We’re not supposed to judge books by their covers.

But we do.

Your book cover is the first thing a reader sees when she’s scrolling the ‘Zon. If it doesn’t catch her eye immediately, she’s going to scroll right past.

You want a cover that catches her eye.

It should also resemble other popular books in your genre.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel here. Look at some of the best-selling books in your genre, and see if you can identify similar themes on their covers. Do they all show photos of smiling people? Are they minimalist? Do they showcase beautiful mountains or flowers, or are the designs graphic and computer generated? Do they include a soothing color scheme? Where is the title placed—is it usually at the top or in the middle? What color are the titles (and the rest of the text)? What styles of fonts are popular?

See how many similar design elements you can identify.

You can design your book cover yourself. But unless you’re an experienced graphic designer, I don’t recommend this. There’s simply too much riding on your book cover.

I suggest taking it to a freelance cover designer or an agency. I like 99Designs. They’re affordable, and give you a variety of cover designs to choose from.

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