6 Tips for Perfecting Book Layout and Cover Design

No matter what the adage says, humans are visual creatures who absolutely judge books by their covers. The process of designing your book cover can be one of the more exciting parts about publishing your own book. Here are two things to consider when you reach that stage of the process:

1. 1. Ensure that your cover is suited to the subject matter. A cover image must match the tone of the book and entice would-be readers to pick it up. What might work for a children’s book would not be right for a dramatic young-adult page-turner, which in turn wouldn’t suit a tome of literary fiction.
2. 2. Experiment with multiple styles. Once you’ve determined the look you’re after (serious, whimsical, colorful, decorative), get familiar with design software to create some mockup book covers. Try out different imagery (just be sure to check the copyrights), and experiment with typography for your title and name.
3. 3. Hire a book cover designer. Designing a book cover is a complex task, which is why, rather than creating your own front cover, it might be best to hand the job over to a professional book cover designer who can bring your vision to life, whether that’s through hand-lettering or unique original artwork. A professional designer can also design the back cover, which is where all the important, intriguing information lives—from glowing blurbs to your gripping synopsis.
   

Designing your book’s layout means addressing page size, fonts, font size, white space, images, typesetting, typography, and general structure. It’s important to remember that with graphic design for books, everything comes down to readability. Here are three things to consider when designing your book’s interior layout:

1. 1. Select the proper font. Though a reader might not pay it much mind, there’s a continuing debate as to the superiority of serif versus sans serif fonts for legibility—think Times New Roman (serif) versus Helvetica (sans serif), or Baskerville (serif) versus Avant Garde (sans serif). Most books use a serif font. Remember, when a font becomes too noticeable and intrudes on the reading experience, it has failed.
2. 2. Ensure you have the proper trim size. Trim size refers to your book’s size. Industry-standard sizes for fiction are 4.25" x 6.87", 5" x 8", 5.25" x 8", 5.5" x 8.5", 6" x 9”. It narrows slightly in scope for non-fiction: there, you’ll typically find 5.5" x 8.5", 6" x 9", or 7" x 10". Art and coffee table books can run even larger.
3. 3. Don’t forget your front matter and back matter. In addition to the main body of the work, you’ll want to devote special attention to the front matter (including the copyright page, title page, and table of contents) and the back matter (the afterword or appendix).

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