Choosing a Book Cover

The Inner Lands is more than just a fantasy story. It has a literary element too. I may talk more about that in the future but, for now, I just want to look at some of the smart things going on in Tracy’s cover design.

Choosing a design for your book cover is tough. Really tough. I ran a competition for mine on 99designs.co.uk so I could have a range to pick from but – since the designers don’t know your book like you do – not many of them got close to capturing any elements of the story.

One advantage to self-publishing, besides the increased revenue percentages, is that you have complete control of your project. Picking a cover that just sells is honestly not that appealing to me. Readers should know what to expect and I, personally, like to squeeze some extra meaning into everything creative I’m involved in.

So let’s break it down. The first thing that stands out is that the image works with the themes of the book. The Inner Lands is representative of the mountainous region my characters live in but also their inner-selves – the psyche – and this is reflected by the images appearing in the mind of the lead character, Sill.

I’m mindful, right now, that I’m writing to you (rather than for myself) so let’s break up this block of text with some bullet points:

1. Images appear in the character’s mind.
2. Book 1 (particularly) reflects a fantasy theme (with the battle pic) but also has a literary feel to it. It’s not a traditional fantasy cover.
3. There are forests, battlements, mountains and storms – all of which reflect the psyche, whether it’s protecting ourselves, placing a barrier between the things we can’t accept, between ourselves and others, or just the internal struggles we experience.
4. The images also reflect story elements and locations in the books.
5. The two Ns in the title face each other, strengthening the “inner” aspect of the title.
6. The book numbers appear nicely on the spine so you can easily identify them on your bookshelf.
7. The colours work well together so the full set should be something to enjoy owning.

These are the reasons I chose Tracy’s design but interested to know what others think about it, and whether or not the extra elements appeal to you?

Feel free to let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

A. J. Austin