5 Eye-Catching Fiction Book Cover Ideas

One of the most important investments that an indie author makes is book cover design. I’m sure all of us set aside some budget to hire a book cover designer or some time to design the book cover ourselves.

We place so much importance because book covers are the first thing that readers see. A great book cover will entice them to pull the book out of the shelf, read the blurb and perhaps, put it into their shopping cart.

Here are some irresistible book cover ideas to create a memorable first impression.

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Photo-Manipulation vs Illustration

The first thing that you have to decide is whether the book cover design is photo-manipulation or illustration.

Photo-manipulated book covers often use stock images. It’s a fast and cost-effective option because you simply edit these images. This is great for romance, thriller and science fiction. Of course, do try to get a professional like expert designers from Fiverr so your books look stunning.

Illustration, on the other hand, is unique and creative. However, it might be more expensive and time-consuming. The style will vary widely from minimalist, cartoonish to very detailed. This is great for fantasy, science fiction, young adult and children’s books.

When deciding, your key considerations are genre expectations, target audience and goal.

• Take a look at books in your genre and see what kind of book covers are usually used
• Consider your target audience and determine which type of book covers they prefer
• Most importantly, take your goal into account

In most cases, your goal would be to grab readers’ attention and encourage them to give your book a chance. If so, I would strongly recommend that your book covers clearly communicate the genre, tone and mood. Aim to create an emotional connection. Perhaps, even hint at the plot without giving away key details.

Source: Reedsy

1. Character: Connect Readers To Your Protagonist & His/Her Love Interest

If your book is character-driven or your protagonist is the main focus, you can consider featuring him or her on your book cover.

If your book falls under the romance genre, you can showcase your protagonist and his or her love interest.

If your book is steamy, you can feature a shirtless man with his bare ripped chest.

By making characters front and center, you’re building a connection between readers and your protagonist. If you’re in the marketing industry, I’m sure you’re aware that including human faces in creative banners will make ads more successful. According to research, faces are memorable. By featuring people on your book covers, you’re making your books memorable!

Aside from handsome men and beautiful women as models for your book covers, this is also a great chance to highlight what’s unique about your protagonist. It could be his or her power, their species or job etc. For example, my Blood Hunter series features the protagonist and her love interest holding their blood weapons.

2. Object: Hook Readers With An Attention-Grabbing Item

Sometimes, your book might revolve around a certain object.

It could be an object that your protagonist desires, which is also the trigger that causes your protagonist to embark on an adventure. It could be a powerful object that turns good or bad, depending on the intention of the user. It could be an object that withstands the test of time and wear.

A book that features an ordinary object on its cover will cause readers to rethink this object in an extraordinary way. On the other hand, a mythical object will cause readers to imagine what the world would be like if such an object exists.

By putting this object as the focal point of your book cover, you’re emphasizing the object’s importance and how this object drives the plot of your story.

For instance, my Asphodelus series features 3 different objects: book, mirror and scythe. These objects are glowing, hinting that they hold some kind of power. Hopefully, they pique readers’ interest and curiosity on why these items are crucial to the story.

3. Setting: Entice Readers Into Your Fictional World

Spent a long time building your fictional world?

Highlight your worldbuilding efforts in your book cover design!

Location might be an important element in your story, especially for utopian and dystopian fiction. Most of your scenes probably happened at this location or the place holds significant value for your protagonist. If so, you can consider having a visual image of how this location looks like on your book cover (in addition to the text descriptions in your novel). As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Do consider the exterior and interior of the place. Perhaps, one is more important than the other

Also, your setting could be cozy and warm or cold and detached. This image of the location could help set the mood of the story.

If you’re using the exterior or it’s an outdoor location, take into consideration the weather too. Rain could evoke nostalgia while snow could evoke a sense of peace or biting cold. Likewise, day feels brighter and happier while night feels darker and gloomier.

Bear in mind that setting refers to both time and place. If your book is set in Victorian era, you might want to highlight this in the book cover.

Photo by SkadiArt on Pixabay

4. Theme: Convey Key Message To Readers

Is there a message that you want to convey in your book? Or is there a topic that your book addresses?

If so, try emphasizing this on your book cover design!

One way is to use a realistic book cover. Make the thing that represents the theme best as the main focus of the book cover design.

Another way is to use an abstract book cover. Meaning that instead of drawing your readers’ attention to a character, object or place, the book cover aims to evoke a certain feeling. This can be accomplished through colors, patterns, shapes etc. You might choose dark colors for heavy topics and light colors for happier topics.

I also feel that this is a great chance to leverage the front matter. You can hint about the theme by including some clues in the dedication or epigraph at the beginning of your book.

There is no fixed or correct way to convey your key message to readers. Just do whatever works to get your message across~

A theme-centric book cover suggests that your story is thought-provoking. In addition, it intrigues your readers and makes them wonder what you’re trying to say through this story.

The Postman uses a combination of images (pocket watch, letters, chain) as well as the tagline to highlight this lifelong yearning.

5. Something Special: Make Your Book Memorable & Impactful

As mentioned earlier, book cover is the first thing that readers see. Therefore, you might consider creating a special book cover design to leave a memorable impression.

But what makes a book cover design special?

This varies from person to person. It’s not like your book cover can cater to all readers. Instead, ensure that your book cover design is professional so readers at least give it a chance. Next, embrace creativity and aim to make the cover memorable and impactful.

Because I usually write fantasy stories, I like having those colorful glowing effects on my book covers. To me, they make my book covers pop. You From My World doesn’t have much glowing effects but the book cover captures the portal effectively. With manuscripts in the background and laptop (featuring a city wallpaper) in the foreground, the book cover highlights this story within a story concept.

Bonus Tip: Typography Can Make Or Break Your Book Cover Design

One crucial element that most people overlook is typography.

The book title, series title and your author name are all important information that readers should be aware of in just one glance at your book cover. Thus, it’s crucial that you place them prominently on your book cover. The text should stand out, rather than blend into the background.

Do ensure that the text is legible and aligns with your book’s genre. Also, take note of the font size. It shouldn’t be too small, such that you don’t know what the book title is. Neither should the text be too big, such that it covers the image (unless it’s intentional).

Consider resizing the book cover design into a small thumbnail. This way, you can check whether the text is readable.

Photo by Free-Photos on Pixabay

Bonus Tip: Be Consistent Throughout Series Book Covers

Bear in mind that this is crucial.

This consistency will highlight to readers that the books belong to the same series. To achieve this consistency, you can use the same font, colors, models, style etc.

Do note that you need to show a progression or change over the series. This means that the book covers should be similar and different at the same time.

For example, my Countdowner Trilogy uses the same model but she poses differently for each book cover.

For my Asphodelus Trilogy, the book covers feature a different item but the dark ghostly style is the same throughout.

Now It’s Your Turn

What do you feature on your book covers? Do you have any tips for fellow authors?

Do consider hiring a professional designer to create stunning book covers~