Looking to design your own e-book cover? Following a few simple guidelines will help you achieve success, even if you’re not the most artistic person in the world.

Your e-book cover needs to tell your readers about the essence of your book. And who knows the essence of your book better than you? No one. At the same time, the image of the front cover of your book needs to say pick me up and buy me!

The genre of your writing will help you start designing. However, it isn’t the only thing to keep in mind. Here are a few tips to make your e-book stand out among thousands of others.

• While designing the cover, keep genre styles in mind. Use the trends generally used by the industry so readers can tell which genre your book belongs to. If it’s a book on finance, usually some dollar signs, a piggy bank, or bars of gold will indicate that. If it’s a murder mystery, expect to see some kind of murder weapon, maybe a magnifying glass or some crime scene tape on the cover.
• If you are publishing more than one e-book, perhaps a series of books, keep the same font style for all your book titles. This helps readers unconsciously relate the book to the series and to you more easily.
• Make a note of the book covers of your genre that appeal to you. Create a portfolio or a dream board of 10 of your favorite book covers. Don’t copy them, but do draw inspiration from them.
• An e-book cover isn’t really a cover, but a flat image that will be displayed on the Web. For an e-book cover, it is not necessary to create a back cover, spine, and jacket, as you would need for a printed book. When a reader clicks on your cover a pop-up comes up, revealing the information that is usually present on the back cover of a printed book.
• The ideal size of an e-book cover image is 1563px x 2500px. Always save the image in .jpg format. The file size of the image should not exceed 2MB. And if this is all Greek to you . . . 
• Consider outsourcing your book cover design to a professional. Send your list of needs and a copy of the portfolio or a picture of your dream board to your new book cover designer. They will help make your e-book cover more eye-catching.
• You can check out our recommended book designers here: Fiverr

Many readers will buy a book because of the cover. Your e-book cover is one of the best marketing tools you have to attract readers. Used efficiently, your book cover can help your book have a better chance of gaining popularity.