Best-Selling Book Cover Design Secrets

BOOK COVER SECRETS THAT SELL

Derek Murphy

BOOK COVER SECRETS THAT SELL

Derek Murphy

ABOUT DEREK

Book editor, PhD Candidate, over 1000 book covers made,

DiyBookCovers.com

Book editor, PhD Candidate, over 1000 book covers made,

DiyBookCovers.com

THE PROBLEM

Book covers are hard to do and/or expensive.

But they’re also important.It seems easier to give up responsibility.

GROUND RULES

#1. A good cover won’t save a bad story#2. A good story can survive an ugly cover#3. A good story AND a great cover will make everything much easier

WHAT’S IT FOR?

The cover’s job is to tell the (right) readers what’s in the

book

•Cover Clichés •Emotional/Cognitive•Hook Attention•Sell the Book

COMMON MISTAKES

• Focusing on scene or symbolism (head, not heart)• Matching all the exact details• Trying to be different or interesting• Trying to give readers ‘something to figure out or a

surprise• Book awards• Badly used text or font (dropshadow, bevel or spacing)• Illustration vs. Photoshop• Author Name vs Series Branding• Designing for Thumbnail View

COMMON MISTAKES• Focusing on scene or symbolism (head, not heart)• Matching all the exact details• Trying to be different or interesting• Trying to give readers ‘something to figure out’ or a surprise• Book awards• Badly used text or font (dropshadow, bevel or spacing)• Asking for Feedback• Illustration vs. Photoshop• Author Name vs Series Branding• Designing for Thumbnail View• Dimensions: 1.6 (5”x8”) / 1.5 (6”x9”)

A beautiful landscape can trigger the right heart muscles better than

something more meaningful/symbolic.(The cover isn’t to explain. It’s just to

attract.)

HOW TO WIN

• Make it ‘pop’• Lots of space• Make it clever (for NF)• Use small text

HOW TO WIN

• The right fonts/effects• Make it personal• Go simple

CASE STUDIES

It looks to me that in March I was averaging between 60 and 70 downloads a day. In April that had fallen to about 50 a day. But following the cover revamp on April 24, downloads rose quickly, to a peak of 112, and overall seems to be averaging about 90. I haven’t done any promotion at all so it can only be down to the new cover. I have to say I expected a short burst of extra sales, didn’t expect it to maintain those numbers and certainly didn’t expect them to keep growing! :-)

CASE STUDIES

From 50 downloads a day to 90.

CASE STUDIES

From 4 copies a week to 286

CASE STUDIES

From 30 to 58 sales a month

CASE STUDIES

WORKING WITH A DESIGNER

• Revisions/costs/refunds?• Find a some samples you like (less than 5).• Craft a short summary.• Think simple.• Listen and get feedback (half the time, the best

cover is not the one you like).• The cover sells the book to people who haven’t

read it.

DOING IT YOURSELF

• Stock Photography• Bigstockphoto.com• Depositphotos.com• Photodune.com• Flickr Creative Commons (or not) -

www.flickr.com/creativecommons • DeviantArt • http://www.deviantart.com/resources/stockart

DOING IT YOURSELF

• Stock Photography• 123rf.com• Istock.com• Bigstockphoto.com• Depositphotos.com• Photodune.com• Flickr Creative Commons (or not) -

www.flickr.com/creativecommons 

• DeviantArt • http://www.deviantart.com/resources/stockart

DOING IT YOURSELF

• Fiverr.com• Canva.com• Iphone Apps (WordSwag)• DiyBookCovers.com• Spine• Barcode• Lightning Source vs Createspace

RESOURCES

DEREKMURPHY@CREATIVINDIE.COM@CREATIVINDIE

WWW.DIYBOOKCOVERS.COMWWW.CREATIVINDIECOVERS.COM

From 30 to 58 sales a month

THANKS!