You’ve probably heard the saying ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’.

It has become a saying for a reason… most people do judge books by their covers. Especially those who aren’t familiar with you and your brand as an author or publisher.

A book’s cover is its most important single marketing element. It is a visual representation of your book’s content and hence – its quality. Yet still, it is not all too rare to come across covers of books (especially self-published ones) that are, well… not-that-good.

Here’s a comprehensive infographic on book covers that we’ve made. It’s full of actionable advice as well as some interesting research done by the good folks at The Book Smugglers.

This infographic sheds light on the main elements that make up top-notch covers that are not only well designed but also will help to sell your book. One of the main focal points is creating covers that are optimized for the various digital marketplaces, since that is where a large part of shopping happens in today’s world.

You will also find some useful tips on how to get those elements implemented

Putting This Knowledge to Good Use

If you are fortunate enough to have great design skills, you know your way around photoshop and perhaps Adobe Illustrator then you can make the book cover yourself.

If, however, you do not have these skills, hop on over to a freelancer platform such as Upwork (the largest at the moment) or 99designs to get awesome covers made for you.

Alternatively, you can use Canva to create a book cover for free or at least very affordably. Here’s a quick guide on how to do that:

In Conclusion

The cover of your book is important. Don’t skimp out on this part of the self-publishing journey. It’s well worth it to invest the time, energy and money to make a book cover that represents the awesome content that you’ve worked so hard to create. And don’t forget to optimize it for online market places by making it noticeable, understandable and attention-drawing when it’s in thumbnail size.