People DO Judge A Book By Its Cover: Why Your Nonfiction Book Cover Matters
Nonfiction book cover design is an important element to consider when you’re publishing a book. We all know the idiom “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but the reality is that people do pay attention to what the outside of a book looks like. It’s something that can even influence their decision to purchase a copy!
The design on the front of the book is all about grabbing the attention of the reader, with imagery, titles and font that will speak for itself. Cover design on a nonfiction title is quite a bit different than fiction, since your book is going to work to position you as an expert to your target audience.
There’s a lot of information that needs to get communicated with your cover design. One of the key things to remember if you’re self-publishing your book is that the cover of your book is a choice.
There are several things to keep in mind and choices you have to make before the book goes live. Knowing what you should be looking for when it comes to good cover design and what you should avoid can go a long way.
We’re here to help you have as much preparation as possible before you dive into this step of publishing. What is the psychology of a good book cover and some of the must-haves for nonfiction book design? Keep reading to find out.
The main difference between nonfiction and fiction book covers
We won’t dive too much into this topic, but it can be helpful to know how the two differ from one another.
Probably the biggest thing that separates the two is the amount of information that is on the cover. When it comes to nonfiction titles, the more information – the better. Titles for fiction books are shorter (between one to four words), whereas nonfiction books can have long titles that elaborate more.
Think about it: the purpose of a nonfiction book is to inform the audience on a topic. They need to have more of an idea of what the book will be about before picking up a copy.
Elements of a good nonfiction book cover
What distinguishes a mediocre book cover from one that will catch people’s attention? Quite a bit.
Relevant imagery
When it comes to imagery on a nonfiction book cover, you want to make sure you’re connecting with what they’re looking for both on an emotional and intellectual level. Photos related to your topic are important so the reader immediately knows what they’re getting into.
Keep in mind that simple is better when it comes to the imagery and design of a nonfiction book cover. The reader’s attention is typically going to be focused on the title (and/or subtitle) to tell them what the book is about. The imagery should match up, but it’s not necessarily the main focus.
Knowing your audience
One of the most important things when self-publishing a nonfiction book is having a deep knowledge and understanding of your target audience. This goes for the content inside your book as well as the cover design.
What works for your genre? Traditional publishers spend a lot of money on research and studies. But when you use a service like ours to self-publish, you don’t have to.
A simple Amazon search for the bestselling books in your category can tell you everything you need to know about what your target reader desires.
This is because people appreciate and gravitate towards what is familiar. If you get a good sense of what is doing well in the world of nonfiction, when readers are looking to buy a new book, they’ll see that it can fit in with the books they’ve already read and enjoyed.
Layout
The layout, or the flow of a book cover design, is another important thing to consider. Our eyes are made for movement, so the design should allow for this.
The viewer should be able to move their eyes around on the cover in a balanced way. Mirroring the eye movement of reading is your best rule of thumb here, which is from left to right and top to bottom. This is known as a Z-pattern or Z-formation.
It starts with people scanning from the top left to right, then down and to the left side. Then, it’s back across to the right again – this forms an imaginary “Z” shape.
While this formation isn’t the only option for your book, it is one of the most common strategies because this is how people are used to reading. So, you can work with your designers to ensure the elements of the cover are displayed in this way!
Title, text, and typography
Once you’ve settled on the title for your book (which we can help make attention-grabbing as well), you want to be sure that its placement makes sense on the cover.
You don’t want to put in a bunch of work on the imagery of your cover only to have the title fall flat! Both the front and the back cover text of your book should be considered and be a part of the design process.
The title can help create weight and motion on the page. The title placed at the top of the book would align it to the top part of a “Z” formation.
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Typography comes into play here as well. This applies to your title, but also to any other text you have on the cover, including a subheader and your name. You should think of the typography as another graphic element you use for your cover design.
The style and orientation allows you to guide the reader’s attention. Certain textures or gradients can lend weight and influence mood. Bold and simple typography is best, and if you’re using a few different fonts, be sure they have similar characteristics.
Some popular fonts for nonfiction book covers include:
- Trade Gothic
- Bodoni
- Futura
- Garamond
- Montserrat
- Hoefler
One common strategy is including keywords on a nonfiction book cover design to ensure the messaging is straightforward. Keep in mind not to stuff too many on, though. Readability should come first!
Quality
Of course, the quality of a printed book cover is extremely important. This will depend on the file type that the image is stored in. It’s important that your book cover is in an CMYK file over a traditional RGB file.
What does all that lingo mean? CMYK is a color mode used in four color process printing that utilizes ink, and stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. RGB is a different color mode using light to create color, and stands for Red, Green, and Blue.
Having your book cover design as a CMYK file is important for proper printing. This is because it has to be digitally separated into the four colors in order to print on a press. It creates a full color image and will separate and print as expected. If you use an RGB file, images will not separate properly and the color results can be unexpected.
This is why it’s important to let a professional handle your book cover design – they can help make sure your file is the highest possible quality!
Pro-tip: ask for concepts
Something to remember when working with a book designer or team is to ask for different cover concepts. This means they will provide you with distinct design options from which to choose.
Concepts differ from variations – variations are the same design with minor tweaks (colors, fonts). Having a minimum of three concepts gives you three distinct book covers to choose from that are completely different in design.
Don’t be shy about asking how many revisions are included in the cost for designing the cover and what counts as a revision. This is your book, so you want to make sure you get exactly what you want!
Get help with your book cover design!
You don’t have to handle the task of designing your nonfiction book cover alone. In fact, hiring someone to make your book cover is important to ensure you get the highest quality result.
Just knowing what to look for when communicating with a team can help you tremendously. Our team of experts can help you with the process, as well as all the other things that go along with publishing a book! Want to learn more? Book a free consultation with a Publishing Consultant today to get your questions answered.