All You Need to Know About Book Covers

Today my guest is Derek Murphy. Derek is a book cover designer
and author who blogs about self-publishing and book marketing.


In this interview we concentrate on the topic of book covers and
hopefully it will help you understand the topic better, know what
makes a good book cover and understand what important role does
it play.
Interview Highlights

If you have a good book and you have a good book cover and you
put it in front if readers, than you shouldn't do other
marketing.


The problem with great cover is that it raises readers'
expectations really high and people expect much more based on the
cover.


The kind of reviews you're receiving are related to the cover.


You need a cover that matches your book.


The book cover still has to work for those and attract those, who
have not read the book yet.


It doesn't really matter if the cover matched the details of your
book precisely because the readers have not read the book yet so
they don't know the details and by the time they finish reading
the book they won't care about the cover anymore.


You should stick to typical standard genre covers.


Readers are not looking for original book covers. You want your
book to look like it's into the genre. It kind of has to look
like the top 25 books in your genre but it should look better.


Most of the pre-made covers are mediocre but they are better than
what indie authors make themselves.


You gotta give the designer freedom rather than make him listen
to you and do what you want.
What makes a good book cover?

Good book cover should be:


1 scene - 1 piece of art (it should look like you're
naturally looking at the scene)

it should provoke emotional reaction immediately

the fonts have to fit into image but at the same time stand
out

it should be within genre specific colors



The cover has to be pass/fail test. No one is gonna grade it. It
either works or it doesn't. It has to get the click.
Useful Links

Creativindie (Derek Murphy's blog)


CreativeindieCovers 


DYI Book Covers (for free templates, DIY tools, and coming
soon - videos about book design)


Where to Get Professional and Affordable Book Covers (podcast
interview)