Why You Need a Book Cover Design Brief #FernandoLachica


If you are writing a book - be it is an ebook, paperback or hard cover - and you really are serious about publishing and making money from it, then the cover will be a key element in its success. Think about one that caught your eye when you last went into a bookshop, or even looked at some on Amazon. Generally ebook covers are flat images (which online stores might use), together with an alternative 'curved cover' for a sales website display. These can be easily prepared using free software and a little learning.

Cover Design Complexity

However, if you want to see your books on prominent display and you are considering using a print-on-demand ('POD') company, then you will need an outstanding cover that sells first to the bookstore and also to manage the design process yourself. There are many items that need to be added in, such as a barcode and ISBN. There are very tight technical specifications to be met if it is to get through the POD printing cycle without additional expenditure. If you want a really outstanding cover image, then unless you are a graphic artist with the requisite eye for design and skills, get it done by an expert. Once you have located a professional, then you should provide clear instructions on what you want.

To minimize misunderstandings, prepare a Book Cover Design Brief. You can refine it with your designer, but at least you will both be working with the same cover requirement.

Your Basic Ideas

The cover artist will need to start somewhere, so a book synopsis will need to be included, and you may have views on an overall design concept. Some flexibility is desirable - the designer is the expert and don't constrain his or her artistic vision excessively. The classification should fall out from the synopsis, but do be clear. 'Mediterranean Cookery' would probably be a cookery book, but could be a travel guide, even a piece of fiction. Consider this when you select your designer, as some specialise in particular genres.

If relevant, it can be helpful to the designer to include brief descriptions of the principal character(s). Will this be the first in a series?

The Main Elements of a Cover Design Brief

As a start, you should specify the 'trim size' of the book - its final format - as this will dictate the amount of space the artist has for layout. If you want a hardback cover, then you may need a dust jacket design and the particular thickness of hardcover will be important.

The final version of the brief will need to be specific about page count (exact), ISBN, cover price, binding format and a host of other items, but the designer can prepare some rough layouts whilst you are collating these details.

What about Reviews - maybe newspaper, other authors (usually, though not always, on the rear cover)? These can be an important part of marketing and you will need to advise the artist on this, so that the provision for some reviews can be included in the overall design (though the reviews themselves may not be available at the time of initially commissioning the design work).

Your design brief must specify the print-on-demand company you intend using. Each has its own technical requirements that a final cover design must adhere to (by satisfying a 'pre-flight' test which software such as Adobe Professional offers). Re-work can be very expensive if you miss a print deadline say for the Christmas gift sales peak.

You may need images for marketing, for email, and for book catalogues. Will you be producing a Kindle ebook? If so you will need a cover picture, and you may even choose to add a rear cover image within your ebook.

These are just a few of the specifications that your Cover Design Brief must include. There are many more, but once you have your first template brief, then you can improve and recyle it for your next book with the obvious changes.