His work with bookfly and his experience as an audiobook cover designer have given him the opportunity to create hundreds of covers across a wide range of genres and authors. We each presented on different aspects of designing historical fiction covers, and my task was to. Its success stems from its haunting, haunted nature, its surrealism, and the way it captures the mood of the book. Theres no question that books are judged by their covers, particularly when theyre written by new or lesserknown authors. Abbett 19262015 after serving with the navy air corps in world war ii, the indianaborn abbett earned a fine arts degree from the university of missouri and began working as a commercial artist in chicago before moving to connecticut. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book.
Crazy beautiful book covers the fundamental rule of all readers is to never judge a book by its cover, but ilhether we spot a gorgeous book in someones hands or displayed in a bookstore, the cover piques our curiosity. In this article, im going to walk you through the process of finding, selecting and hiring the best book cover designer for your specific project. Also love the modern feel this has with the use of neon inks on natural papers. Here at lit hub, we unpacked the biggest book cover trend of the year, compared us covers to their uk counterparts, and remembered the best and worst covers of lolita as well as edward goreys own cover designs. This being said, the work that needs to go into selfpublishing is what will make or break a title. Lets look and learn from 50 fascinating book cover designs. How to design a fiction book cover that sells tips. The art of book cover design for historical fiction this is an older post, but it remains so popular that i keep it pinned here on the main page. Where a compelling book cover design might attract a new reader, a boring or confusing cover might lead them to keep browsing without another thought. Purity, franzens practically begging for great expectationslevel comparisons. In appreciation of these unsung artists, here are 30 of my favorite fiction covers all worth buying for the cover alone. Dec 20, 2016 a cover may look great, but if it doesnt appeal to the audience the book was written for, it wont sell.
Alternatively, the book could sell to the wrong audience. In addition to black and white, which work great for copy, most book covers look best with two or three colors. Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Created by spanish artist francis cugat for the books initial printing, it pretty much is the book now, visuallyspeaking. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, its absolutely crucial that you have a great book cover designer who can help communicate what your book is about in a 2,560 x 1,600 cover image. Dec 29, 2018 2018 has been many things, but it certainly has not been lacking in great book cover design. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. Mystery and thriller book covers are usually very monotonous and this is not the fault of the designer. Non fiction is a broad area, but you can still notice similarities among the bestselling book covers in non fiction as a category. I had the pleasure of speaking on the art of book cover design panel at the historical novel society conference last june with emily victorson from allium press, sarah johnson from reading the past. Magenta asked 15 book designers to nominate the best covers that they hadnt created themselves. Thriller or fantasy, scifi or horror, we cover every genere. Need some inspiration for non fiction book cover design.
Book cover design for nonfiction requires an understanding that comes from a design team with years of experience within the genre, we have helped hundreds of great authors just like you and know what makes a great nonfiction book cover. I have done a bit of research hours, days, weeks and months to come up with a list of urban fiction book cover designers who are at the top of the game. Jun 04, 20 yet there are also plenty of science fiction novels and collections that buck the trend art books film music tv. There are good and bad book covers, and a good designer can clearly tell you the difference between them. The 53 best mystery and thriller book covers of 2017. May 17, 2017 if you ask book designers to explain what makes for a great cover, however, they can tell you about how the various design elementsthe typeface, the color scheme, and the compositioncome together to create a visual metaphor for the text. Here are some of the best designs ive found on the internet. This year, at lit hub, we spent a lot of time thinking about book cover. A great selection of reasonablypriced premade covers as well as design packages for covers and ads. This curated list covers the gamut of non fiction, from compelling war stories to key feminist texts, to unbelievable struggles for survival, to tales of life in the. Need some inspiration for nonfiction book cover design.
Mystery and thriller book cover designs bookfly design. Its not every day you run into someone whose specialty is back cover copy for your book. These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn canva. This is one of the most important pieces of copy youll write, since it has a lot of work to do representing your book and showing people whats unique, interesting, or especially. Inside, we explore what makes a successful and interesting book cover and. Were here to praise the cover, and designer rodrigo corral. Before convincing the viewer to turn over the book and read the blurb on the back, or click on the link for more info, the cover has to be enticing enough to encourage further. Super simple and shows power of gorgeous font and good colorplacement.
Book covers have a tremendous impact on potential novel readers because the truth is, when were searching for a new read, were likely to judge a book first by its cover. One of the investigations follows the rule of beat first and ask questions later, which seems to get to the answers. This curated list covers the gamut of nonfiction, from compelling war stories to key feminist texts, to unbelievable struggles for survival, to tales of life in the culinary trade. See more ideas about best book covers, books and good books. A complete guide for authors and designers, starting with the basic principles of graphic design, including ad. The carefully placed elements tell you this novel is subtly humorous, smart. Nonfiction covers are supposed to give a solid sense of the topic of the book. Yet there are also plenty of science fiction novels and collections that buck the trend art books film music tv. The title tucked into her hair like a crown and the a novel tucked in.
Nico walkers cherry, designed by janet hansen melissa broder s the pisces, designed by rachel willey. Our covers are all unique, professionally designed, and only ever sold once. An interesting feature about nonfiction covers is the way of how the text often interacts with the cover. Here is a collection of some of the best book covers i have seen online. Color plays a big role in creating the look and feel of any book cover design. David sedaris, calypso, design by peter mendelsund. Making great book covers for wattpad copyright wattpad.
We gave you a brief visual history of virginia woolfs book. See more ideas about fantasy book covers, sci fi and sci fi books. How to design a fiction book cover in canva in 5 easy steps. Given that a book cover usually has very few words on it, and those words title, subtitle, authors name have a huge influence on buying decisions, this can be a major problem. See more ideas about book cover design, books and book design. Your true story deserves a truly striking and unique cover. Whether youve researched and produced a tale of war, have brought out a gamechanging fitness guide, or are banking on a resurgence in hardcover encyclopaedias a brave move, damonza have the knowledge and expertise to create the perfect cover for your nonfictional work. Book covers exist to give visual form to written content. Aug 30, 2011 5 great fonts for book covers including chunkfive, league gothic, baskerville, franchise and trajan three of which are free for book cover design. Below are some of the covers made by bookflys designer.
Similiar to our list of 100 fiction books to read in a lifetime, this list of 50 nonfiction books contains recommendations you might actually read if you havent already. We design outstanding custom and premade fiction book covers. Whatever your opinion of the dark tale of addiction and the poor decisions behind it, the cover conveys chaos, confusion. Aug 19, 2012 another option is to hire your own urban book cover designer who understands the genre and can deliver hot covers each time. This cover has a great way of integrating multiple different visuals without cramming it.
One of the most consistent and easily corrected mistakes i see with book covers that are designed by authors is weak or inappropriate typography. The best fonts to use on a book cover by genre inspired. Like most guys, ive got posters of heavily muscled men on the walls of my room, and can say that i honestly have no problem staring at the male form for hours on end. Similiar to our list of 100 fiction books to read in a lifetime, this list of 50 non fiction books contains recommendations you might actually read if you havent already. The genre is relatively new and many streetlit authors are finding much better success selfpublishing their work. Each book cover is 100% exclusive and sold only once. An interesting feature about non fiction covers is the way of how the text often interacts with the cover.
So, to give this a super clickbaity title, here are. Another book cover that has become absolutely synonymous with the book itself, and the subsequent enormous film franchise, chip kidds jurassic park cover is absolutely, undeniably cool. Thousands of unique premade literary fiction book covers created by professional designers. Many on a shelf for beautiful book covers would be coffeetable type books with covers showing illustrations of wonderful paintings, sculpture, architecture or photographs which becky might be at least partly referring to.
A lot of times, the design is simply made up of the books title and authors name printed in superlarge font size against a singlecolor background. This is because a book cover is a piece of art with a specific purpose. A successfully designed book cover will convey the tone of your book, will whisper hints without giving it all away, and will excite readers into actually opening up the book and reading. The book takes a few twists and turns before its conclusion. When using illustration or an image on a book cover, its helpful for scifi and fantasy writers to show original images to help set themselves apart from the. How to find the best book cover designer tck publishing.
Apr 28, 2020 these covers are the winners from joel friedlander, the book designer s monthly ebook cover design awards. Most interesting or beautiful historical fiction covers of the last few years. Here at lit hub, we unpacked the biggest book cover trend of the. Black and white but still communicates everything needed. Nov 25, 2019 the press with the most covers on the list. A book must stand out on the bookstore bookshelf yet cover designers rarely receive the recognition that authors do. A complete guide for authors and designers, starting with the. Urban fiction book cover designers urban fiction news. Writing an urban fiction is the easy part getting it published is the real challenge. These fiction and nonfiction reads have beautiful covers with designs in green, pink, purple.
A million little pieces, by james frey were not here to rehabilitate frey or his memoirthatwasreallyfiction. I had the pleasure of speaking on the art of book cover design panel at the historical novel society conference last june with emily victorson from allium press, sarah johnson from reading the past, anna michels from sourcebooks, and kris waldherr from art and words. I have several books like this,and some others that i thought were really appropriate for the book, and also had a very. Take a look at the best sellers in the authors genre to see what theyre doing to appeal to the target audience. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. Nonfiction is a broad area, but you can still notice similarities among the bestselling book covers in nonfiction as a category. Cullens seminal nonfiction book the definitive text about the columbine high school massacres of 1999 deserves an iconic cover, and henry sene yee. If you ask book designers to explain what makes for a great cover, however, they can tell you about how the various design elementsthe typeface, the color scheme, and the compositioncome together to create a visual metaphor for the text. Feb 09, 2017 inspiring illustrative covers so much of what scifi and fantasy writers do is create intricate new worlds and situations, and authors can use their book cover designs to share a piece of their books contents with a new reader. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. The eerie dinosaur skeleton has become so famous that its easy to forget how menacing it must have originally looked. Typically, the use of minimalist fonts is preferred currently and lowercase letters are common. The book follows the two investigations, the official police investigation and the unofficial investigation by the excon father.
Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Literary fiction the book cover designer premade book covers. Are you looking for book cover design inspiration for your upcoming self published book. The dominant colors in an image influence mood and play a role in creating the contrast necessary to draw attention to the design.
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