ROMANCE NOVEL COVERS
The romance book genre has notoriously taken ownership of “clinch covers.” Those classic stereotypical romance book covers featuring a bare-chested chiseled man, cradling a defenseless woman in his bolstering arms.
While this trend has died down significantly, the romance genre is still plagued with this stereotype. Meaning, an unconventional book cover design can be a powerful tool in hooking your reader's attention and standing out among your competitors. If you ask us, it’s a promising opportunity to try something new.
Since the romance genre doesn’t have much diversity in design, investing in a custom book cover design can increase visibility with your readers and profits from book sales. Regardless if you work with our team of professional book cover designers, the following tips will help your romance novel stand out on the shelf and win the eyes of your readers.
Know your romance subgenre audience
Knowing your audience is crucial for reaching your ideal reader and creating imagery that sparks their interest. So, who predominantly reads romance novels?
According to Romance Writers of America, over 80 percent of romance novel readers are hetereosexual, white women in their mid to late thirties. This is probably why clinch covers were so overwhelmingly popular in the 80’s and 90’s.
But, that statistic doesn't tell you anything about your audience. If you’re writing in a romance novel subgenre, like erotic, gay or paranormal, then your audience will most likely include younger readers of different demographic backgrounds.
It’s also important to consider how your audience will be reading—or listening—to your book. If you’re producing an eBook or Audiobook, then this is another area where you can expect a younger audience.
Moral of the story: know your audience and lean into their interests. The saying goes if you try to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one. So, know who you’re writing for and put imagery on your book cover that appeals directly to them.
Make sure your romance novel cover sets the tone
The role of your book cover is to set the tone for your novel. If designed well, it should be a window into the theme and personality of your book.
With so many subgenres in the “romance” umbrella—from young adult and fantasy to suspensful and erotic—it’s important that the imagery on your book cover sets the right tone and gives your reader an idea of what to expect.
Since your book cover serves as the first impression with your reader, it’s a major player in the customer buyer journey. By working with a professional romance book cover designer, you can create an all encompassing design —from the front and back cover to interior design—that speaks to your reader so much, they can’t help but pick it up off the shelf.
Use color to evoke the right emotions
Our subconscious reacts strongly to color—whether we recognize it or not. Because it has an intrinsic power to evoke emotion, color is essential for setting the right tone for your romance novel. For example, the following colors are known to symbolize these tones:
Pink: love, romance, compassion, tenderness, acceptance.
Beige and ivory: unity, calm, and comfort.
Red: passion, infatuation.
Yellow: joy, warmth, optimism.
However, not all romance novel covers are adorned with colorful hues. Depending on the personality of your book, you may opt for mysterious dark tones with hints of red, as notoriously demonstrated by the Twilight book covers.
While there are industry standard design principles to always follow, incorporating unconventional design elements can be the most compelling. It’s a simple way to stand out on the shelf. So, if it hasn’t been done before, don’t be scared to try it out.
Don’t underestimate the background elements on your book cover
The details are where it counts, especially in the background.
You can think of the background on your book cover design as the stage for your front-running imagery. It sets the tone and the scene, and when designed successfully, draws the reader in by spotlighting the foreground elements.
An effective romance novel book cover—both in terms of evoking emotions and increasing revenue—takes all design elements into consideration. Even those in the background.
To put it into perspective, a couple holding hands on a dark New York City street provides a different aesthetic than a couple holding hands in a brightly-lit countryside meadow. It’s the same foreground, but the background provides a different mood and tells a different story.
Our simple 3 stage design process
Getting the right custom design for your romance novel is simple with the help of our professional book cover designers. Our team will walk you through our tried-and-tested three step design process, so you don’t need any experience or have any prior knowledge.
Step 1: Pre-design process
Select a service or a package, then fill in our design brief to help our team understand your book and design preferences.
Step 2: Design process
About 10 working days after we’ve received your design brief, we’ll present three different concepts with images and art direction, then request feedback.
Note: expect a 10 day turn-around time between revision requests. Two to three revisions is standard, however, we will keep revising until you’re happy with the design.
Step 3: Production process
We’ll present the final design and you’ll sign-off on your book cover. Next stop: publishing!
After delivering the files, our team will be available to assist you and answer any questions you may have during the production process.