​To find the right book cover design for my debut novel, The Day She Came Home, I worked with a designer I found via www.reedsy.com.

It was a really interesting process, especially as I’m not great with visuals! 

Finding the right book cover design

The first thing I had to do was look around at designs within my genre, women’s contemporary fiction. This gave me an idea of what book cover design was in fashion at that moment.

I encourage you to do the same. You might have a specific idea of what you want the cover to look like, but if it doesn’t fit with your genre, your potential reader won’t recognise it as a book they’ll like, and move on.

When a potential reader of this genre was browsing the online stories, they want to see a thumbnail they immediately recognise as a story they would enjoy.

The aim is to make a potential reader ‘stop the scroll’ and read the book blurb.

Unintuitive as it seems, readers want to read the same story again and again, only with a twist.

As they say in Thailand, ‘same, same, but different!’

Your book cover design suggests they will get the same, same, but different.

Finding a book cover designer

After researching the market and deciding on the cover I wanted, I had to put together a brief.

This included the description of my book and its main characters, who my target audience was and, importantly, my budget!

I also shared examples of ‘comparable’ books.

Next, I browsed the designers registered with Reedsy and looked at examples of their cover designs. I shortlisted the five designers I particularly liked the look of and thought would capture the look and feel of the book cover design I wanted.

I chose a mix of book cover designers, some who used predominantly photo images and others who used original artwork. 

Part of my learning was that those who use original artwork charge higher prices (thus outwith my budget) which makes sense! They are creating something unique rather than using stock photos.

A useful learning experience there!

Waiting for the book cover design

From the designers on my shortlist, not all were available, or were within my budget, which was helpful because it narrowed the field and made the decision of whom to work with much easier!

Once we’d agreed on the terms of the agreement, my chosen designer then headed to her studio to put together some book cover designs for me to choose from.

I then chose my favourite and together we tweaked the design to get it just right. That was the most exciting part of the process for me.

I loved opening up each image, watching the book cover design develop with each iteration. It was wonderful to see the design that would complement my words.

The final book cover design

This was the original design. I loved it!

But as I’ve learnt, fashions change, and in time I updated the cover.

This time I went with a pre-made book cover from BookCoverZone. They sell high quality, pre-designed book covers you can tweak and adapt to fit your novel.

These designs are much cheaper than commissioning a brand new book cover and, although they are not tailor made for your book, the quality of the images and designs are of the highest calibre.

Here is the second book cover design for my debut novel, The Day She Came Home.

Do you need an author website?

I’ve discovered that having an author website is a vital part of your author career. Even if you’re unpublished. 

As a published author, where better to showcase your new book and book cover design than on your website? Read why you need an author website and how to start.

Final Thoughts: It takes time to find the right book cover design

If, like me, you’re new to design, know that it will take time for you to find the right book cover design. I’m still learning and think it’s time for an updated cover.

In fact, like me, you’ll probably try a few out in the first few years of your publishing career. That’s not a bad thing. It shows your understanding of cover design is developing and getting more discerning as you go.

Even as you’re writing your first novel, browse the top selling books in your genre. Look at the images, colours and fonts. Do you like them? Do you not like them? What can you tweak so you like the cover without confusing your prospective reader?

Have fun with the book cover design. This is one reward that comes after all your hard work writing the manuscript.