Book cover design trends change constantly. Each month, new bestselling titles hit the shelves, each with a unique and compelling message for readers. In our own book marketing efforts, we gain much insight though the study of successes (and failures) made on a national or international level.
While every writer will not become a bestseller, exploring today’s best selling book cover designs helps us learn what we can apply to our latest publishing ventures.
Big and Bold
For a vast number of the political books primarily, bold is in. All caps combined with slab or gothic typefaces are helping bestsellers to stand out more than ever.
Blacklist by Brad Thor
Broken Harbor by Tana French
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Cowards by Glenn Beck
Back Fire by Catherine Coulter
Simple and Sophisticated
Imagery makes the difference, especially when there’s little to detract from its core meaning. Combining simple, clean typefaces with a powerful image is essential for many top books which now appear on the market.
Monkey Mind by Daniel Smith
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD
Personal and Dramatic
Photography makes all the difference here. With memoirs and biographies particularly, stunning photos give a personal feel which potential readers can connect with.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
A Sweethaven Summer by Courtney Walsh
Winning Balance by Shawn Johnson
Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
Which is Your Favorite?
Do you have a recent bestseller you specifically enjoy for the book cover design? Feel free to leave a comment on this article to let us know!
Personally love great photography. I especially like the Sweethaven Summer.
Hi Elaine,
True! The photography in almost all of these is highly professional. The Sweethaven Summer design makes a nice balance of a nice photo with a unique and compelling title/subtitle.
Let us all please note: NO come hither looks of romance novel models! Nothing makes a book look less worthy of reading.
Of the covers you’ve noted here, I like: the Light Between Oceans and Homer’s Odyssey.
Clean, readable, indication of mood of book, can see authors’ names clearly.
Hi Jo-Anne,
One thing each of these designs seem to do well is portray a mood. Light Between Oceans is, as you mentioned, a particularly good example. This is a key difference between a book jacket that’s pretty, and one that fit’s the book’s message best.