If you’re looking around for a book cover maker to create a cover for your nonfiction book this is a must-read article for you, because the design and execution of your book cover is much more important than you can imagine.

How Important Is a Book Cover?

The book cover is by far the most important piece of real estate in a nonfiction book. You could argue that it’s the most important piece of real estate for any book regardless of genre – after all the cover is what readers see first. But unlike other genres, nonfiction is subject to a much higher standard because the quality of the cover doesn’t just reflect the quality of the book itself, but also the professional reputation of the author.

If you’re writing a nonfiction book to establish yourself as an expert in your industry or increase the profile of your business, I’d like to talk you out of using a book cover maker to design your own cover. Let me give you my reasons below.

What Makes a Good Book Cover?

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are great book cover makers out there and they’ve really come a long way in simplifying the cover design process for DIY authors.

However, your nonfiction cover will be judged not just by your readers but also by gatekeepers and decision makers that have the power to swing the doors wide open for your career and your business – and you want them on your side.

These people will judge your book against the best practices in the industry, because they all expect “expert” authors to hire professional book designers. If they’re going to throw their weight behind your book, they’ll want it to make them look good too.

The problem is that as sleek as a book cover maker is in terms of features and ease of use, it cannot possibly automate the art of making a professional book cover. There are just too many moving parts to consider – too many things that could go wrong and too many things that can break.

Now, there’s a place for book cover makers. For example, they can be a great tool for new authors writing their first novel, where it makes sense to keep the costs down. But as nonfiction author, you’ll be deemed an expert the minute your book comes out, so hiring a professional book designer is virtually expected by your market.

Having said that, I’ll teach you below five mistakes to avoid in the design of a top-notch nonfiction book cover so you can become familiar with the best practices. This will allow you to have in-depth discussions with your book designer and you can also use this knowledge as part of your screening process when you are looking for a candidate to hire.

Mistake #1: Images and Graphics

First, I’m going to focus on the largest elements of your book cover – images and graphics. The following is a list of poor design choices that you should avoid:

• Quality: Never use low-resolution images for your book cover. It’s always best to discuss your ideas with your cover designer and let them source the images for you at the correct resolution. Design professionals have access to large libraries of high-quality images.
• Do-it-Yourself: Don’t supply your designer with do-it-yourself graphics or images, unless you’re a graphic artist, since they’ll always look amateurish compared to the professionally designed books you’ll be competing with. The same goes for using your own photographs – hire a professional photographer instead.
• Quantity: Never use too many images on your cover. Also, don’t choose highly rated stock photos because by nature they’re over-used, and you want your book cover to be as unique as possible. Finally, stay away from clichéd images that are too obvious and over-used, like sunrises and sunsets.
• Special Effects: Stay away from sophisticated special effects if you can. If not done right (which can get expensive very quickly due to the custom work required) they’ll almost always look amateurish.
• Permissions: Never use images or graphics that are under copyright, unless you have been granted written permission by the copyright holder. It’s always best to let your designer source all intellectual property to be used on your cover, which will naturally come at a cost. If you do use an image for which you’re not authorized you’re inviting a lawsuit from the copyright holder.

Mistake #2: Fonts

The next key element on your book cover is fonts. Here are the main traps to avoid:

• Quality: Don’t use amateur or gimmicky fonts in your book cover. They’ll make your book look bad, and worse yet, they’ll make you look bad by extension.
• Quantity: Don’t use more than two different fonts in your book cover otherwise it’ll look amateurish.
• Size: Don’t use type that is too small in relation to the trim size of your book. It’ll look disproportionate and likely unreadable from a distance.

Mistake #3: Text

Next, let’s tackle potential issues with different textual elements in your book cover:

• Size: Don’t make your book title too small. Your title should always be the most prominent textual element on your cover. Also, never make your subtitle’s font size larger than or equal to your title’s font size. Your subtitle should always be in a smaller font.
• Quality: This goes without saying: never ever leave a typo on your cover. Make sure that the entire text of your book cover, including the marketing copy on the back cover and any text on the spine, is fully proofread by a professional nonfiction editor before the book goes to print!
• Readability: Never make a cover that is too verbose (e.g. extra-long titles or subtitles). This makes it hard to read in bookstores and it makes your cover’s thumbnail on online bookstores nearly impossible to make out without enlarging the image.

Mistake #4: Cover Design

Now, let’s focus on your general cover design:

• Audience: Never create your book cover with you in mind (i.e. so that “you” like it). Your cover must always be designed for and targeted to your audience. Use design elements that your audience expects to see based on your niche (tip: check bestseller books in your space for ideas).
• Influence: Don’t ask your designer to place an image or photograph on the cover simply because it has a special meaning to you – this rarely produces a good result. The same goes for favorite graphic elements or favorite fonts. These requests will hinder the artistic ability of your professional designer.
• Genre: Make sure that your cover design fits your genre. Different genres call for different styles and only a professional book designer has the expertise to know which works with which.
• Provider: Don’t hire a graphic designer without experience in nonfiction book covers. Make sure you see many samples of their work before making a hiring decision. Fiction cover designers and even general graphic designers will not know all the rules that are applicable to this genre.

Mistake #5: Overall Balance

Last but not least, here are some general mistakes that are common in amateurish cover designs:

• Color: Poor color choices and poor contrast between elements; colors that are flashy, gaudy or “over the top.”
• Elements: Too many graphic elements, too many small details, too many textual elements competing for attention. Having too much “going on” in the cover.
• Impact: Trying to be different for the sake of standing out.

Next Steps:

While there’s nothing wrong with using a book cover maker to create a mock up, never use it as a substitute for the expertise of a professional book cover designer.

Your nonfiction book will be a part of your professional legacy and you want to make sure that its cover can stand the test of time.

I wish you the best in your book project!

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 articles I highly recommend:

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

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

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

How to Find the Perfect Writing Coach for Your Nonfiction Book

How to Become a Great Book Writer in Business Nonfiction

 

Bennett R. Coles is the author of 6 books published through Harper Collins (NY) and Titan Publishing Group (UK). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press and the founder/CEO 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, printing, distribution and marketing.

When you lay out your book you won’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and this is particularly critical for nonfiction books written by entrepreneurial authors.

If you’re writing a book to establish yourself as an expert in your field – say you’re a business owner and want to become recognized in your industry or you’re a professional and you want to give a boost to your career – your book will be judged with a high level of scrutiny.

When you’re deemed to be an expert, decision makers who have the ability to open doors for you are usually too busy to read an entire book, so they’ll make a go-no go decision based on first impressions. They’ll scan through your book quickly, read a few pages and then decide based on what they saw.

Clearly, with such brief exposure to your content, your book layout comes to the forefront. Since these people browse through a large number of books, they have expectations that at a minimum you’ll follow well-established publishing standards.

Any book that breaks one or more of these design rules is likely to be deemed as amateurish, which will impact your reputation and credibility.

Often decision makers move in small circles (e.g. event managers, procurement managers, media producers, bookstore buyers, etc.) so you cannot afford to be badmouthed by any one of them.

For this reason, you should only work with professional book designers to lay out your book and never attempt to do this work yourself – there are just too many rules and standards to follow and too many things that could go wrong.

Having said that, I believe it’s very useful for you to at least become familiar with the mistakes that do-it-yourselfers make so that you have a general knowledge of the required publishing industry standards. Below are the top five mistakes to avoid when laying out a nonfiction book.

Paragraph Mistakes

Paragraphs Length

You should 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.

Remember, the world of nonfiction requires that readers constantly process a lot of new information and you want to ensure that they don’t feel overwhelmed when reading your book.

Paragraph Breaks

You should always use a single break between paragraphs (i.e. the enter key). Multiple paragraph breaks is a big no-no in the book publishing industry.

Although your book designer will take care of this for you, make sure that your manuscript only uses single breaks between paragraphs. When you start a new chapter, use a page break instead, 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 few words 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.

Justification

Don’t 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 standard for nonfiction book text blocks is full justification. That is, your text needs to align against both the left and right margins.

Paging Mistakes

Chapter Pages

Don’t start a chapter on the left-hand page – this is a clear sign that an amateur designed the book. All chapter pages must be placed on the right-hand page.

Numbering

As an extension of the above rule, never begin numbering pages on the left-hand side of your book. Odd numbers must always appear on the right-hand side page, and even number on the left hand side page.

Also, page numbering should be in the header (the top) of your page, near the left and right edges of the book. Page numbers should not be in your footer for any page, with one exception: the first page of each chapter can show the page number on the footer or skip the page number altogether.

Flow

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

Textual Mistakes:

Fonts

Don’t use “fancy” looking fonts – they’re a sign of amateur design. Also, don’t use multiple fonts in the body of your book. All paragraphs must always be laid out with the same font type and font size.

The only exceptions are the captions for images, graphs, tables and charts, and also breakout boxes used to highlight a specific sentence lifted from the text.

Spacing

Don’t use line spacing that isn’t proportional to your font size. Lines that are too close to each other are known to give headaches to readers. Lines that are placed too far apart are a sign of amateur design.

Indentation

Never use hard indents like tabs or multiple spaces. Your book designer will take care of this detail, but to make their lives easier make sure that your manuscript doesn’t use either tabs or multiple spaces anywhere in your document.

Graphic Mistakes:

Resolution

Never use low-resolution images in a printed book. Always provide your book designer with the highest possible resolution you can obtain. Aside from being considered amateur design, blurred or pixelated printed images will devalue your book in the eyes of readers and decision makers.

Content

Never overcrowd your charts, graphs and tables with too much information. The amount of information on any graphic element should always be in balance with the text that surrounds them.

If you have a lot of graphical information to share, break it apart into multiple images. Your book designer will be able to advise you on how to achieve the right balance.

Header & Footer Mistakes

Size

Never jam-pack your header with excessive information. The header in your book is used for navigational purposes and shouldn’t be hard to follow or cluttered with too much text. Make sure your book title and chapter titles have a reasonable length so that they can fit comfortably in the header and table of contents.

Placement

Don’t place any text in the footer; the only exception is page numbers for the first page of a chapter and footnotes. Also, make sure there are no headers on the title page, copyright page, chapter pages and any blank pages.

Next Steps

Now you know what to look out for in a good book layout. Keep this information handy when you’re looking for a book designer. Ask them for sample books they’ve laid out and then check them against the above rules for compliance.

Good luck!

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 articles I highly recommend:

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

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Entrepreneurial Authors

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

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is the author of 6 books published through Harper Collins (NY) and Titan Publishing Group (UK). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press and the founder/CEO 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, printing, distribution and marketing.

A good book layout is important for books in any genre, but it’s essential for nonfiction books that deliver solutions to an audience.

Most readers will use these books more as reference manuals than as books they read once and then put away on a shelf. There’s usually so much actionable information in them that constant reference needs to be a key design criteria.

As a matter of fact, according to statistics from Amazon Kindle, almost 70% of the most electronically-highlighted books on their platform, excluding the bible, are titles meant to inform and educate users: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the 4-Hour Body, Steve Jobs, and The 4-Hour Workweek.

It’s for this reason that great care must be taken when balancing all the necessary visual aspects that appear on each page of your book.

Book layout is part science and mostly art – specifically spatial art. As a result, this is not something that you want to take care of yourself. This is something that you want to leave to the experts in consultation with you, so that you can guide them with your overall vision while they do the actual work.

There’s a lot riding on the quality of your writing, as well as your book design and layout. These elements will either reflect positively or negatively on your professionalism, and by extension on your reputation.

My recommendation is for you to create with the help of an editor the best possible manuscript you can, and then hire a professional book designer to take care of your book’s look and feel.

Even so, it’s good for you to develop a clear understanding of what makes a nonfiction book “pop” so you can provide valuable feedback to your book designer.

Here are ten book layout tips, one for each of the ten key layout areas that must be nailed in order to produce a book that will be easy on the eyes and appealing to the mind.

Tip 1: Book-Size Matters

The physical size of your book (referred to in the industry as your trim size) is the first decision you’ll need to make in conjunction with your book designer.

Standard trim sizes are the least costly to produce by your printer because most printing machines are preset for those sizes and they generate the least amount of paper waste. Custom sizes always have a higher cost per book because they tend to produce more waste.

The vast majority of nonfiction books come in three popular standard sizes:

5” x 8”

Typically used for paperbacks only, although there are exceptions.

5.5” x 8.5”

Used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

6” x 9”

Used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

In general, the size you choose is determined by your total word count. The highest cost driver for printed books is the number of pages. If you have a large word count and you want to limit the number of pages in order to lower your cost per copy, then a 6” x 9” trim size is advisable. If you choose a small trim size instead (say 5” x 8”) you may end up with an overly thick book, which will not only cost more to produce but also may be a turn-off for some buyers.

On average, a 5” x 8” book will fit between 250 and 350 words of text per page. A 6” x 9” book, on the other hand, will fit between 350 and 450 words per page (if you add images or graphics, then the word count per page will decrease).

For example, a 70,000-page manuscript will require approximately 200 pages in a 6” x 9” trim size – using the lower end of the range at 350 words per page to account for the inclusion of some images and graphics. The same word count in a 5” x 8” book would instead require 280 pages.

Tip 2: The Right Font Will Glue Readers to the Page (The Wrong Font Will Repel Them!)

The type of font that you choose in your book layout 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.

Even subtle differences in the construction of a font can make a big difference between a reader gliding through the page and a reader experiencing tiredness when reading a book.

This is another reason why you should hire a professional designer to select the right font for your book. There are literally thousands of font designs to choose from, and if you were to take on this task it would quickly become overwhelming.

Finally, you never want to use a font that is so different that it becomes a distraction from the content of your book, even if you feel it’s appropriate.

Tip 3: Line Spacing is Much More than Just the Space Between Lines

Line spacing is critical for readability. It’s also dependent on your font size. To much line spacing and your book layout looks sparse. Too little and your readers will get a headache.

Here, again, you need to rely on the expertise of your professional book designer to find the right balance. Also, their advanced book-design software tools already have built-in algorithms to find the most efficient line spacing for a given choice of font and font-size.

Tip 4: White Space Is Not Empty Space

White space in a book layout refers to the absence of any design elements. A well laid out book has the right balance of white space and printed elements.

If you use too little white space (for instance by using very thin margins and little space between paragraphs) your book will feel visually cluttered and it’ll be very uncomfortable to read, even with the most appropriate font size and line spacing.

The key for nonfiction books is to strive for the perfect balance between white spaces and textual or graphic elements, because their readers will often re-read the same page or even a specific paragraph several times.

This is again an area where professional book designers come in very handy because they are true visual artists.

Tip 5: Margins Improve Readability

Margins are used to manage the balance between white space and the printed elements in your book layout. Technically, they’re also needed to make sure that printing shops have enough space to bind the books. But their primarily function is to help “anchor” the reader to the page.

If margins are too wide, the text appears to float in the middle of the page. Too little margin (which can be tempting to use because it lowers your page count and the cost of each printed copy) will result in cluttered text and make for a very uncomfortable read.

Tip 6: Be Creative with Your Chapter Pages

This is an area where a good designer can make the inside of your book really shine. When you look at other nonfiction books, you’ll find that the first page of each chapter looks different than the other pages: They have a “special” look.

This is an area where you can give your book layout personality by playing with different design elements.

For example, many authors take visual cues from their book covers and use them in the chapter pages to give their books a unique identity. Not all books take advantage of this feature, but some do it to great effect.

Tip 7: Use Headers and Footers as Navigational Tools for Your Readers

Aside from holding your page numbers, a well-designed header can be a great navigational tool if you have a large or detailed table of contents.

Using this valuable real estate just for the name of the book and the name of the author is redundant and not necessarily the best use this space. Consider instead using the chapter title and section (or sub-section) title as the header content.

Tip 8: Place Images, Diagrams and Charts Strategically to Help Readers Better Absorb and Digest Your Content

Graphic elements that are used with a lot of thought and planning can truly enhance the delivery of information in your book.

From photographs to images, illustrations, charts, diagrams and tables, the judicious use of these graphical elements can greatly enhance your book’s reading experience and help improve your reader’s understanding of your content.

The key is balance. Too many graphics can become distracting to your reader. Too few graphics will make your reader wonder why the graphics are even there.

Also, make sure that every single graphic element has a clear purpose and isn’t just used to provide a break to the text. Your readers are a very discriminating group and they expect all information to be in your book for a reason. Confusing graphics are a sure way to lose these them fast.

Tip 9: Make use of Breakouts to Help Readers Retain Information

Breakouts are text-box elements where key takeaways from your book can be pulled out of the main text and given a much larger font and a different background to make them stand out.

They can add a lot of value to your books provided that they are used judiciously. First and foremost, only highlight phrases that contain a key point, discovery, or takeaway from your book, but also make a plan ahead of time for these textual devices throughout the book to ensure that there is a logical flow from text-box to text-box.

Balance is once again key 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.

Tip 10: Don’t Make Your Table of Contents Boring and Utilitarian

The final tip is to make sure that your table of contents serves the purpose not just to navigate readers throughout the book, but also to provide your readers with a clear informational roadmap.

Your editor will be of great help in organizing your table of contents to have a clear flow and to be useful beyond navigation.

What you don’t want is a table of contents that is too “thin” (not enough details beyond the chapter title and a couple of headings) or too “dense” (so much information that it becomes overwhelming).

Visually speaking, this is an area where your designer, in consultation with you, can play with different font sizes and text positioning for added emphasis.

You Now Have the Basics For a Strong Nonfiction Book Layout

The main lesson is to always strive for balance:

• Balance between white space and textual elements
• Balance in your line spacing
• Balance between graphical elements and text
• Balance in the use of breakouts
• Balance in the design of your table of contents

The above information will allow you to have an informed conversation with your book designer as you define together the layout elements that would best represent the message contained in your book.

Best of luck in your book layout!

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 generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related articles I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book Introduction That Will Move the Needle

How to Come Up With Killer Book Titles for Your Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is the author of 6 books published through Harper Collins (NY) and Titan Publishing Group (UK). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press and the founder/CEO 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, printing, distribution and marketing.