Your book cover is the first chance for you to hook readers. It’s like when you walk in a room: you only get one shot at a first impression.

So how do you know what to do? There are a few key rules to look at when working with a designer (or doing it yourself, if you have the skill).

1. It has to match your genre. Do your research before you get super excited about doing this or that with the cover. Especially look at traditionally published books that are similar to yours to get an idea of what the style is currently. Don’t worry about titles that are twenty years old. Five years back is plenty, and it will likely give you lots of candidates. Right now, in the coaching community, having a picture of yourself on the cover is popular, and that may be the right choice for you. As far as marketing goes, it’s a brilliant technique: connection through the eyes, a feel for your energy and passion about the subject, and whenever someone recognizes you on the cover, they want it. However, for certain goals, like New York Times Bestseller, this isn’t the best choice. Look at your goals before making this decision.
2. It needs to be appealing. Judging a book by its cover? Yep, we all do it. This is why you need to look at modern texts to make sure that the font choices and design elements are modern before you select them. This is also why you need to look at what appeals to your specific audience. Certain images and elements are more masculine or feminine, more professional or more relaxing, etc. Look at the avatar that you developed when working on your book and check out what kind of books they are reading that are in your genre. That should help you make decisions, as well.
3. It needs to look professional. Well, of course! This sounds like a no brainer, but missing the first two elements I listed here are actually the biggest problems with creating a professional book. I’ve seen several business books recently that the designer tried to make more fun and creative, which would definitely make them more appealing, but they ended up pushing the boundary into territory in other genres. Basically, one of them looked like chick lit (with a title that sounds like chick lit to boot!), and the other one looked like a thriller or mystery aimed at women. Business books need to be clearly seated in their genre because our eye picks up the artwork and design elements first and then the meaning of the words (typically). We get feedback from the entire experience, and if it’s sending off mixed signals, it could translate to a red flag, which means no sale. Professional also means a clear layout with some creative design (not boring old Times New Roman font) and high-resolution images. It should also coordinate with your brand.

Designing your book cover doesn’t have to be hard when you keep these things in mind.