Run every cover through all four tests before approving it. One failing test is enough to reject a design. Your cover is the first impression most readers will have of your work — and you will not get a second one.
The four tests
All must passTest 1
Thumbnail
Reduce the cover to the size it appears at in search results — roughly a postage stamp.
- Can you still read the title?
- Does the imagery stay legible?
- If text and image blur together, it fails in the place most readers will first see it
Test 2
Genre
Put the cover beside the current bestsellers in your category.
- Does it belong there?
- Would a browsing reader recognise it as the kind of thing they came for?
- A cover mistakable for another genre loses the readers who want yours
Test 3
Clarity
Show it to someone who knows nothing about the book.
- Can they read the title?
- Can they identify the author name?
- Can they name the genre, without you explaining?
- If you have to explain anything, it has failed
Test 4
Emotional response
- Does the cover carry the book's actual emotional register?
- A light romance must not look brooding; a psychological thriller must not look cheerful
- A mismatch attracts the wrong readers, who then leave the wrong reviews