Top 10 Mistakes New Book Cover Designers Make (and How to Fix Them)

Designing your first few book covers can be exciting — and overwhelming. You want it to look professional, genre-appropriate, and attention-grabbing… but there’s a lot that can go wrong along the way.

Whether you're a self-publishing author or an aspiring book cover designer learning Photoshop, this guide breaks down the most common mistakes beginners make (and more importantly, how to avoid them).

The Mistake: Designing at the wrong size or low resolution (like 72 DPI), which leads to blurry or pixelated prints.

The Fix: Use at least 300 DPI for print and for digital covers. Preferably design your cover at a 6"x9" aspect ratio. I design in a 9"x9" square so I can crop it to a 6"x9" cover. That leaves room to work with for audio covers and the print cover.

The Mistake: Choosing fonts that look cool but don’t match the tone or genre of the book.

The Fix: Use font psychology. For romance, try elegant scripts. For thrillers, go bold and modern. Stick with two-three fonts max and make sure they’re legible at small sizes.

The Mistake: Trying to include too many elements — characters, symbols, quotes, and more — leading to a cluttered design.

The Fix: Less is more. Focus on one strong focal point and maintain visual hierarchy. Use white space strategically.

The Mistake: Using pixelated stock images or screenshots instead of high-res artwork.

The Fix: Use high-quality, royalty-free images.

Examples: Deposit Photos, iStock, Adobe Stock, etc.

The Mistake: Designing a cover that looks nothing like others in the genre — which may confuse potential readers.

The Fix: Research the top 100 books in your genre. Analyze common colors, fonts, layouts, and imagery. Match the tone, but make yours stand out just a bit by being tailored to your story.

The Mistake: Hard-to-read titles, poor spacing, or placing text over busy backgrounds.

The Fix: Ensure contrast between text and background. Use kerning and leading to space letters and lines evenly. Test your cover at thumbnail size.

The Mistake: Using colors that clash or don’t support the mood of the book.

The Fix: Stick to a consistent color palette. Use tools like Coolors or Adobe Color to build harmonious combinations. Consider the emotional impact of each color.

The Mistake: Applying too many effects to the title — shadows, bevels, outlines, textures — which ends up looking amateur or makes the title hard to read.

The Fix: Stick to clean, high-contrast type. Use styling sparingly: one shadow or subtle texture is fine, but readability comes first and genre appropriate comes second. A well-chosen font in the right placement often needs no extra decoration.

The Mistake: Designing a cover where everything competes for attention, leaving the eye confused with no clear place to land.

The Fix: Use visual hierarchy: one dominant element (like an image or bold title), and supporting elements that complement it. Ask yourself, “What do I want the reader to notice first?” and build the design around that focal point.

The Mistake: Designing a beautiful full-size cover, but forgetting that most readers first see it at tiny thumbnail size on Amazon.

The Fix: Zoom out or resize your design to 150 x 240 px and ask:

• Can I still read the title?
• Does the image stand out?
• Is the mood clear?

If not, simplify or adjust contrast until it works both big and small.

Your book cover is your first impression. It’s what makes someone stop scrolling, pick up a paperback, or click “Look Inside.” Don’t rush it. Take your time, learn the tools (like Photoshop!), and use this list to guide your next project.

Want to design covers like a pro?
Grab my freebie Typography + Font Pairing Guide by Genre by signing up for email list.

Also check out the Intro to Photoshop for Book Cover Design course — created just for beginners like you!