Breakout 2: Lana Pecherczyk – Sell more books with graphic design

Lana Percherczyk is from Western Australia. She self publishes, does her own marketing / PR, and designs her own covers.

Your cover is your first message to readers. What message do you want to send them? What is in it for me? 

• Entertain me 
• I want to escape 
• Tell me a story 

Do these well, and they will buy your story 

Elements of graphic design 

• A picture is worth a thousand words 
• Can convey a message 
• A mood 
• Provoke an emotion 

Types of pictures  

• Photographs (good quality) 
• Illustrations (Vector based – for logos etc) 
• Animated gif 
• Memes 
• Video 

Memes 

• Can use banner across the bottom with book name and release date 
• Hope it goes viral 
• Social media posts boosts engagement (metrics, algorithms) 
• If people like and share one image, platform will boost next one more  
• Meme makers are online 
• Make your own 

Animated gifts 

• Quick video loop 
• Can use on a cover of a book 
• Eg LAN’s book Playing God 
• That uses an app from plotograph.com 

Stock images & licensing 

• istock 
• Shutterstock 
• Adobe stock 
• High quality images 
• Get a licence for a certain number of uses 
• Types of licenses:  Creative Commons, standard, extended 
• Standard generally uses hundreds of thousands in reproductions (but check licence) 
• May not cover merchandise 
• Be careful of stock site subscriptions. Sign up for newsletter, get credit deals 

Images 

• DPI – dots per inch (screen) – resolution 
• PPI – pixels per inch (print)  
• For print, minimum 30 dpi for high res 

File types 

Web: 

• Png (Transparent background) 
• Jpg 
• Gif 

For print 

• Pdf 
• Eps 

Different genres use key images for quick recognition. For example:

• couple in a clinch (contemporary),  
• bare torso (erotic romance) 
• grey background with single image like mask (Erotic bdsm) 
• Vampire or werewolf (paranormal) 
• Typography  
• Different fonts for different genres 
• Using the wrong font is the quest way to make your design look amateur 
• Use apps like What the Font to find out what sort of font you see on a book cover or other design 
• When in doubt, go simple. Sans-serif font for web and a serif font for print 

Layout 

• How you place things on the page in a pleasing way 
• Use golden ratio 
• Rule of thirds (grid) – put important information where the grid lines meet 

Colours 

• Reference colour wheel 
• Complimentary 
• Harmony 
• Opposite 

Ways authors can use graphics to sell books  

1. Cover reveals (eg Anna Hackett) 
2. Teaser graphics (eg Kate Morton, Nalini Singh – same graphic with different quotes) 
3. New release countdown (eg Nalini Singh – how many weeks) 
4. Share reviews 
5. Social media banners – can have several, a campaign 

Author campaign kit 

• 3D book covers 
• Character photos 
• Backgrounds (blurred landscape, one colour flat block etc) – keep with branding 
• Flat lay stock image – drop png cover image into a stock image photo 
• Coverssellbooks.com