One of the most important elements of your book is the cover and your title. Followed by the contents and the first few paragraphs. As a graphic designer, I understand you must start with an idea for the cover first. And the best place to help mine for ideas is at your online books stores. Check out the categories that you like and select the covers that grab your attention. I suggest that you stick with their Top 10 list in the categories. These are bestsellers so their covers are proven, and it speeds up your research. You don't want to over research.




Your cover is very important! People will judge ebooks by their cover more than a traditional book where they can easily flip its pages.




Save the covers you select to your hard drive for reference. I am NOT suggesting that you copy a cover. These covers are just a dynamic source of inspiration and ideas. I am suggesting that you dissect the covers; consuming the elements you like, mirror these techniques to help you create the cover for your book. 




Let your cover picture tell the story without being overly literal. Look for images that express the mood, period, or the tone of your book. And please don’t use cheap stock images just because they are free. If you’re going to have a visual element on the cover make sure it is a good visual element. If not, you're only hurting yourself. If you can't invest in an image find another way to design your cover.




Bold colors work best because they standout in the crowd. And that is exactly what you are trying to do - standout. All marketers will tell you that red and orange are fantastic colors. They scream 'stop' and 'caution'. Take a stroll down your grocery store aisle and look at the packaging. You'll understand what I'm saying. I'd also suggest you stick with three [3] colors.




We can't forget the title. It is very important. Spend a lot of time reviewing bestsellers and their titles and how they are written to help you when creating your title. In addition to your cover your title is the first connecting points to your target market. You need the title as short as possible. Use a subtitle to create more description. If you have a 10-word title you don't have a book title.



We know that ebooks don't have a spine but when you're developing your title act as if they do. If it won't fit on the spine so that you can read it with ease on the bookshelf it's to long. Shorten it.




Also you want your title to be large within the design so that when your cover is reduced to the thumbnail image you can still see and read it. If you can't do this with your book cover, simply your title!




Diane, Paradise Publishers