Three Key Ingredients to a Successful E-book Cover: Silhouettes

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amodernwitchcover

Here is an enlarged version of Debora Geary‘s cover for A Modern Witch. Debora designed this cover herself. Let’s take a look at the elements within her image and examine what they are doing to make this a successful cover.

The most striking aspect of her cover image is the silhouette of the young dancer. It immediately catches your eye. That’s the goal of every cover. Once a book cover has captured your attention, it invites you to consider the message contained in the image. Ideally, the viewer will find the message captivating and will want to learn more.

What is a silhouette?

The dictionary defines a silhouette as: “The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, esp. in dim light.” The key thing is the separation between light and dark. You need to have two contrasting values to create a silhouette.

The silhouette, in Debora’s cover, is created by the dark value (the unbroken form of the dancing young lady) against a light value (the full moon). The resulting contrast is what attracts your eye to that portion of the image.

Why is the silhouette so important?

The silhouette is the best way to ensure that your image is readable. A strongly defined form allows the viewer to quickly evaluate the image and determine where they should be looking. It allows the viewer to look at an image and quickly determine what the subject matter and to understand the underlying message. The most effective way to achieve that level of readability is through the use of a strong silhouette.

Another thing that Debora did correctly when creating her cover is that she kept things simple. When you look at the image on her cover, there is no doubt what the focal point should be.

IMPORTANT: Every item you add to your cover image should re-enforce your focal point.

If the extraneous items are not leading the viewers eye to that focal point, then they should be removed. When Debora chose to limit the amount of material on her cover, she limited the number of possible focal points for the viewer.

Understanding the concept of silhouettes isn’t difficult, but it is vitally important. Our brains are wired in such a way that the instant we look at an image, we start to try to figure out what is the most important aspect of this picture. Where should I be looking? A strong silhouette is one of the most effective ways to establish the priority of that specific element and its place among the surrounding background elements.

Things to know:

  • Silhouette is created by a light form over a dark form (or reverse).
  • Limit the number of silhouettes in your image to ensure that you have only one focal point.

In case you missed the introduction, it’s located here: Introduction

 

Three Key Ingredients to a Successful E-book Cover

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The cover to your e-book is your first message to a potential reader. Speak clearly. This is the first in a series of articles devoted to helping you to refine your message and to present that message in the best possible way. These articles will not teach you how to use Photoshop, but they will allow you to understand some of the goals you should keep in mind when you hire a designer/artist or create your own e-book cover.

1. A Strong Silhouette:

This is number one on the list for a reason. The silhouette created by your focal point is what will grab the viewer’s attention. Does your image communicate its subject matter clearly from a distance? If the image is viewed as a thumbnail can the viewer quickly determine the subject matter without zooming-in?

modernwitch

Debora Geary‘s cover for A Modern Witch is a wonderful example of a simple image that manages to speak clearly. It is easily understood– even when viewed as a thumbnail. It’s also an attractive gateway into an entertaining book with a unique approach to blending technology and magic.

2. Good Values:

This is a bit more subtle, but equally important. When I say values, I’m not talking about morality. I’m referring to how light or dark parts of your image are. A well structured and contrasting value pattern is what makes an image interesting. Values, when used correctly, will create a focal point for your image. The highest contrast between light and dark will always attract a viewer’s attention. With that in mind, you should give a lot of thought to how you present your values. Where are they leading the viewer’s attention? Create that focal point deliberately.

creepyguy

The focal point of this picture is the light shining on his nose. Notice how the area around the nose is lighter than most other parts of the image. The other place where you see this sharp drop off from light to dark is around the eyes (the secondary focal point for the image).

If values are used incorrectly the image will not read well. People will struggle to figure out the intended message. The most common mistake people make with values is by using (or creating) images that don’t have enough contrast. The values are too similar and do not present an ordered hierarchy to guide the viewer through the image.

3. A Promise

The last quality that every cover needs is a promise. Your cover image needs to clearly inform the viewer about the content contained in your book. It needs to make a promise. Does your book have romance? Adventure? Is it a thriller? Science Fiction? Fantasy? Mystery? Is that information presented on the cover?

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Above, you will see the cover to Lindsay Buroker‘s novella, Flash Gold. This cover makes an implicit promise to the viewer. It promises a story set in the Steam Punk genre. You know that it belongs to this genre because of the mechanical gears present in the rifle and repeated in the title. Every element, within that picture, is chosen and placed there for a specific reason and that reason is to inform any would-be reader about the type of story contained inside.

Now, I’d like to hear from you. What are some other qualities that define a successful e-book cover?

Part One is located here: Part One- Silhouettes

Congratulations Benjamin Andrews and Mackenzie Morgan!

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Today, I received some wonderful news. Two of the authors, for whom I have done covers, have books in the top 10 for their categories on Amazon. Here’s part of an e-mail I received from Benjamin Andrews today regarding his book: Rift of Askrah Book 1: Fracture

“Hey John,

I figured as an artist, you may want to know about how books your art is representing are doing. I had a 2 day free promotion start today, and after 3/4 of a day at #2 in my sub-genre (Epic Fantasy), I finally climbed into the #1 spot in the top 100 free books for my sub-genre!

Though I hope they came for the writing too, I know the cover you created had a huge impact, as I ran a 3 day promotion with my own cover, and only got a fraction of the downloads I already have in just one day. I wanted to let you know your art has helped my book…”

A few hours later, I discovered that Mackenzie Morgan’s latest book, A Shot in the Dark (a book that I helped her re-launch with a new cover), was in the number two spot (update) number one spot for its category. I’m particularly proud that this book is doing so well because it was my first experience working in the Cozy Mystery genre. It took a lot of research to make sure that I was creating a cover that would speak to readers of that genre in a way that would communicate that this book represented a story that would interest them.

Congratulations, Benjamin and Mackenzie. I hope the increased exposure leads to increased sales!