There have been many covers that I’ve seen that just don’t make sense for the story. Now, we’ve all heard that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But truth be known, a lot of people generally look for eye-catching covers before they look into the summary of the book. However, I judge based on how relevant the cover is to your story.
If you’ve got a story taking place in the pre-Victorian era, you probably shouldn’t have a picture of a modern-day girl wearing shorts, a tank-top and sunglasses, smiling up at the camera with frilly font posting the title of the book. For another example, if you have pirates or something pirate themed on your cover, well then you should probably have pirates somewhere in the story, rather than (for example) a modern-day detective in England working for a Russian aristocrat. Boring covers, like just a bust of a random celebrity are typically really boring because they don’t tell much of the story, give a clue as to what it’s about, and they’re unoriginal. If you want a celebrity as your cast for your characters, then fine, whatever. But the cover needs to be original and not just Carrie Underwood smiling from the red carpet or the bust of some model glaring angrily in a menacing manner.
If you don’t think you’re good at making covers, then go look around in the “covers” section of the Wattpad clubs! There are tons of talented people that specialize in making covers and would love to make you one, if you just ask. Not everyone is artistic and/or creative enough to make a good, eye-catching cover, but there are always people who are, so don’t be shy about asking around.
Another thing, I’ve seen lots of covers that are a bit too detailed when it comes to representing the story. The most overly-used one: couples holding hands. Really? Come on guys, think of something else! It gives away too much—as in, if your story starts out as “They hate each other” then the cover obviously says “They fall in love. The End.” You don’t want people to predict your ending easily, or else that takes away suspense and therefore their liking of the story. If you want something romantic, how about something that doesn’t straight up show the obviously main characters in love?
For example, I’ve seen a story cover of two people dancing in the sunset. It’s a beautiful cover; but the story is set back in the colonial period—making the two things totally irrelevant. For another example, there is an absolutely, wonderfully creative and original story about mystic beings made of elements of weather and such, but the cover is of some random girl glaring at the reader against a gray background. For one, the cover looks nothing like any of the characters described, it’s uncreative and it makes no sense.
Just get creative—think outside the box! Or, have someone do it for you. You want to be unique and eye-catching.
One last thing, try not to use the same pictures a lot of other people are. I’ve seen maybe three or four of the same photos (some just with different coloring) for different stories. They’re pretty pictures, but a bit overused. So just look around and see if your pic is being used a lot.