You’ve found the perfect image for your book. You love it. You can already see it on the cover. Wonderful! But before sending it to your designer with the words “I want exactly this,” ask one simple question: where is the title going to go?
And that’s only the beginning.
Along with the image, your cover needs room for the book title, your name, perhaps a subtitle, series name or another line of text. Those elements shouldn’t merely fit. They need to work with the image as one composition—not look as though every word is fighting to be the most important thing on the page.
So when choosing artwork, look not only at what’s in the picture, but also at the space it leaves for everything else.
What if there’s no room?
That’s when the designer gets to work.
Not so long ago, we had to extend backgrounds by hand, cut out and reposition objects, repair missing details and sometimes practically rebuild the image. Today, AI can make much of that work easier.
But there’s a catch: after all those changes, the image may no longer look quite like the one you fell in love with. And the work needed to preserve every detail of your original idea may be wildly out of proportion to the result.
That’s where compromise comes in.
And remember, a printed book cover is more than its front. There’s also a spine and a back. Ideally, all three should feel like a single design—not three unrelated pieces made by designers who have never met.
Of course, the cover also has to suit the book itself. A beautiful illustration doesn’t automatically make a good cover. If the image promises readers one kind of book and they find something completely different inside, something has gone wrong.
Ask the designer. Don’t issue an ultimatum.
Instead of “This is the picture, and nothing can change,” try: “I really like this image. Do you think we can make a good cover from it?”
Believe me, the difference is enormous.
I remember my first steps in design. Sometimes I thought I’d made a brilliant composition: everything was in place, and I was delighted with the result. Then I’d see how a designer with twenty years of experience approached a similar job.
And I’d realize that the best thing I could say about my version was that, at least, I hadn’t completely ruined it.
Same basic elements. Similar idea. But a different balance, different use of space, different composition. Little details that barely register on their own can turn an ordinary layout into professional design.
So even if you’ve already assembled a cover mock-up yourself, give the designer room to suggest another approach. Then compare the two.
The version you never imagined may turn out to be the one that works best.
After all, the goal isn’t to preserve a favourite picture at any cost. It’s to create the right cover for your book.
