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Designing the Back Cover of a Book: The 10 Must-Haves
Think about the last time you were browsing a bookstore. The front covers of the books are likely the thing that drew your attention enough to pick up a particular book. But I would wager the first thing you did after making a selection was to turn it over and look at...
9 Cool Book Covers to Inspire Self-Publishers
When I was growing up in the ‘90s, one of my favorite things to do was ride my bike to the local library to peruse the shelves. Book covers, from what I remember at least, were predictable back then: westerns had cowboys on the covers, romance covers had steamy...
The Best InDesign Alternative: 7 Nonsubscription Options
As an avid reader, there are few things worse than picking up a book that you’re excited to read and finding that the interior formatting is done so poorly that it actually inhibits your ability to enjoy the book. While the choices you make as a designer make a huge...
A Fantasy World Map Guide: Tools and Best Practices
Creating a fantasy world map is an important step for many authors writing fantasy or other speculative fiction. A map does more than just show the places in your story; it gives you, the author, a way to further develop the world of your story and characters. And if...
Book Cover Ideas for New Authors
You’ve spent the last however-many months (or years) writing and editing your book and you’re finally ready to self-publish it. Congratulations! That in itself is a huge accomplishment! Now that you’re ready to self-publish, you’re probably wondering about all the...
The Top 12 Royalty-free Sources for Book Cover Images
Despite the adage to not judge a book by its cover, the truth is that readers do judge book cover images when determining what they might want to read next. Without book cover art that stands out from the rest of the books on a shelf (virtual or otherwise), your book...
Design Inspiration: Custom Book Covers for Adventurous Authors
If you’re an author who wants to do something a little different with your book cover, I’ve got you covered (pun fully intended). Too often, authors can have rigid ideas about what a book cover should look like. What it should and shouldn’t include. The truth, though,...
The 20 Best Book Covers in the Fantasy Genre
It's hard to overstate the importance of a great book cover. The best book covers grab readers' attention and spark their curiosity about the story inside. For fantasy books, the cover sets the stage for a journey filled with wonders and adventures. A few key elements...
The Top Fantasy Fonts for Book Covers: Free and Paid
What catches a potential reader's eye when they scan through rows of fantasy books? The short answer is that it's the book cover design. Often, it's the font on the cover that makes a crucial first impression. Great fantasy fonts do more than just grab attention; they...
Navigating Book Design: DIY Challenges and Professional Solutions
As writers, we often focus so much on perfecting our sentences that we overlook other steps that bring books to life. One of these essential steps is book design. It doesn't just make your book look great; it also ensures it resonates emotionally with readers. So,...
