Do you need a cover for your book? If so then you should take time to see what types of covers are already working well.
Wouldn't it be great if people really didn't bother about the cover of a book - if in fact it didn't matter and people just focused on the content? In reality this is not the case.
Just think for a moment about the last time you were in a book shop or online store looking at books.
What draws your attention to a book? The title? The category? The cover? All of the above play a part in whether or not you even bother to find out more about the book.
If the cover looks dull then we are not inspired to look inside! I think that Amazon have really helped those who struggle with designing their book cover.
By having the "look inside" icon they have drawn our attention to the important part - the actual content! Sneaky marketing move! However, the cover still has an impact especially when looking at a number of books in one go.
We will go to the book that has an appeal and the first appeal is the appearance of its cover.
It's colors and design.
Here is a big tip - look at the design of similar books in your particular niche.
Why? Because often we expect to see a particular style of cover to match a specific genre of book.
This is particularly true with fiction books.
For example, a crime book often has a cover with a murder weapon or murder scene on it.
A romance cover will always use passionate colors and have a person or part of a person on it.
Therefore if you create a cover that totally stands out and is different you could in fact put off many of your readers! So have a look at the style and design of best sellers in your category.
What similarities can you find? What type of fonts are used? Which colours? Where does the author put their name? These will give you clues as to what is expected by readers in this category.
Then you can come up with your own design such that your cover blends with the others but stands out in some way.
Perhaps by the combination of colours or the size of the font.
Test it and see what impact it has on your sales.