What stands out on this particular cover?

It’s clean (uncluttered).

It’s clever—the “red pencil” edit over typed text, complete with a traditional editor’s “insertion” mark (^).

It’s consistent: If you look closely at the dark vertical stripe, you’ll notice that it simulates the typical binding of most store-bought notebooks. Then the color choices make even more sense: it’s meant to look like a writer’s journal. It’s just an all-around great design.*

*Crucial point: the cover design matches the content (story).

I checked inside the front cover and—no surprise—it’s a Chip Kidd design. His most well-known cover is probably Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, but he’s behind the artwork for many books.

One of my favorite “Ted Talks” is Chip Kidd’s The Hilarious Art of Book Design. Chip is intelligent, funny, entertaining, and passionate about designing book covers. Do yourself a favor and watch the video at the foot of this post (even if you don’t design your own covers).

What do stories look like?

Chip asks this über-important question early in his presentation:

“What do the stories look like?”

The question cuts to the heart of what a cover is supposed to do: take a written story and present it visually. A book cover is the first impression that attracts a reader’s attention. It’s making a statement, promising that there’s more to see.

A silly example just popped to mind:

• A hamburger on a white background just says “burger.” Probably minimal, if any, emotional impact (unless you’re vegan or haven’t eaten for several days).
• The same burger sitting on a wooden campground table says “vacation.” Good summer vibes ensue; the casual reader might even picture a lake or smell a campfire.
• Placing the burger on a fine china plate, surrounded by all the best silverware atop a linen tablecloth says “somebody’s up to something.” The reader may smile—even if only internally—as they spot the awkward juxtaposition.

If our front cover snags the reader’s attention, they’ll pick the book up, flip it over and read the back cover blurb … which means our back cover presentation is equally important.

Yes, a simple one-color background with text can be a back cover. But why waste the opportunity to give the blurb the right “atmosphere” by incorporating visual imagery? It’s like telling the story twice: blurb + visual setting. The chances of the prospective reader opening the book to peruse a few pages increases … if the cover art intrigues them.

Going back to the hamburger illustration, what the reader discovers inside the book should match the cover’s visual imagery.

In the digital marketplace, your front cover does all the work. Period. Most digital marketplaces (with the exception of Amazon) don’t have an option to read the blurb in a visual context. All the more reason to put significant thought into how your cover tells the story.

Think of it as the ultimate “flash fiction.”

An observation re: standing out in a sea of covers

It’s always a good idea to visit local bookstores—corporate and independent—and browse through our genre’s shelves. There are multiple things you can take notes on:

• the most common trim size
• cover fonts
• color combinations
• trends in cover images/artwork
• back cover blurbs (which ones made you want to read more?)

The prevailing wisdom is that we should stick close to the current trends—in color palettes, choice of fonts, and cover images. I can see the wisdom in that; we don’t want to stick out for the wrong reasons. A heaping pile of cow turds will stand out in a grassy field, but nobody wants to pick it up.

At the same time, during my bookstore reconnaissance forays, I’ve noticed book tables/displays where the books looked so much like each other—fonts, colors, artwork—that none of them stood out. My eyes craved something—anything—that dared to break the parched wilderness of clones sameness.

So what’s the sweet spot? Revisit Chip Kidd’s guiding dictum: cover art tells a story. Make that the priority, and choose fonts/colors/images to serve that vision.

But telling the story comes first.

Thanks, Chip.