The more genres I explore as a multi-genre author, the more I learn about cover design

Book covers are one of the trickiest pieces of the puzzle to configure.

Numerous authors choose to hire someone to create their covers because it can be difficult to create the perfect cover.

Authors find these cover creators through freelancing websites such as Upwork or Fivver, and it can become costly depending on the needs of the cover. The cost also rises with needing an ebook, a paperback cover, and now a hardback cover. And authors who want to tap into the audiobook market will need a different-sized cover as well.

Because the prices for book covers through freelancers can become costly, many authors have taken to creating their own covers.

As convenient as this can appear to be, in terms of cutting costs, it’s important to be sure your creating a polished product.

If you decide to create your own covers, it’s crucial you use the right tools to create them.

• Canva.com- This is my typical choice for cover design and marketing/ promotional items. You can create a ton of stuff with the free option as they have a huge selection for free. You can also step up your game and expand your options by paying for Canva Pro for just 9.99 a month.

• Adobe Spark- This is a tool designed for people with a design background, someone willing to work from the ground up. With the same price of 9.99 per month, you will have access to stock items that will help you to make videos and promotional things, including covers.

• Design bold- If you have used Canva before, this is almost exactly the same except with more stock photos and templates. Everything is labeled and easy to navigate and the pro subscription price is just 7.99 per month.

Once you find the right tool for creating your cover, it’s important to understand what aspects you need to design.

We need to talk about the key elements to think of when designing the cover itself.

Parts of a cover:

There are four parts for a hardcover, three parts for a paperback, and just one for an ebook format and audiobook.

Why am I bringing this up? Because you need to consider what is going to be placed on each part.

For hardbacks, you design for the front and back cover, the spine, and the inside flaps of the jacket. For the paperback, you design for the front and back cover as well as the spine. For the ebook and audiobook, you simply need to focus on the cover.

Market Research:

It’s crucial that you are taking a look at the market your genre is in.

This means looking at other book covers in your genre. Taking in the themes, color schemes, fonts, and more. Doing this is what is going to tell you what is working in the genre and what isn’t.

A book that has 300 reviews compared to a book that has 20 reviews, and has been out for the same amount of time has to have some difference in appearance. Between these two books, what grabs you more between the covers, and what don’t you like about them?

Decisions, Decisions:

Now we need to focus on the order in which the reader’s eyes will follow.

What should be the focus of your cover? Is it a visual clue for the reader (meaning, the largest picture or artwork on the cover)? Or is it the title? Does it weave through the cover? Does it combine itself with the images, for example, on someone’s shirt or a sign?

During your market research, look at each cover and determine what draws your eye first to the cover. Testing out numerous text fonts and narrowing them down is going to make the difference.

Bringing it all together:

Not only should you be thinking about everything previously mentioned but stepping back and assessing what you have completed as a whole is important.

Is the cover too busy? Is it too plain? If these are questions that you find difficult to answer, consider sharing them with people who read in your genre and ask for their feedback.

Often times another impartial person can afford new ideas and help you with something you couldn’t see yourself.

Since becoming a multi-genre author, I have come to realize how important it is to know your audience.

Let’s consider some things:

What is your genre?

Before you do anything else, this is what you need to decide. What genre does your book fall under?

And believe it or not, this is much harder to determine than you would think. What is even more interesting is that you could think you know your genre, but in fact, after market research and beta testing, it could fall under something completely different.

What are readers in your genre showing interest in?

A quick and easy search on social media such as Twitter or Instagram of your genre will give you some useful hashtags and similar books. This is going to allow you to narrow down your search and start to develop some marketing ideas.

What other authors write in your genre?

Make sure you research other authors in your genre and take some pointers from what they are doing.

Are they reaching out to readers directly? What demographics are they reaching? (age, gender, occupation, education, and life experiences.) What do their social media posts look like?

As you contemplate what cover will captivate your audience’s eye, it’s important to do the research so you can in fact catch your audience's eye.

For example, creating my cover for The Backup Superhero was much different than the cover I created for Anywhere Else.

The Backup Superhero

For this cover, the first thing that draws the reader's eye is the brightly colored capes.

This does two jobs. One establishes that it has something to do with superheroes. And two, it draws in my targeted audience. This was my goal from the beginning.

Anywhere Else

For this cover, I wanted it to stand out among the other romance books. ( Which colors range from pink, blue, yellow, red, and white)

The orange color I chose for this did that exactly. And since my target audience is a mixture of Young Adult and New Adult readers, I made the cover photos in polaroids that were taped to the background. Almost like documenting the summer timeline in photos, which is the season my book takes place.

Each audience requires a different cover to draw them in because it’s what they expect.

Writing in different genres required me to look at other authors in the genre to see what readers were responding to. It also showed me examples of things I could create for my own works, which was helpful for someone new to the genre, like myself.

Creating covers can be tricky, but with practice and feedback can become easier and more fun over time.

If you are interested in creating your own covers, give it a try. Experiment and see what can come from your ideas. And most importantly, gather feedback from readers in the genre.

Research the market, take your time to create, and you’ll do just fine.