Book cover design can sell or sink its contents. Publishing professionals agree that a cover is a book’s main selling point in the marketplace. An effective book cover can carry a book from being unknown to well-liked, often in the span of a few seconds. It has the potential of either being a force of nature or a mismatched letdown. When you’re browsing examples of good book cover design, it looks easy enough to do. But a lot of weak book covers today show that attempts to self-design without sound design principles, no matter how well-intended, does not help a book at all.

This is why book cover design is a detailed collaboration between author and designer. It is a specialization with its own specific skills and discipline. It is far more than matching an elegant titling font with a photo manipulation. A book cover design has to satisfy questions such as: Is it interesting and distinctive? Does it show what the book is about? Is it right for a fiction or non-fiction book? Does it look as legible when reduced to a thumbnail? Does it stir positive connections? It is an art developed from years of experience with the preferences of book buyers, combined with the science of market-tested standards.

Book cover design tutorials below show some of the production skills that can be done with illustration, image-editing and layout design software. Links to resources and templates provide you with material you can practice on when starting to learn book cover design. The sites also feature detailed interviews shared by book cover design professionals.

BOOK COVER DESIGN TUTORIALS:

Create Character-Driven Book Cover Art Using Illustrator and Photoshop – Part 1, by Andrea Austoni

Create Character Driven Book Cover Art Using Illustrator and Photoshop – Part 2, by Andrea Austoni

How to Create a Book Cover and Mock Up in Adobe InDesign – Part 1, by Martin Perhiniak on Vectortuts

How to Create a Book Cover and Mock Up in Adobe InDesign – Part 2, by Martin Perhiniak

Make A Striking Coffee Table Book Cover, by Gary David Bouton

How to Design a Book Cover in Photoshop, by howtechgraphics

Designing Book Covers Tutorial {Advanced}, by Design Like A Pro

Designing Book Covers Tutorial 2: Dust Jackets, by Design Like a Pro

How To Create a Retro Style Superman Book Cover, by Chris Spooner

Book Cover Design in InDesign CS5, By Jeff Witchel

Designing A Book Cover Page, by photoshopnerds

Creating a Book Cover for Createspace Using Adobe InDesign, by William Harlan

Design a Kindle Book Cover in Photoshop, by Stacy Vanderpol

Make a Simple Book Cover With Photoshop, by Bel Watson

Book Cover Design: The Process Explained

BOOK COVER DESIGN RESOURCES:

Free Penguin Book Cover Template for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, by Paul Murray