How important is your eBook cover? Both experienced publishers and authors understand the importance of having an attractive cover to pair their write-ups. So while you cannot judge a book by its cover, it is still important that eBook covers should not be taken as an afterthought.
An eBook cover is surely very important for a book’s success. As BookBaby had it:
At this year’s Romantic Times convention, I asked the New York Times Bestselling romance and mystery author Jennifer Ashley what a beginning writer could expect from a traditional publisher in terms of the number of copies printed. She said that it largely depends on the title and the genre: for example, 10,000 copies would be very low for romance, but it’s about average for a mystery novel.
But the most interesting thing she pointed out is that cover design can make a big difference in your sales and distribution. If a title has a great cover, the bookseller may order far more copies than the publisher ever expected – perhaps even 50,000 copies.
Basically, the cover should be done in three layers: the image, background, and the type. The overall design should speak of what the book has to offer. Depending on the niche the book is talking about, it will have a different look and perspective. So a military eBook will surely look different from a romance or a thriller. The cover should come with a background color or an image, avoid going for a plain white. While plain colors can be attractive sometimes, but they are often dull and uninteresting. Getting a good cover will give your book that professional look.
There are instances when the book cover can function well even without an image but this happens when the other elements of the design works well together. If you are a starter, it is best to avoid going for a plain color because a strong image can surely lift the quality of your cover design and will draw people’s attention to what you have to offer. A good cover will give your book a good focus and will be able to convey its importance.
When choosing an image to go with your cover, be sure to pick something of high quality. If you do not have any available image then it is best to browse through stock photo library to find the best one for you. On the other hand, if you have an amateur image with you, do not worry because you can always improve its look through cropping and by applying other special effects.
But while stock photos are great, you should still stir clear from using too much of them. When choosing a stock photo, it is also good to avoid those that provide the feeling of being “too stock image”. You should give your book a personal feel and avoiding photos that were used repeatedly in so many campaigns is he trick.
Furthermore, it is okay to embrace space when doing your layout. Go for balanced. One of the mistakes that people do is to believe that they need to fill up the whole space when doing their layout. This is wrong and should never be the case. The best way to encourage balance in a design is to give all elements enough space to breath. The same is true when writing, in case you add too many complicated terms in your piece then people might not understand the thought you are trying to say. A good writing will need space, just like a good eBook cover does.