Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

A successful book cover grabs people on a first look. It’s competing against thousands of other covers in an overcrowded marketplace and only has seconds to capture a potential reader’s attention before they’ve moved on to another title. To do this, a cover must focus on one main compelling idea rather than trying to squeeze in every little detail. And it must be able to hold up at very small sizes. After all, since most books are shelved spine-out in stores, the majority of covers are seen as online thumbnails on sites like Amazon or IndieBound. If you’ve failed there, you’ve lost a huge part of your audience.

Romance novels are delightful for many reasons, but as any true fan knows, the fun starts before you even open the book — with the cover. Cover styles vary from author to author, but no matter the subgenre, there's a good chance the cover will feature sexy people doing sexy stuff.

A good book cover generates sales

In order to make a good book cover, it’s important to first understand its purpose. A cover exists primarily to entice potential readers to buy the book. It’s a sales tool. It has to relay information about the book in a way that grabs potential readers and inspires them to investigate further. It doesn’t have to tell everything about the story or provide the illustrator’s unique viewpoint like an editorial illustration. It simply must represent the story in a way that generates interest and curiosity and ultimately leads to sales. If the book cover doesn’t do that—no matter how beautiful it may be—it’s failed on a very significant level and is doomed to be repackaged later