Let's face it: the great lyrics and original plot are not all that you need to sell your book. People often make decisions based on visual information. The cover of your book should be good, and even better — stunning. To create this photo for the cover, you should have an incredible imagination and be able to work with such programs as Photoshop or Illustrator. For the cover of the book you can use different types of photos like portraits, love story and even your old photos that are stored at home, these photos are very suitable for books about the 20th century and will give the whole atmosphere, if you care that these photos are tainted and it is difficult to restore them, you can refer to the photo restoration services, also with the help of our service you will be able to give a vintage style for your modern photos.

Tips for creating perfect book cover

Here are 11 main rules and principles of creating book cover photos that will represent your book in the best light and help it find the reader:

1. The reader very often decides about buying or not-buying books based on the cover. Some studies show that the cover is sometimes more important than the topic or the name of the author.

2. Cover — is a passport for book; it needs to tell about the book everything important at a glance.

3. The title of the book should be readable. The way in which often test the readability of the title, is to reduce the cover to three centimeters vertically and see if the letters are read. If not, the title is trying to make a contrast regarding the color of the cover or removed the picture, put letters on a white background. Ways to remedy the situation a lot and a professional book designer owns them all.

4. Best on the cover of a professional photo — not too trite and well catch the eye. The designer can ask the author personal archive photos (if suitable), to contact the photographers or stock photography. Special hand drawn illustration — is more expensive but even better.

5. Cover often depends on the impression that the book will leave the reader, even after he read the text.

6. Often designers tend not to use more than three colors in one cover (exclusions require a very careful professional approach). In addition, the basic colors (just blue, just red, and just green) very oblige. Often designers choose non-obvious and not too flashy colors.

7. If you when creating the book fluctuate between the two options for the cover — more complex and simpler — choose a simple. Then you will not regret it.

8. "Cool font" makes the cover unique only in unique cases. Often the result is pretentious. A good designer even widely used font can build a smart and unusual visual decision — and thus the book's title and author's name will be read. The cover is nothing to dismantle — it does not cover, and the art object.

9. Good designers are not afraid of empty space — it is always better to leave more of the background than to score a free spot letters or ornament. Of the two options is more "complete" or more "empty" — it's safer to choose "empty".

10. Impression of the book, which covers produces on the reader, is more important than her "beauty" or "creativity".

11. To create the cover of the book is the art: it must at the same time attract the eye correct the reader, to sell the book and, of course, conform to it in meaning, reflecting and complementing the content of the text. If you can trust the professional, you get a hundred points handicap.

What about author photos for book covers? 

Tips and tricks for making a photo of a book author 

Photo of the author on the book is also very important for marketing. This is one of the easiest forms of marketing that will suit everyone. Your photos will help to convey to readers a lot of important information they "read" in your image, posture, clothes, and of course in your eyes, that will help you to find your audience.

1. Decide what purpose you are using your author photos for book covers. 

Here you have two options. The first is you use your photo to inform readers about the type of books that you write. With the help of pictures you tell about the genre, the style of your writing. 

The second is to show their rights to the book and imagine yourself as the author. Your photo will help your books gain popularity if you will create a seamless look to match the genre of your books. For example, if you are an author of horror books, in life you can be a regular fun person but in the photo on the cover of the book you have to look threateningly creating for its readers the aura of evil books. If it's detective or mystery stories then you must be mysterious.

Mary Mackey, Author 

2. I am the author. 

Error which allow for a lot of authors that think their author photos for book covers only needed to show how they look like, but it's not. Your cover photo needs to be great quality because it will judge a professional or just an ordinary amateur, so don't think that photo from Facebook or cropped wedding photo suitable for such an important cause.

3. Pose 

Remember that you are the author, not the character of the book. No matter what terrible events occurred in the book, your kind should not scare people, but merely to show that you are a serious professional and can write in that genre. Like Stephen King just looks at his picture, he assures readers in his strength and professionalism.

Elizabeth Gilbert

4. Color and presentation. 

Colors of the picture will help to convey the mood and style of the book. For example, a photo in grey tones helps to convey the depth of the image and give it the seriousness, as it is in the case with Stephen King. But if you are an author of children's fairy tales, stories, poems, and then you better use a colorful and cheery picture.

Dan Brown 

5. Accommodation. 

Photos should be easily visible because they convey a lot of important information to the reader. So the photo of the author must be placed in the upper left corner on the back cover. That will help to tell your reader that "this is me", not just "this is the kind of author I am."

Vladimir Nabokov

6. Size. 

Our eyes naturally turn first to the photo, so no need to do the half-page, standard size would be enough, but the originality you might think, for example, it will be interesting to look at the format of the Polaroid.

7. Consistency. 

Your photo is your logo and the logos of the desired consistency. During information technology every author needs their own web site, so it is very important the same photo to use on all of your sites and books, because it is your brand and your logo. Of course you don’t need to use the same picture the whole life, but I advise you to develop your own style and stick with it.

Stephen King

8. Does it necessarily should be a photo? 

We of course for the fact that the author should use his picture, but now a lot of artists and writers who want to remain unknown and attract more audience, create a tan in terms of his personality. You can use a variety of interesting pictures and avatars, create your own image, but do not forget that everything is good in moderation and sooner or later you will still need good photos to get acquainted with your readers.

9. What to do now? 

Make a list of the main qualities of your writing; consider the genre, style and features that distinguish it from all other writers. You need to understand what you are looking for how the author and after a consult with a good photographer because he has experience and he can help you in creating your successful image. And always remember that you are using your photo for advertising and selling your work, not only to show who the author is.

Beigbeder Frederic

Book cover photographers

Now we would like to introduce you to amazing book cover photographers. I hope that this will help you to find your perfect cover or to be inspired by the wonderful photo for books.

1. The Photographer Shaun Kruse  

  Shaun is an American photographer who over the last 17 months received a license for 180 book cover photos. In her interview she says that she loves to read, so this work is just incredible fun for her. She is famous because she sells not just the cover photo, and especially her help. She is very interested in the process and tries to help each author to give his own style to his books and attract more readers. She works in different genres of photography can also help you in retouching and restoration of images. Photo restoration samples of her work you can see on her website, where she describes her prices and it also describes the different styles and options to cover, which is also interesting for photographers.

2. ILINA Simeonova

Previously, she was a web designer and a model, but in 2006 she started over a successful career as a book cover photographer.  In her interview she said that it was a new way for her to express their creative ideas, a new stage in the development. First, she shared their photos in Flickr, and over time, they gained recognition and helped to get her a license for 350 book covers. In many pictures she is a model, which helped her to realize their dreams in modeling. All of her works have deep subtext and make express the author's idea; they are in complete tandem with the content of the book and create a new and interesting world. I advise you to get acquainted with her works.

3. Kathleen Kamphausen

Love novel — is a very special literary genre: the title and cover art should tell the reader what this book is. "Night of the outside world," "Soul and flesh", "the Shadow and the star", "Sins of love"... But only on the name the publishers do not expect, so the covers always present a muscular green-eyed long-haired brunette (optional: green-eyed blond), half-naked clutching to powerful chest delicate blond (redhead, brunette, brown-haired woman — in the extreme case). Handsome always shows a powerful smooth chest and strong chin, and beautiful almost always drawn in a half turn- so we can each imagine in its place yourself. But what if we imagine their real, living people?

Photographer Kathleen Kamphausen sure if to judge some books by its cover, you certainly romance novels. In his project, she took up the soft covers of the most popular novels with a recognizable aesthetic, "we can't be together, but love each other on the background of a waterfall" and asked normal people to recreate the poses lyrical Johanna Lindsay, Kathleen Morgan, Laura Kinsale, and other popular long-distance trains writers.

Photo recreation is a very popular thing at the last time, people recreate not only novel covers, they recreate also their old photos, if you are interested in it too you can read it in our blog in article Before after childhood photos - recreate old photos professionally. 

4. Sarah Ann Loreth

Sarah is an American photographer, which is located in New Hampshire. She gives some tips how to sell your photos for book authors. Below you can read some of them.

1. Choosing the right place

For starters, think about choosing the right agency. Many can offer you only 15%, don't stop there, there are agencies that will give you is rightfully yours is at least half.

Join a stock Agency that specialized on the covers of films and books, when your cooperation will be documented, your photos will upload into the database, but the license for them will now have Agency as you and the profit you get only when someone buy your photo.

2. Portfolio

Think about whether your photos meet the level of professionalism and the Agency and the desired result. Select only the best photos for your portfolio and never stop on achieved results.

3. Marketing

Still think whether the Agency you have chosen. After all, the more chances that your photo will be seen in a small Agency with 600 photos than in the big 60,000. Do not forget also about their rights to exclusivity photos and think about the chance of a simultaneous sale of the same photo for showcases.

4. Often upload their photos to the network

The larger your portfolio is, is the better, because this way you increase your chances of selling a photo. And the Agency is profitable, because every Agency wants to sell a photographer that constantly brings new work.

5. Keywords

Think about the key words by which the client will be able to find your photo. For example, if the book is about a girl on a swing, then your photo should be related to these words. Look at all your pictures and think what keywords you will be able to pick them.

6. It’s incredibly nice when a book becomes a bestseller and you see their pictures in the advertising and on all tabloids. So think over these tips and learn more about them you can read on the website of the photographer, we also found a useful video for you.

Not less important is the use of Photoshop to create the artwork, you can start their photos, try to make them covers for their favorite books, if your photos are damaged we will help you to restore them. If you want to restore you photos yourself, but need some help, you can read our article about restoration - Efficient and Smart Photo Editing – Should You Edit Photos On MacBook?

On our website you can find our photo restoration prices, examples of retouching, as well as many interesting tips and articles. We wish you good luck in your work and lastly, I advise you to watch the video on retouching for book cover photos.