A guest post submitted by Jennifer Harshman from Harshman Services.
You’ve written your manuscript, revised it, and had it edited. This is a big moment. Take a step back and celebrate this milestone. Congratulations!
Now, it’s time to have your piece formatted. If it’s a blog post, it can be as simple as finding and inserting the right images and headings, paragraphing it, and scheduling it to be published.
A book, on the other hand, is a much bigger deal.
There’s a lot more work to be done, but don’t worry; we are here to help. The next part of your journey plays the biggest role in getting your hard work into other people’s hands.
The reality is that there are about seventy new Amazon books loaded an hour. Which means 1,750 books a day! That’s a lot. A whole lot. You have a lot of competition. Now, I don’t want to make you feel like this is an impossible situation. It’s not, because with a good cover, clear formatting for the “Look Inside” feature, and clever marketing, you will be able to target your audience.
The key thing to remember while reading through this article is this: Cover design and layout are all about communicating your message. It must be legible, above all else. If your design makes it harder to read your work, your message will be lost.
You can do this yourself, and for people who intend to publish many books, it is cost effective to learn how to DIY this part. For 95% of people, it’s best to hire a professional. Either way, it’s smart to know some basic terminology and concepts.
Basic Rules of Design
Negative Space is your friend – You do not need to have a design element on every space of a page. Negative space helps to give focus to elements that are necessary to your design. Clean and crisp designs are refreshing and help your reader focus. Click here for an interesting article about negative space.
Use a grid structure – You should make sure that elements are uniform throughout your manuscript. Which means, the chapter headers should all be in the same space, your margins should be exact, and you have a flow of consistently throughout. It can be off-putting to a reader if elements don’t line up. Using a grid structure is also important for the cover. If used well, it leads your reader’s eye through the important parts of your cover design. You can find out more information about using a grid structure here.
Pay attention to your visual hierarchy – Visual hierarchy is how you show levels of importance in your writing. Cover example, is the title more important than your name? Unless you have a large following, your title should be bigger than your author name. If you have a large following, you might want to consider making your name larger than your title, because your name would be the selling factor. Inside the book your chapter titles will be bigger than your subheads. It’s a simple concept, but it’s crucial. To take a closer look into the concept of hierarchy, click here.
Rule Breaker – Once you learn to use the design rules effectively, you can experiment with breaking the rules. You must first learn the rules before you can break the rules. Here’s an article about design principles.
What about typography? People love using interesting typefaces. Why not? They’re fun. So, have fun with it, but here are some guidelines for you.
Use no more than three typefaces in one piece. This includes your entire book. Aim to use a decorative or sans serif font for your title and for your headings. Serif fonts should be used for the body of your text.
There are three types of typefaces:
Serif – A serif font has a small line attached to the larger body stroke. Serif fonts are classic and are perfect for the body of your text. Some serif fonts include Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, and Bodoni. Here’s an example for you:
Sans Serif – A sans serif font is one that does not have the little header and footer lines. These fonts are best for larger headlines. They are more modern and bold. Some examples are Helvetica, Futura, Arial, and Gil Sans. Here’s an example:
Decorative – Decorative typefaces are used for headlines and titles. But do not use them for large bodies of text, as they become hard to read. This includes script, handwriting, hand-drawn, ultra-light, and ultra-bold fonts.
Typography Terminology –
Leading (pronounced like the element, not the action) – Back when printed pieces had to be typeset with tiny blocks of lead, typesetters used blank strips of lead to separate lines of type. So leading is the blank space between the lines of text. Too little or too much makes reading the text more difficult.
Tracking – This is the space between a range of letters. Negative tracking will give a tighter appearance, while increasing the tracking will give you more space between the letters.
Kerning – This refers to the space between individual letters. I would not play with this unless you are a designer. But it’s good to know the term while speaking to a designer.
Alignment – This refers to paragraph alignment. You can choose from left, right, centered, and justified.
Templates
Both KDP (Amazon) and IngramSpark have templates available free for use. Do not start your cover or interior layout until you’ve downloaded a template. If you don’t use a template, you may end up redesigning something at the last moment. You can find KDP’s templates here. You can find information about IngramSpark’s cover templates here, and templates for IngramSpark’s interior layout here.
Layout Basics
There are a few things you should be aware of:
Mind the gutter – Give yourself a larger margin on the book binding side of each page (the gutter). Readers do not enjoy breaking spines, so making sure they won’t have to is a good idea.
Keep it simple – The lure to use a cute font is strong. Resist. You should use tried-and-true fonts that are available for commercial use for the layout. Readability is key, so keep it simple.
Be wise about size – Unless you are working on a large print edition, you should stick to eleven- or twelve-point font size for the body of your text.
Headers and footers – Include page numbers, title, and the chapter name. Make sure it doesn’t detract from the body of the text.
Use that grid and hierarchy – Stay consistent with margins and placement.
They are special for a reason – There are a number of pages that should be included. This includes the Copyright page, Title page, Acknowledgements, Dedication, and any Foreword, Afterword, and indices you may be using.
Cover Basics
Your cover is important. It’s how you convince a reader that your book is worthy of their time. You have to get this right. I highly suggest hiring a designer for your book cover and interior. If you need suggestions for a good cover designer, contact Harshman Services. They will be happy to point you in the right direction.
If you cannot afford a designer, there are many websites that sell premade covers. You can search for a design that fits your book, then order it with your title, subtitle, and author name. The cost is usually low, but you run the risk of having a cover that looks like someone else’s.
Here are some things you should know:
A reader is less likely to pick up a book if the cover doesn’t resonate with them.
Your cover design should fit within its genre, so go to the bookstore and browse the aisles. Pick up books that stick out to you. What about each one works?
Make sure to match your title font with the background image. They should fit together like a puzzle. They must match in their “feel.”
Don’t overdesign – You can keep your cover simple. Sometimes the simplest covers are the most stunning.
In a time when most people are browsing on Amazon for books, make sure your title is one of your largest design elements. The title needs to jump out at the reader as they are scrolling quickly.
The colors of your cover must match the tone of the book. You wouldn’t want dark reds when dealing with a happy book.
Working with a Designer
A good client is one who is educated and knows what they want. Here are some important things to know about working with a designer.
The number-one thing I advise anyone who is getting ready to work with a designer is to provide examples of your style to the designer. Search Amazon or your local bookstore, and find covers in your genre that you find aesthetically pleasing. You should provide your designer with three to six different designs and be able to point out the elements that are pleasing to you as well as those you don’t like. They will not copy these designs but will be able to get a better idea of your style.
You should explain extensively what you are looking for when working with a designer. While you are talking, they are trying to figure out your style, your color preferences, and even your personality. They may sketch while you are talking. This is part of the process. They need to know everything about you, aesthetically. Explain everything.
After your initial meeting, give your designer time to work. A big problem for designers is clients who constantly send designs they made in programs such as Canva. Don’t do this. Trust your designer. Allow them to do what they’ve been trained to do.
After you’ve seen the concept cover/mockup, you should take time to mull over it. What elements do you like? What elements don’t work for you? You are not married to the design at this point. It can be worked on. This is part of the process. Your designer knows the correct questions to ask to gather information for moving forward.
If you have feedback, make sure to allow them the time to offer solutions. Tell them what is bothering you, then let them figure out the fix.
Remember that your designer is a professional and has had extensive training. If you ask for something they believe would not work for your cover, please trust them.
Remember, this is a process. Your designer is committed to seeing your vision through.
Design and layout can be a confusing process, and it’s certainly tedious and time-consuming. Let Harshman Services guide you through this process.
