrangement on your elements:
Composition is the makeup of all visual artwork. You want a well balanced composition to visually draw interest to your readers. Allow some space for the reader’s eyes to breathe. Many beginner designers want to throw everything with equal ‘importance’ at their images but it leaves the viewer overwhelmed and unclear on where their eye should focus, ultimately leaving the cover ineffective.
Storytelling:
This may be your comfort zone as an author. Think of what theme or character from your book is most central or compelling. What characteristics do they portray? Are they dark and moody, light and airy? Even setting could be the driving force your readers experience when reading your story. This is your north star when determining what goes on the cover and how it is designed.
When to Hire a Book Cover Artist
- If you’re feeling overwhelmed or not comfortable with visual design and layout design.
- You want that ‘wow’ factor that draws an audience.
Finding the Right Designer
You’ve spent hundreds of hours crafting an excellent story so you want people to read it! We understand money can be tight so many authors look to hiring an artistic friend. This may not be your best option either. Is your friend well versed in the layout or does their style lend itself to your story or brand? If not, it might be time to shop around for the right designer.
Look at existing book covers, are there any that feel similar in theme to yours that you’re particularly drawn to? Also look at illustrators and designers’ work! This is the fun part. Spend some time looking at eye candy and maybe make a Pinterest board of some of your favorites. You can either tell them up front your budget or they may already have a set quote for book covers. Remember you get what you pay for so if someone is willing to do work for a price that’s too good to be true, you may lose out on quality of design.
Invest in Yourself
As the adage goes, time is money and you’ve invested time in your story so investing in a good designer ensures your work doesn’t go to waste. Delegating your time is a crucial strategy for many best-selling authors so they can maximize their time on doing what they do best while also ensuring their work is properly elevated and showcased. Win-win!