Hello there! I've been working on my own covers, as well as getting commissions from authors here. I'd like to share some tips of mine, if you'd like to.
So here's how I do covers:
1) I use font styles according to the theme of the story. Look at my examples:
This story, OyasumiSe7en, has a military-themed narrative, so I used 'military'-looking font styles.
View attachment 40423
Meanwhile, my other work, The Human Saint is Bored, is an isekai-themed novel that leaned more on the 'serious' side of things. Hence, the font-style looks like that.
View attachment 40425
It would be great to use a wide range of font-styles according to the theme of your work. 'Wacky' fonts for comedy novels, 'computer' or 'digital'-styles for sci-fi themes, and 'curvy' fonts for women-focused ones are just another samples.
2) I noticed there are users here that pointed out the background and your font having the similar colors. For that, I use the 'glow'...
View attachment 40426
If you'll notice, this cover has red, black, white, yellow and orange in the background. I used a red 'glow' to make the white font distinguishable because if I didn't put it there, the title would be harder to read.
Also, 'glows' give a sense of mystery in the work, as opposed to simple outlines. Use it according to your plans for the work.
3) For
@ICONIFY , try not to cover the important parts of your cover. This includes the face of your characters, and whatever item/weapon they may be holding with significance to the story.
Yeah, this is why this cover looks like this:
View attachment 40427
The title and author name covered the whole page, so I opted to put it in the back. My character here, 'Alice', is holding what looks like a portable gatling gun, which shows that she is a heavy gunner...her actual role in the story.
"But, Hans, won't the readers have difficulty in reading what your title is?"
Well, my answer is, that is the 2nd book already, so they have an idea of the title, and who is the author. Also, in traditional publishing, there will be a spine part of the book where there is the title, author's name and book number. In web novels, the title and author name are also present on the title page itself, so such layout isn't that important to get your title 'across' the reader.
But the character is. Needs to be attractive to make them pick up your work.
4) When you put your name, don't put 'All Rights Reserved'. Respectful authors won't copy your work; disrespectful ones do, even if you put All Rights Reserve everywhere.
