The Author's Guide to Cover Design

by Stuart Bache

In The Author’s Guide to Cover Design, Stuart Bache shares ways of making your cover look like a bestseller, teaches the design principles behind concept creation and gives you plenty of tips, tricks, and advice to give your book the best first impression possible.With this guide you will learn how to get the most out of your book cover. From writing the perfect brief and why familiarity theory is so important, to creating covers for yourself and preparing your files for ebook and paperback.This book is not only a guide to cover design, it is an essential tool in your journey to becoming a successful author.

134 pages, Paperback

Published June 28, 2018

Reviews

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good, but brief overview of what you need to know if you want to go about hiring a book cover designer or have a go at designing a cover yourself. If you've never attempted to make a cover or hire a designer, this is a great book to read and absorb, particularly the advice to stop trying to look unique and instead embrace familiarity if you want your book to sell. I was hoping to get a few more pro-tips than he provided, and the lack of any pictures of example book covers was no doubt deliberate (perhaps he didn't want his book to age, or didn't want to use colour in the interior of the book?) but that was a serious omission for the reader eager to see exactly what he was talking about. Still, what he did have to say was all good stuff particularly for self-publishing newbies.

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[E.P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to cover design, whether you're hiring someone else or planning to do it yourself. Quite basic, but will give you the fundamentals and get you pointed in the right direction.

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick read, I got through it in a couple of hours. It was clearly written and full of invaluable information for self-publishers. In fact, it is probably one of the most succinct and useful guides I've read. It covers a whole range of topics from writing a brief, choosing and working with a designer, to all the practical steps and tools needed to design your own cover if you have the courage to do so. This book has the information you need to give your book the best chance it can get at first glance. I'll be recommending it to others.

[Theresa Fuller · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started out promisingly enough then collapsed into the author telling us about marketing without actually saying much. This became the trend throughout the rest of the book.

Please if your title is 'cover design' assume that your reader wants to learn about cover design.

There were suggestions about trim size and some information about RGB versus CMYK but as to what the title actually suggested about cover design that was virtually zilch, just the bit in the beginning which lured me into purchasing the book.

I bought the book to learn about cover design. That I did not do.

What hurt was that the book had a foreword by Mark Dawson so I believed that this book would do what it said.

It did not.

And now I do not trust anything that Mark Dawson endorses.

[J.B. Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this after listening to a Creative Penn podcast featuring Bache. To be honest, I’m disappointed. There’s no question there’s some useful information in here (especially the ideas on familiarity theory), but it’s fairly basic and the lack of pictures makes it more difficult to visualise the ideas Bache discusses.

I have a design background but I haven’t worked as a designer for a number of years and when I did, it wasn’t designing book covers. I hoped this book would offer some valuable insights into book cover design, but reading through it, there wasn’t much I didn’t already know. The good thing about that is that it has given me a confidence boost in regards to my ability to design my own covers.

I think a novice designer would get more out of it, but even then, for what it offers, I think the value for money is limited.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously knows design, absence of examples

When I turn to an expert, I’m looking to the expert to not only draw from but share their experience. I feel the book would be more helpful if his points were illustrated by actual examples. “This font doesn’t work but this one does.” This book would’ve been great if he showed what he meant versus telling. “This is how I’d fix this design mistake or why this cover doesn’t work.” Aside from the suggestion to google kindle cover mistakes, the ebook didn’t contain any book cover examples. I also was hoping he’d tackle genre specific recommendations. He references popular font suggestions for a few genres but that’s it. I think this book is helpful for an author set on hiring a cover designer but not instructive for self-help.

[Bruce Stopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have me a general idea

I bought this book after hearing about it on a podcast. The book provided some good general information,but fewer specifics useful to me. It is copyrighted in 2018, and how only a year later it's already outdated (CreateSpace merged with KDP last year. I bought an ebook knowing that they can be updated easily. My takeaway from this book is the author prefers that I use a professional designer. It just wasn't what I was looking for, although it might help someone else.

[K.N. Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s extremely basic but contains no photos so the information is of limited use to novices and too simplistic for intermediate and advanced designers.

I also had to side-eye the author’s industry awareness when he asserted that thumbnails don’t need to be legible and white covers with no borders are fine online. I think this is a case of someone whose knowledge has not kept up with industry trends.

[Janet Brantley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good little book, if a bit dated. (Author still referring to CreateSpace, for example, which would be easy to fix in a digital format) I particularly liked his discussion of fonts and the detailed info on sources for images. Like some other reviewers, I wasn't thrilled with the lengthy discussion of his courses. But I would read it again, and indeed I did highlight a good bit of useful information.

[Cuyler Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for indie authors

This book is powerful. He gives great and easy to follow advice for designing your own cover, or for hiring a designer.

Covers are the first thing a reader sees and makes the decision to inquire further. Without a good cover, your book will be lost in the mire.

A must read for indie authors.

[Aaron Leyshon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic guide to design, typeface, and putting together covers that sell from one of the best designers around. Bache points out a few myths and some good strategies for designing halfway decent covers.

[J.C. Keough · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to cover design. In addition to covering the basics of designing a cover, the author also gives you the information on how to create a brief and work with a designer. An excellent entry level book to help you decide if you want to do it yourself or work with someone.

[Sabina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say it was exceptional as it wasn't. I felt like the explanations and pieces of advice were very broad. I would have liked reals examples, with pros and cons. Derek Murphy's "Book Cover Design Secrets You Can Use to Sell More Books" is far better from this point of view.

[Rachel McCollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful guide to the ins and outs of cover design for authors, whether you're taking the diy route or hiring a designer.

[Kylie]

Supposed to be about cover design but is instead telling me I should be checking Twitter at least once a day. DNF.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for beginner or starting to engage an artist

[Skipper Hammond]

Too much time spent on opinions having nothing to do with design. Photos would have helped.

[Jean Oram]

This had great tips in it whether you hire a cover designer or create your own book covers. I have done both and learned things reading this book and will utilize these tips moving forward. A great resource.