The 5 Most Important Things Every Author Should Know About Book Cover Design

When you walk into a library, the first thing that probably catches your eye is the multitude of books that patiently wait for you to pick them up and read them.

But what is the element that most sparks your attention and makes you choose it? Of course, you might know the author or you might have read a review of the book, but what if you don’t know anything about it? The answer to this question might lie in the book cover design that has the power to make a book  sell or be forgotten on a library shelf.

Chip Kidd is not judging books by their cover, but he is one of the talented and experienced designers that create them, and he does it with a lot of humor. In this TED Talk, Kidd talks about book cover design as the first impression upon the potential reader: a glimpse of the story, but not the whole story. In his opinion, after reading the book, the designer has to be an interpreter and a translator.

He does not propose a magic formula that can promise you huge success with your next book cover design, but he points out, in a very funny way, some things that you need to know about this process:

Don’t Be Overly Literal

In his speech, Kidd recounts his first day in the graphic design class at the university. The teacher walked into the class, drew a picture of an apple, added the word apple, and then said, “You can show this” – and he covered the image. “Or you can show this” – pointing only to the image. “But don’t do this” – pointing to both the word and image together. His message to his students is that they cannot do both of them because it will insult the reader’s intelligence. And this is the problem most of the books in libraries have – the image on the cover is so literal that doesn't spark any interest.

Respect Your Audience

Another subject Kidd tackles is that a book designer is an artist whose ultimate goal is to create a book cover design that corresponds to three groups of people – the reader, the publisher and the author. They all need to respond in a positive way (“Wow, I need to read that!”/ “ I want to print this!” / “I couldn’t have done it better myself!”). Don’t make it only about what you and only you want for your book; respect your audience as well.

Make it Look Good in All Sizes

Brooke Warner, a writing coach and publisher, draws attention to the book cover’s size. As good as a book cover could look in a normal size, you have to take into account that lots of your books will be sold on websites like Amazon, and dimensions change. Make a simple test and shrink the book cover design and see if it is visible enough, if you can read the title, and if it makes you curious enough to click.

Avoid Going Back and Forth in Your Feedback

It is very common than when an author is being presented several designs to pick the book cover, to try mixing them up and creating a composition with his favorite elements. It might work sometimes, but in most cases it will just dilute the power of the initial design, and the vision of the designer along with it. Consider asking your designer questions that make you understand his choices and vision and give your feedback afterward. Take into consideration their rationale before opting for the reconstruction or deconstruction of a book cover design.

Personal Attachment Will Limit Your Options

A book is like a child – it is your creation, and you know what is best for him and want to take care of him But sometimes, the best solution is to remain objective and let your child choose his path, or let your book cover designer do his job and show you what he thinks is most suitable for your book. Your art might mean a great deal to you, but it doesn’t have any sentimental value to other people/readers, says Warner.

At the end of the speech, Kidd concludes that even though publishing is a form of art, you must understand that it’s business as well. If you mix creativity with practicality, you will get a book cover design that speaks to every audience.