Don’t skimp on your book’s cover design

Designing their cover is where new self-publishers feel they’ve gotten in over their head. Face it, if the book’s cover looks amateurish, it won’t sell. When bookstore buyers order stock, all they have to guide them is your cover. And when consumers decide what to buy, your cover will make or break the deal.

Experts disagree on how much a beginning publisher should spend on cover design. In the latest edition of his Self-Publishing Manual, Dan Poynter warns authors not to skimp on cover design. Expect to pay about $1,800 for the complete mechanical (front, spine and back) ready for printing, Poynter says. Many self-publishers spend 99 percent of their effort on the book’s text, and cover design is an afterthought. But packaging is what sells cornflakes and soap -- and books, Poynter adds.

But what about books to be marketed primarily online? In that case, you might forgo a professional four-color photo on the cover. The most important thing is a legible title and subtitle on the thumbnail image displayed on Internet stores. "Simple and clean beats busy and complicated every time," says Morris Rosenthal in his book Print-on-Demand Book Publishing.

An interesting new way to experiment with cover design is visiting this site, which has a variety of templates where you can insert a digital photo. The site lets you check various fonts and colors. It’s called a magazine cover designer but can easily be adapted for books. Even if you end up hiring a cover designer, you can at least work out some ideas beforehand.

If you use a subsidy press, make sure that you’ll be able to use the cover design again if you switch printers. Look in the fine print of the contract to see if you’ll be able to take the electronic file when you leave.

Poynter’s Web site has a tutorial on cover design here.




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