Nonfiction books come in different sizes depending on the category. The size of your book will determine your overall page-count, and the lower the page count the less costly the book will be. For example, an 80,000-word manuscript can fit in a 400-page 5” x 8” book as well as a 230-page 6” x 9” book, but the latter will be less expensive to manufacture.

I often hear the term trim size, is this the same as book size?

Yes. The reason the printing industry refers to the size of a book as “trim size” is because once pages are printed, books are glued or stitched together at the spine and then “trimmed” by printing guillotines to their final size — hence the terminology.

When it comes to manufacturing books, even though you could technically trim a book to any custom size, it’s not cost efficient for the production equipment to have to be reset every time a new book size is printed.

For this reason, the industry has settled on certain popular trim sizes so that they can set up entire printing lines dedicated to those sizes.

In this article, I’ll show you what the most popular trim sizes are in the nonfiction genre and I’ll show you the trim sizes that are supported by the two main on-demand printing services for nonfiction self-publishers.

Sample Book Sizes for Typical Nonfiction Categories

Below you’ll find some popular trim sizes for different nonfiction categories:

Memoir/Biography/Autobiography

These books tend to be printed in smaller sizes to be more comfortable to carry and to hold while reading.

Popular memoir/biography/autobiography book sizes are: 5.25” x 8”, 5.5” x 8.5”.

Textbooks:

These books tend to carry a lot of information and thus tend to have very large page counts. For this reason, larger trim sizes are the norm.

Popular textbook sizes are: 6” x 9”, 7” x 10”, 8.5” x 11”.

Cookbooks

Cookbooks don’t typically have a large word-count, however they do have a lot of images: photographs, tables, charts, illustrations, etc. For this reason, larges page sizes tend to be preferred by readers — but not so large that they won’t fit on a bookcase shelf.

Popular cookbook sizes are: 8” x 10”, 8.5” x 11”, 9” x 10”.

Directories, Manuals and Reference Books

These books tend to carry vast amounts of information, which demands both a large page count and a large trim size.

Popular book sizes in these categories are: 8” x 10” and 8.5” x 11”.

General Nonfiction

Consumer types of nonfiction, like psychology, health, parenting, spirituality/new age, and so on, come in the most popular trim sizes — since they’re both easy to carry and easy to hold while reading.

Popular general nonfiction book sizes are: 5.5” x 8.5” and 6” x 9”.

Photography and Art Books

These books are usually printed in full color on a thicker paper weight to minimize see-through (i.e. you want the paper to be thick enough that an image on one side of the page doesn’t “show through” on the other side.

They also tend to be very large so readers have the opportunity to appreciate the details in the art pieces depicted in the books.

Popular book sizes are: 10” x 8” (landscape), 12” x 12”, and 13” x 11” (landscape).

Book Sizes Supported by Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing

Amazon’s KDP offers one of the most popular on-demand printing services in the world for self-publishing authors. With printing facilities on three continents, KDP has created a truly a cost-effective solution for independent authors and publishers everywhere.

KDP’s equipment supports the following trim sizes for both black & white and color books. The only constraint is that KDP doesn’t offer hardcover printing. All sizes below are for paperbacks:

Trim Size
5″ x 8″ 5.06″ x 7.81″ 5.25″ x 8″ 5.5″ x 8.5″ 6″ x 9″ 6.14″ x 9.21″ 6.69″ x 9.61″ 7″ x 10″ 7.44″ x 9.69″ 7.5″ x 9.25″ 8″ x 10″ 8.25″ x 6″ 8.25″ x 8.25″ 8.5″ x 8.5″ 8.5″ x 11″ 8.27″ x 11.69″

Book Sizes Supported by IngramSpark

IngramSpark is the print-on-demand subsidiary of Ingram Books, the largest brick-and-mortar book distributor in the world. Like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark has distributed printing facilities around the world, offering another low-cost solution for nonfiction self-publishing authors.

Unlike KDP, however, they do offer hardcover printing in addition to paperbacks. Here are their available book sizes:

Paperbacks (black & white)

Trim Size
4″ x 6″ 4″ x 7″ 4.37″ x 7″ 5″ x 7″ 5″ x 8″ 5.06″ x 7.81″ 5.25″ x 8″ 5.5″ x 8.25″ 5.5″ x 8.5″ 5.83″ x 8.27″ 6″ x 9″ 6.14″ x 9.21″ 6.5″ x 6.5″ 6.625″ x 10.25″ 6.6″ x 9.61″ 7″ x 10″ 7.44″ x 9.69″ 7.5″ x 9.25″ 8″ x 8″ 8″ x 10″ 8″ x 10.88″ 8.25″ x 10.75″ 8.25″ x 11″ 8.268″ x 11.693″ 8.5″ x 8.5″ 8.5″ x 9″ 8.5″ x 11″

Paperbacks (standard color)

Trim Size
4″ x 6″ 4″ x 7″ 4.37″ x 7″ 5″ x 7″ 5″ x 8″ 5.06″ x 7.81″ 5.25″ x 8″ 5.5″ x 8.25″ 5.5″ x 8.5″ 5.83″ x 8.27″ 6″ x 9″ 6.14″ x 9.21″ 6.5″ x 6.5″ 6.625″ x 10.25″ 6.69″ x 9.61″ 7″ x 10″ 7.44″ x 9.69″ 7.5″ x 9.25″ 8″ x 8″ 8″ x 10″ 8″ x 10.88″ 8.25″ x 10.75″ 8.25″ x 11″ 8.268″ x 11.693″ 8.5″ x 8.5″ 8.5″ x 9″ 8.5″ x 11″

Paperbacks (premium color)

Trim Size
4″ x 7″ 5″ x 8″ 5.5″ x 8.25″ 5.5″ x 8.5″ 5.83″ x 8.27″ 6″ x 9″ 6.14″ x 9.21″ 6.5″ x 6.5″ 6.625″ x 10.25″ 7″ x 10″ 7.5″ x 9.25″ 8″ x 8″ 8″ x 10″ 8.25″ x 10.75″ 8.5″ x 8.5″ 8.5″ x 9″ 8.5″ x 11″ 11″ x 8.5″

Hardcovers

Trim Size

5″ x 8″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket 5.5″ x 8.5″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket 5.83″ x 8.27″ Case Laminate 6″ x 9″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket 6.14″ x 9.21″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket 6.69″ x 9.61″ Case Laminate 7″ x 10″ Case Laminate 7.5″ x 9.25″ Case Laminate 8″ x 8″ Case Laminate 8″ x 10″ Case Laminate 8″ x 10.88″ Case Laminate 8.25″ x 10.75″ Case Laminate 8.5″ x 8.5″ Case Laminate 8.5″ x 11″ Case Laminate

In closing

Choosing an optimal trim size for your book is a critical decision you’ll need to make early on because your overall print cost will be determined by your book size and page-count. Keep in mind also that your audience is accustomed to certain book sizes for very practical reasons.

For example, if you publish a memoir in an 8” x 10” format, it’ll likely not move many copies because this is just too awkward a format to hold in your hands while reading. Conversely, you don’t want to publish a cookbook in a 5.5” x 8.5” format either (the format of many mass-market novels) because the writing will be too small to read at a distance and readers won’t be able to hold it open on the kitchen counter while cooking.

Hopefully, this article will help you choose the right format for your nonfiction book!

Best wishes,

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need any help – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

When it comes to nonfiction book design, you won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Prospective readers picking up your book for the first time will make a go/no go decision based on first impressions.

They’ll first browse your book, read a few pages and then make a decision based on that initial scan. So, given this brief time of exposure, the design of your book’s interior becomes paramount. At a minimum, readers will expect that you follow well-established publishing standards.

If you break one or more of these book design rules, your work may be branded as amateurish, even if the information in it is compelling. It’s for this reason that great care must be taken when balancing all the necessary visual aspects that appear on your book.

I’ve written this article to offer you important tips to help you gain a sound understanding of the different aspects of book design. You’ll need to nail these down in order to produce a nonfiction book that will look both professional and functional.

Let’s start with the most important step when it comes to your book design:

Book Dimensions

Your book size (or “trim size”) is the primary cost driver for your print book since it determines the volume of paper your book will require to be produced.

To make the printing process more efficient, most book print shops have settled on standard trim sizes that allow them to pre-set their equipment one time only without having to stop the presses to make constant changes. Although custom sizes are possible, they’re usually discouraged through high pricing.

Most nonfiction books are printed by choosing a standard size from the following list:

5” x 8”

This size is typically used for paperbacks only, although there are exceptions.

5.5” x 8.5”

This size is used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

6” x 9”

This size is used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

Your final choice will be determined by your total word count. If you have a large word count, then it’s a good idea to choose a 6” x 9” trim size to reduce the number of pages in your book (a large page can fit a higher number of characters).

If you choose instead a small trim size (say 5” x 8”) you may end up with an overly thick book, which will not only cost more to produce but may also be awkward to hold for readers.

On average, a 5” x 8” book can fit between 250 and 350 words of text per page. At the other end of the spectrum, a 6” x 9” book can fit between 350 and 450 words per page (less if you add if you add any visuals). As an example, a 70,000-page manuscript will require approximately 200 pages in a 6” x 9” trim size and the same word count will require 280 pages in a 5” x 8” book (40% more pages).

Page Design

Use of White Space

White space in your book design refers to the absence of any ink. The goal of a good nonfiction book design is to achieve the right balance between white space and text or visuals.

An example of a poor nonfiction design is a phone book (remember those?) where white space is purposely minimized to reduce the overall number of pages. In general, books printed with little white space are very hard to read.

Size of Margins

From a visual standpoint, margins are used to manage the balance between white space and the printed items in your book design, but from a technical standpoint, they’re needed to ensure that print shops have enough empty space to bind the books.

If your book margins are too wide, your text will appear to “float” in the middle of the page. If your margins are too narrow, your text will appear to be “cluttered,” making for an uncomfortable read.

Chapter Page Design

If you inspect any nonfiction book, you’ll notice that the first page in each chapter looks different than all other pages — they get a “special” design treatment.

For example, many authors take cues from their book cover design and reuse some of their design details in the chapter pages to give their books a unique identity. For instance, they may pick up the stylized image of a leaf from the cover of the book and repeat it at the beginning of each chapter page.

As a practical matter, make sure that every chapter begins on the right-hand side. Beginning your chapters on the left-hand side is a sign of an amateur design.

Header and Footer Design

An important aspect of book design is headers and footers. Headers are typically used to display page numbers and also as navigational tools, showing people where they are in the book by displaying the chapter or section heading.

Since the real estate of the header is rather limited, if you have long chapter or section names just show the part of text you can comfortably fit in and truncate the rest with an ellipsis (three dots). Never jam-pack your header with excessive information — this will make your book look amateurish.

Also, don’t display any text in your footers aside from the page number and footnotes if you have any. Finally, make sure there are no headers on title pages, the copyright page, chapter pages and any blank pages that may appear in your book design.

Table of Content Design

Your table of contents (TOC) serves two purposes: to help your audience navigate from chapter to chapter and to provide them with a road map of the overall structure of your book in case they want to glance at all topics before diving in.

What you want to avoid is a TOC that’s too “thin” (short chapter titles and no sub-titles) or too “dense” (too much information packed into the headings). Also, you want to display information that’s appealing to readers and that entices them to want to read more. Avoid making your TOC boring and utilitarian.

Breakout Boxes

Breakout boxes are text/graphical features where key takeaways from your book can be pulled out of the main text and given a unique font treatment and background to make them stand out.

They add a lot of value to most nonfiction books since they tend to be packed with a lot of actionable information, but make sure you don’t overuse them. Breakout boxes need to be planned out for the entire book to ensure that there’s a logical flow from box to box.

Balance is once again something to consider here. Too many boxes will become a distraction and take away from the reader’s enjoyment and too few will make readers question why they are there in the first place.

Information Flow

Don’t display any front matter sections between your introduction and your first chapter (such as acknowledgments, dedications, etc.). For maximum effect, your book’s introduction must transition directly to your first chapter.

Text Design

Line Spacing

The space between two lines of text, also referred to as line spacing, is a critical detail to get right for readability. To much line spacing in relation to the size of your font (there’s a connection between line spacing and font size) and your inside layout looks sparse. Too little and your readers will get a headache.

Paragraph Length

Refrain from writing long, seemingly unending paragraphs. All your paragraphs should be broken down into short sentences that are easy for readers to digest. Aim to have between 3 and 5 sentences per paragraph on average. Nonfiction books require that readers constantly digest a lot of new information. You always want to ensure that they don’t feel overwhelmed when reading your book.

Paragraph Breaks

Always use a single line break between paragraphs. Multiple paragraph breaks is a big no-no in the industry. In addition, when you begin a new chapter always use a page break attached to the heading containing your chapter title — never hit the return key multiple times to get to the next page.

Widows And Orphans

A widow is a layout error that results in the last line of a paragraph being pushed to a new page. An orphan is a layout error that happens when the first line of a paragraph is the last line of a page. Both widowed and orphaned text should be avoided at all cost (word processors have a feature to automatically prevent this from happening).

Text Justification

Never left justify text blocks like you do when you write a letter, leaving the right edges unaligned (this is referred to as “ragged paragraphs”). The industry standards for nonfiction books require that text blocks be fully justified. That is, your text needs to align against both the left and right margins (cookbooks and art books are excepted).

Font Design

Avoid using “fancy” typography – they’re a sign of amateur design. Also, don’t use multiple typefaces in the body of your book. All paragraphs must be laid out with the same font types and font sizes. The only exceptions are captions for imagery and breakout boxes (explained above).

The font style you choose for your book design is the virtual “glue” that holds your reader’s attention. To the layperson, most fonts of the same type and size look similar (e.g. most serif fonts or most non-serif fonts). But in reality, the design of a font can make a huge difference in reader retention.

Graphical Elements

With everything spanning from photographs to artwork, to illustrations, charts, diagrams and tables, the judicious use of visuals can greatly enhance your book’s reading experience and help improve your reader’s understanding of the information in your book.

The key consideration is balance. Too many graphics bunched together can become a distraction. Too few will make your reader wonder why they are even there. Make sure that every single graphic has a clear purpose. Nonfiction readers are savvy and they expect all information in a book to be there for a reason. Misplaced, cluttered or confusing graphics are a sure way to lose them fast.

Image Resolution

Never show low-resolution images in a printed book. Always secure the highest possible resolution you can obtain. Aside from being considered an amateur design, a blurred or pixelated printed graphic or illustration will devalue your work in the eyes of readers and decision makers.

In-graphic Information

Never clutter your charts, graphs and tables with too much information. The amount of information on any graphic or illustration should always be in balance with the text that surrounds it. If you have a lot of visual information to share, break it apart into multiple images.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free non fiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing and publishing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need support in your book project – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners self publishing books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book formatting and design, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

 

Finding the best nonfiction book cover artists for your book project is essential for your success, because as book discovery has migrated to the world of search engines you’ll need to be competitive with established titles produced by traditional publishers.

When your book shows up side by side on a search with a bestselling title in your niche, the contrast between both covers will be immediately apparent. So it’s imperative that you aren’t tempted by low cost operators and hire instead an experienced nonfiction cover artist.

You Don’t Need Just a Good Cover Artist, You Need the Right One

If you do a Google search for book cover designers you’ll find pages upon pages of potential candidates showcasing many beautiful covers. However, you’ll also find that 99% of the covers you see are for fiction books.

The reason is that the vast majority of the millions of books that are self-published every year are fiction titles.

As a nonfiction writer, you need to find a specialist in your genre because the skills of a nonfiction book cover artist are diametrically opposite to those of fiction cover artists.

A fiction designer’s goal is to capture the essence of the story in the cover imagery. In other words, to create a visually appealing representation of the book’s characters and their journey. Fiction covers are about the book, not about the reader.

Nonfiction covers, on the other hand, must always be about the reader and not about the book. Their goal is to show a visual representation of the life of the reader after they put into practice the solution conveyed throughout the pages of your book.

While a fiction cover focuses on the character or characters in the book, a nonfiction cover focuses on the reader and their deep desires.

For this reason, you must find a book cover artist who understands how nonfiction works, who understands the needs of your target audience and who understands your reader’s aspirations.

Don’t Look for Cover Artists as a Commodity

In the age of the gig economy, exemplified by websites where you can find cover artists that’ll work for under $20, it’s easy to treat book cover designers as a low-cost commodity.

While this approach may prove valuable for fiction books, where you might want to keep your overall costs down in order to  test the book in the market before you commit more resources, it could prove disastrous for nonfiction.

The reason for that is that nonfiction titles are expected to be written by subject matter experts and as such your book will become a projection of your professional reputation.

Therefore, you can’t afford to cut corners and hire anyone but the most experienced nonfiction book cover artist that you can budget for.

Ask to See Lots of Nonfiction Cover Samples

Once you find the right candidate, ask to see as many nonfiction cover samples as possible – this will be proof of their length of service in the trade.

Then compare these covers with the book covers of bestselling nonfiction books in your niche to see how they measure up.

Ask How Many Sample Covers They’ll Make Available for You to Choose From

Another important question to ask is how many different covers they’ll include in their fee in order to give you greater freedom of choice.

Typically, you want to have at least three different covers to choose from, and by different I mean unique concepts, not the same cover with some twists.

Ask How Many Revisions Are Allowed Before Extra Charges Are Triggered

Once you decide on the main theme of your cover, you’ll want to be able to make tweaks to get it right where you want it to be.

So you need to ask the designer how many revisions their standard fees will allow before extra charges kick in.

Ask to See Their Contract, Fees and Terms of Payment

Always work with an artist who has a clear contract that details the services that they’ll provide, the fees, the terms of payment and, more importantly, how they’ll handle and charge for change requests.

The world of design is highly subjective and experienced book cover artists will not offer unlimited changes (beware of those who do).

What you’re looking for is a fair amount of changes to be covered by their standard fee and then reasonable charges for additional changes beyond that number.

Ask for Their Expected Timeline Based on Their Current Workload

Something else that must be stipulated in your contract is the expected length of time required to produce your cover design.

This must include the initial timeline from capture of your requirements to production of the initial set of covers plus the time between a change request and its execution.

These times will vary based on the designer’s workload, so you must ensure that their time frames fit the schedule of your self-publishing project plan.

Ask to Provide You With 2 or 3 References

Although having access to book covers produced by the artist in the past is a necessary first step, you’ll also want to talk with their clients so that you can learn details about the working relationship.

To this end, ask for two or three references. Any reluctance to provide you with references is a sign of inexperience (i.e. lots of sample covers but few actual clients).

Check for a Good Rapport

Finally, make sure that there’s a strong rapport in your interactions with the designer during the interview stage.

Creative endeavors require that professionals that you hire be good listeners and empathetic to your needs. After all, they may work with you for a few weeks, but you might have spent years on your book project.

If you feel you have to walk on eggshells when you communicate with your designer no matter how talented they may be, then that’s a sign to take a pass and go down the list.

Creative relationships demand openness and vulnerability and you must ensure that you can always work with your book cover artist on a basis of mutual respect and understanding.

In Conclusion

Nonfiction book covers are a critical element in your book’s potential success in the market and require a deep understanding of the needs of your target audience.

Therefore, you must hire a book cover artist who’s not only skilled in the visual arts but who also understands the psychology of readers in your niche so that they can tailor your book cover to their aspirations.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing, designing or publishing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

This article will show you the best practices to make a book cover for your nonfiction title in five simple steps.

The Importance of Nonfiction Covers

The cover of a nonfiction book is absolutely critical for its success. If you’re writing a nonfiction book, changes are that you’re doing so to solve a problem for your target audience.

Your unique solution needs to be reflected on your cover in a way that’s clear and unambiguous. Since problems have a strong emotional component, your solution and the imagery of your book cover must clearly reflect this fact.

Your best approach is for your cover to pictorially reflect the outcome of your solution, which is the most desired state that your target audience seeks to achieve.

For example, the book “The 4-Hour Workweek” provides strategies to escape the rat race and gain personal and financial freedom. Now, the title doesn’t explain how this is achieved and neither does the cover – clearly, you must read the book to find out.

However, what both the title and the cover do is to show the outcome of having put this yet unknown solution into practice. Specifically, this book’s cover depicts the outline of a person lying on a hammock between two palm trees with a sunset in the background.

This cover achieves a direct emotional connection with the source of its audience’s problem (living in a financial rat race) while offering an aspirational outcome that symbolizes personal and financial freedom.

Why It’s Key to Hire a Professional

When it comes to nonfiction, your self-published book will be competing head to head with traditionally published titles.

When your book comes up on a user search, it’ll be flanked by other books in your niche that have professionally produced covers. Anything less will look amateurish by comparison.

This is the reason why you can’t afford to farm out this important task to family or friends, or even do it yourself (unless you all make a living as professional cover designers).

Don’t cut corners in the most important aspect of visual marketing for your book. Also, keep in mind that your nonfiction book will establish you as an expert in your field and as such it’ll become an extension of your professional reputation. Any sign of amateur design will poorly reflect on your professionalism.

Now, even when you hire a book cover artist, it’s important for you to be familiar with the basics of cover design so that you can both have an intelligent discussion.

To this end, here are five steps to making a nonfiction book cover that can move the needle:

Step 1: Research Covers in Your Niche for Ideas

The first step is something that I recommend you do before you hire a professional.

Do a Google search for the most popular and critically acclaimed nonfiction books in your niche and create a list of titles and authors.

Then search Amazon for those books and copy and paste the covers in a document on your computer – you can use PowerPoint or similar so that you can easily manipulate the images.

Place three covers side by side per page, then print them and make notes on the margins about the features that you find appealing, or that you would like your designer to emulate.

Then take pictures of each page with your phone and email them to your cover designer so they can read your handwritten comments. They’ll use this research to inform their design choices.

Step 2: Choose the Right Trim Size

The next step is to choose your trim size. Now this is a decision that will be made jointly by your layout artist and your book designer and it’ll take into consideration the following two criteria:

• Using the trim size that is most favored in your nonfiction niche – the goal is to match the expectations of your target audience. For example, a financial investment guide printed in a small 5×8 trim size may give the appearance of a lack of gravitas as many mass-market novels are printed using this size.
• The number of words in your book. The larger the trim size the larger the number of words that can be fitted onto each page and the fewer the number of pages that will be required. Now, a book that’s too thin might give the perception that it’s not thorough enough for specific niches. Again your designers will arrive at the best compromise.

Paperback Format

For your paperback format, your cover will consist of a front cover, the spine and a back cover. Your front cover will include the main graphic elements, your title, sub-title, your name and if available a key testimonial from a highly trusted source.

Your spine will include your title, sometimes your subtitle in small print (but not always) and your name, and your back cover will include a sales blurb for your book, your bio and additional testimonials.

Hardcover Format

Your hardcover’s book cover will be slightly different. The information in your front cover and spine will be identical as your paperback edition, but your back cover will be different, plus the hardcover format introduces a new element: cover flaps.

Your back cover will now only show testimonials and no book blurb. This information will be shown instead on the front-cover side flap. The back-cover flap will contain your bio.

Step 3: Choose the Right Fonts

The next step for your book cover designer will be to choose the cover fonts. This is a critical choice since there are thousands of font families to choose from.

Here are some of the guidelines that your designer will use:

Font Selection “Do’s”

Use Fonts That Look Good When Enlarged

Cover fonts tend to be narrower than body fonts due to the natural limitations of book covers.

Since standard size book covers have a portrait orientation, fonts must be narrow in order to fit your title without having to use too many lines of text.

Use Fonts that Match The Expectations of Your Niche

Some nonfiction niches may call for more “artistic” fonts, while some may call for more “formal” font designs. Your book cover professional will be able to advice you on this important choice.

Your Title Must Always Be Bigger Than Your Name

This is always the case unless you’re a well-known author.

Also your font title must be large enough to be easily legible in a small thumbnail image of your book, since this is what will appear on search results.

Font Selection “Don’ts”

Never Use Gimmicky Fonts for Your Book Cover

This will distract from your overall theme and message and will also make your cover design look amateurish.

Don’t Use a Lot of Graphic Elements

Stick to a single main image if at all possible. You designer will likely produce multiple cover samples with different images for you to choose from. Multiple images in a cover can become distracting and confuse the reader.

Don’t Use Too Many Colors

The goal of a cover is to convey the main theme of your book while relating to your readers aspirations. The use of too many colors will be distracting, may look garish and may be perceived as amateurish.

Don’t Use Too Many Font Types

Consistency is key. Once you agree on the main font family for your front cover with the help of your designer, you should stick with it.

It’s okay to use a different font family for your front and back covers (e.g. a sans-serif font for your front cover and a serif font for the text-heavy back cover) but try to stick with a single font family on the front cover.

Step 4: Choose the Right Images

Photographs

If you’re using a photograph, stay away from stock photos because they tend to be overused. You want your book to be unique and not to reuse photographs that may appear on people’s blogs, or worse yet, on another book cover.

The solution is to use a professional photographer that you hire for the occasion. This will guarantee your uniqueness and also ensure high production quality.

Make sure that your contract stipulates that the copyright transfers to you on payment of the photographer fee without any limitations.

Images or Drawings

You’ll also have to hire a graphic artist for your cover image. Don’t use stock images for the same reason as stated above.

Your book and the solution that you’re offering to your target audience are unique and so must be your main image.

Also, make sure that the copyright to the image transfers to you on full payment as well.

Step 5: Choose the Right Colors

Nonfiction books demand very specific color palettes, and they are driven by the expectations of your target audience in your niche. For example, cookbooks require colors that people will identify with based on the food theme of your recipes.

If you use colors that don’t reflect your theme, it’ll be confusing to your audience, and perhaps even unappetizing. Colors trigger an emotional response so you must ensure that they are in line with your subject matter.

This is another area where your cover designer will be able to advise you. They’ll know from experience the colors that work well in your niche and what colors you need to stay away from.

In Conclusion

By following the above five steps, your professional designer will produce a great cover in consultation with you that you’ll be very proud of, and also a cover that’ll compete effectively with traditionally-published nonfiction books in your niche.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing, designing or publishing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

5 Book Cover Maker Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Nonfiction Cover

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

In this article I’ll show you 9 book-cover ideas to take your nonfiction cover design to the next level. In this competitive age of digital shopping habits, your book is more likely than ever to appear side-by-side with traditionally published books than ever before.

By implementing the nine ideas below, you’ll be able to level the playing field with your competition, making your book cover more compelling as you’re able to match the expectations of readers in your niche.

All Books Are Judged by Their Covers

While it’s true that all books are judged by their covers, this is of particular importance for nonfiction books.

The reason is that while fiction book covers only need to reflect the story and characters in the book, nonfiction book covers need to show a reflection of the reader’s hopes and dreams.

In other words, what readers of nonfiction titles want to see on their covers is who they stand to become if they read your book. Nonfiction covers are aspirational.

So if you want your book to be picked up, you’ll need its cover to reflect a mirror image of the future your reader can expect if they were to implement your solution.

In this article, I’m going to share nine ideas or tactics that’ll help you get this done right.

Book Cover Idea 1: Browse Covers of Bestsellers in Your Niche

Before you hire a professional book cover designer, you need to learn what the state of the art is in your own niche.

Begin by doing the following search on Google: Amazon bestseller books. Then, select the category the best aligns with your niche in order to display a list of bestsellers sorted numerically.

Click on each cover and when you get to the book detail page, right-click on the larger cover image and save it to your computer – you might want to create a new folder on your desktop and save them there since you’ll be pulling down lots of covers.

Finally, using PowerPoint or a similar tool, create a new file and insert three images per page side by side. Print this file and then use the margins to make handwritten notes about what you like most about each cover.

You’ll be passing these notes later on to your book cover artist when you discuss your design.

Book Cover Idea 2: Speak to an “Audience of One”

A very important aspect for nonfiction book writers is to understand the motivation of your readers.

While fiction readers are motivated by a need to be entertained, by the need to find a respite from the daily realities of life, nonfiction book readers are motivated by the need to solve a pressing problem that’s afflicting them.

Therefore, the question that nonfiction readers will ask themselves at every step as they go through your book’s content is: What’s In It for Me? (It’s often said that the only radio station nonfiction readers are tuned into WIIFM).

For your book and by extension for your cover to be effective, you’ll have to tailor them to an audience of one. Each reader will want your book to be addressed specifically to them. Not to a group of people, not to a “generic” reader, just to them.

In fact, whenever you read a great nonfiction book to solve a problem you’re having you’ll invariably feel that the writer is talking to you, and by the end of the book you’ll feel that the author is like a friend who’s trying to help you.

That’s your goal with your nonfiction book and especially your cover: making your readers feel that you’re there for them.

Book Cover Idea 3: Less is More

As stated before, nonfiction book covers have a simple mission: to reflect the aspirations for your readers. In order to be effective in your visual messaging, you need to eliminate any type of distracting elements that can clutter up your cover.

In this context, less is more. The fewer elements that you use in the design, the more impactful that your cover will be. This is an area that your professional nonfiction book cover designer will help you nail down.

They are experts in reading the psyche of nonfiction audiences and in knowing how to capture their hopes and dreams in a visually compelling way.

Book Cover Idea 4: Use Professional Photography that’s Unique

Nonfiction books must be professionally executed from the ground up, because they will become a proxy for your expertise and your level of excellence. This includes any photographic images on the cover.

Your photography must also be unique. If you choose to go with a cover photo from a stock photo site you run the risk of overexposure – perhaps other books have used it before or perhaps it appears repeatedly on various websites and blogs.

So, make the investment to hire a professional photographer in order to create the required photo art for your cover, and make sure that you have a written contract that stipulates that the copyright of the photograph will transfer to you on payment.

Book Cover Idea 5: Use Professional Illustrations

The same applies to cover illustrations. Don’t but images from public sites, even it they’re professionally produced. Instead hire a graphic designer to create unique art the represents the aspirations of your readers in relation to the topic of your book.

As is the case with photographic images, make sure the copyright transfers to you contractually and make sure this document contains your graphic artist’s signature.

Book Cover Idea 6: Use Colors That Resonate With Your Niche

Nonfiction book covers need to use a color palette that’s in line with your niche. Different niches have different expectations when it comes to colors. For instance, many wealth management titles favor the use of green and gold.

To find out what works in your niche, observe the color schemes on the book covers you captured in Idea 1. Also consult with your cover designer to find out what works best based on their experience.

Using the wrong colors for your niche may have negative consequences for your sales. For example, most wealth management books tend to stay away from the color red.

Book Cover Idea 7: Make Your Book’s Title Your Cover’s Focal Point

Unless you’re a widely recognized author coming up with a new book, your title will have to take center stage on your book cover.

Always reserve the biggest font size for your main title and make it the focal point of your cover. This is of particular importance as shopping continually moves from the desktop to the mobile world, where real estate is very limited.

Make sure that your book title is highly legible and compelling enough to get your readers to click on your book’s thumbnail when doing a search.

Book Cover Idea 8: Make Your Title a Single Word

This is an idea that has been gaining in popularity as some one-word titles have achieved blockbuster status, such as Quiet, Outliers, Becoming, Blink and Fury.

The goal with single-word titles is to choose a word that evokes the desired feeling from your readers based of the subject of your book, which can then be expanded upon by your cover’s imagery and your sub-title.

Book Cover Idea 9: Make Your Cover Impactful Even as a Thumbnail

Since book discovery migrated from the world of physical bookstores to the online world, covers have been reduced to the size of a thumbnail.

As a result of this seismic change in shopping behavior, book covers have had to adapt to the real-estate limitations of this tiny digital representation of your book.

So publishers have had no choice but to adapt to this new reality by making important adjustments to how book covers are designed.

For example, in the past book titles could be long enough to explain the entire thesis of a book while the sub-title was there as an afterthought – e.g. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.

Nowadays, titles need to be short and intriguing, often three words or less, and a much longer subtitle is needed to complete the thesis – e.g. The Mindfulness Code: Keys for Overcoming Stress, Anxiety, Fear and Unhappiness.

In the world of thumbnail covers, you title has to be shown in a very large font so that it can be fully legible in the tiny image, whereas subtitles will be illegible until readers click on the thumbprint to expand it.

3 Book Cover Mistakes to Avoid

The nine ideas shown above take care of many of the variables that come into play when designing a nonfiction book cover, however, there are three key design areas that you must stay away from at all cost:

Book Cover Mistake 1: Using Pixelated Images

Many cover designs use photographs and images that are made to wrap around the entire book, so they must contain a very large amount of fine visual information to cover the front and back covers plus the spine.

But the fact that those images look sharp on the computer screen doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll show well in print form.

The advanced digital printing presses that are used to print book covers today can print very fine pixels and need a lot of information in order to produce a smooth image that doesn’t look pixelated.

Your cover designer will be able to advise you on the resolution and size of files that are required to print a professional-looking cover.

Book Cover Mistake 2: Using Gimmicky Fonts

In keeping with the professional image that your nonfiction book must convey, stay away from using gimmicky fonts that could make your book appear amateurish in any way.

Nonfiction fonts must conform to the expectations of your niche. What works in one niche can bomb in another. Rely on the expertise of your cover designer when it comes to cover fonts and try to keep them simple and niche-friendly.

Book Cover Mistake 3: Using Too Many Cover Elements

We briefly talked about this subject before, but it bears repeating one more time. Nonfiction book covers have one job only: to reflect the aspirations and hopes of your target audience.

You want to produce a book cover that clearly and cleanly achieves this objective. Too many elements will simply obscure this important goal cluttering your visual message.

Even if you feel that certain images or graphic elements need to be on you cover because they have a personal meaning, remember that your book cover isn’t about you but about the state of mind of your readers.

In other words, the meaning that you ascribe to those images or elements will not be shared by your audience, so might as well keep them out of your cover so as not to clutter your key visual message.

In Conclusion

In the world of digital shopping you need to make sure that your nonfiction book cover is able to compete with the pros.

The above nine book cover ideas show you foundational design tactics that are necessary to compare favorably with other professionally-produced books in your niche that’ll appear side-by-side with your title in book searches.

By developing your knowledge around these rules of cover design, you’ll be able to have more in-depth discussions about your cover with your designer.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing, designing or publishing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

5 Book Cover Maker Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Nonfiction Cover

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.