Nick Zelinger is a publishing and graphic design extraordinaire who has put together many covers for bestselling books and covers that have won awards. He’s won awards for his designs as well. It’s important, as an author, to know what to watch out for when it comes to having a cover designed, and that’s what Nick is here to help you understand.

Promise: How to Create a Book Cover that Sells

First of all, if you are thinking of publishing a book, or if you have already published a book and you aren’t getting good sales or have gotten some bad reviews, you may want to consider hiring a professional book designer. The tendency today in independent publishing, self- publishing, is to do it yourself, and that’s, for lack of a better term, a crap-shoot. You are going to be in the wild wild west of not knowing what you want to do, not meeting the printer’s specifications, and just not having a very professional design.

I think that if you’re serious about publishing your book… This is a business. Independent publishing, or self-publishing, is a business. You’ve got to treat it that way. To do that, you’ve got to hire professionals. I would say, first and foremost, for authors who design their own books, or want to, take a hard look at your skills, and be honest, and step back a little bit because you really do need to be very objective about your goals. It’s a profession, and you get what you pay for in this industry, so you really do need to hire a professional.

Do people really judge a book by its cover? Absolutely, and in fact, it’s the gateway to your book. So you’ve got a very, very short timespan to really capture someone’s attention, no matter what the genre.

It is a cliché, but it’s a truism. It’s like showing a home. It’s curb appeal. It’s whatever pops and strikes your fancy. It doesn’t mean it has to be a pretty cover, it just means that it has to do its job. If it’s a non-fiction business finance book, does it target that audience? If it’s a historical fantasy fiction book, does it target that audience? Those are crucial elements to any book’s design, especially if you want to get the attention quickly.