by James Corless
Copyright © 2003
A well-designed cover is vital for the success of your ebook!
Good ebook covers sell better and justify higher prices.
Realize that buyers WILL judge your book by its cover - because
they have to! Apart from the sales copy on your web page, the
cover of your ebook is the only thing they've got to go on when
deciding whether or not to buy.
Research shows that most buyers will visit your ebook sales page
three or four times before clicking the 'buy' button and the
design of your ebook cover is a significant factor in their
decision. If they're wavering, a good-looking ebook cover will
tip the balance in your favor!
That's why you need the best possible design for your ebook - you
don't get a second chance to make a good first impression!
So just how do you go about creating an effective ebook cover?
There are six design elements involved. These are - your title,
your choice of fonts, the illustration you use, the way you use
color, the quality of your cover image and the size of your file.
Yes, there's a lot going on! Now let's look at the elements one
by one.
1: The Title:
Your ebook title needs to be short and punchy. Short because you
don't have much space to display it in, and punchy so it delivers
your USP (unique selling proposition). The more words there are,
the smaller the text will be and the harder it will be to read.
You have to 'write tight'!
Two-part titles make good use of limited space as you can make
your main point in two or three words and then expand on your USP
in the second part. For example:
Designing Great Covers : How To Make YOUR eBook Stand Out From
The Crowd!
2: Choice of fonts
Ebook covers are small so you need to use fonts that are compact
and easy to read. 'Sans serif' fonts like Impact, Helvetica and
Arial make good use of space. Serif fonts are not so readable in
smaller sizes. Mixing two different fonts can be effective but
beware of using more - it gets confusing.
Some graphics programs like PhotoShop allow you to alter the
proportions of your fonts as well as the spacing between letters
so you can compress or expand your text to get the most readable
effect.
3: The Illustration
An ebook cover that's just plain text can be pretty boring. An
image will liven up your design and also reinforce your USP.
Whether you use a photo or some other graphic, the image you use
needs to key into the theme of your ebook and help to get your
message across.
Use on-line image banks you can subscribe to for frequent use, or
buy rights to individual images - good if you only need one or
two. You can also buy libraries of royalty-free images on CDs.
Don't be tempted to use an image you find on the Internet! They
are all covered by international copyright laws and using one
without permission is illegal!
4: Color
Color is another useful tool in the design of your ebook cover.
Colors have their own energies - red is forceful, blue is
conservative, green is calming, yellow is exciting, and so on.
Pick one main color that ties in with the theme of your ebook and
use other colors sparingly. Like fonts, using too many can
obscure your message.
5: Image quality
Your cover image must be razor sharp and crystal clear to sell
your ebook! Too many of the ebook images you see on the Internet
are fuzzy and flat.
One way to get good image quality is to design at a larger scale
that the final image size. it's easier to work on and reducing
the design to the required size will enhance its clarity.
Use sharpening filters with caution! It's easy to degrade your
image by over sharpening so make it the last thing you do before
optimization.
6: Image optimization
Although not part of the actual design process, the final
important step is to optimize your image for the web.
This reduces the number of colors and give a smaller file size so
your cover image downloads quickly in your customer's browser.
Again, optimize carefully so as to have the least effect on the
quality of your cover image.
Most image programs have optimization features or there are web
sites that offer on-line image optimization services.
So there you have the six stages of designing a great ebook
cover!
1: Choose a good, short title that conveys your USP.
2: Use one or two fonts in legible styles and sizes
3: Choose an image that reinforces and illustrates your message
4: Use a small range of colors that convey your message
5: Make your cover image clear and crisp by working larger then
reducing, and sharpen with care.
6; Optimize your image so it's small enough to download quickly
without sacrificing too much quality.
Master these six aspects of design and you'll be well on your way
to producing successful ebook covers. People WILL judge your
ebook by its cover so design it well. Remember, the better the
cover, the bigger the sales!
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James Corless designs ebook graphics - anything to do with
ebooks: covers, contents, ezine covers, CD covers, banners, sales buttons and web site graphics.
See his design portfolio at http://www.ebook-designer.com/
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