Six Common Book Cover Design Mistakes

Don’t undermine your great writing with a poorly designed book cover. Read on for six common mistakes! 

Your book cover’s impact can’t be understated. It’s the first thing readers see when shopping their next read and as a first impression your cover becomes a crucial marketing tool. 

Poorly designed covers lose sales and potential readers. A strong cover connects on an emotional level, urging a reader to open your work and start reading. 

And it’s not just the front cover that counts (though that’s what readers see first); the spine and back cover deserves the same thoughtful consideration and have their own elements and design rules as well.  

Here are some things to keep in mind as you’re thinking about your book cover: 

5 common book cover design mistakes to watch out for

Creating their own covers 

Book cover design is an art and a learned skill, so, if possible, you want a team of professionals on your side: graphic designers, illustrators and photographers. Cover Kitchen says: “Creating an effective book cover design boils down to artistic strength and creative strategy. Our team of professional book designers is trained to develop compelling concepts curated to your genre, the personality of your book, and the interest of your readers—all with the goal of driving sales.” If your budget doesn’t include a book cover design team, study books in your genre and create the best one possible. 

Link to related book cover article here

Ignoring the competition

As T.S. Elliot said, “Good writers borrow; great writers steal.” Obviously, you’re not going to copy anyone, but get online and hit the bookstore and study covers in your genre. Get inspired, but don’t get too wild: While you always want to be original and interesting, don’t ignore time-tested rules of book cover structure: You’re not recreating the wheel!

Too complicated

Don’t try to cram too many design elements onto your cover or you’ll undermine the main idea you want to communicate. Simple design applies here: if you pack too many elements on a cover, your message is lost, the cover looks sloppy and cluttered, confusing potential readers who will look elsewhere. 

Illegible text

Most books are bought online and viewed with a thumbnail-sized cover. Make sure your cover is easily readable; you want clean typefaces, but not boring ones, and don’t mix up many different fonts. Keep your titles reasonably short, this goes for subtitles, too.

Poor quality and weak images

People are visual! While text is an important marketing tool, it’s axiomatic that powerful visual elements grab eyeballs and generate clicks. When creating your book cover, you need striking, high-quality, high-resolution images and illustrations. Readers scrolling a page should stop and engage when they see your cover, so find or create the perfect images matched with strong color choices that convey the personality and genre of your book, and always ensure that you’re not using copyrighted work.

Mismatched cover to content

Your cover must convey a true aspect of your genre and narrative. Don’t try to use design to reel a reader in and then disappoint with a bait and switch. Your book cover must honestly impart the proper tone of your writing, tripping an emotional switch that pulls a reader in and creates expectations (that are later fulfilled). 

Great writers leave it all on the page, don’t undercut your chances for success with a weak or poorly designed book cover. Your cover is your most important marketing tool, even more important than a book funnel, so make sure you work with a great design team who understands your needs, your genre and book design essentials!