Take a peek into the future and get your first look at harpers 2020 ya book covers. Nicole caputo is the creative director of catapult and counterpoint press and the cofounder of she designs books, an organization that celebrates women in book design. Take a look at this image from our article on the 5 most common mistakes in book cover design. If youre an author publishing your next book or an aspiring author writing your first book, here are six compelling book cover design trends youll see in your local bookstore and online next year. These beauties arent hitting shelves until winter, but who.
The number of young adult ebooks published has exponentially exploded during the same period, due in part to the genesis and growth of the digital book market itself. But the percentage of growth in sales numbers for ya far exceeds the percentage growth in the young adult ebook sales, which showed a dramatic overall increase. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please. Dec 01, 2011 there were so many fascinating comments on my post about the deadgirl trend in ya book cover design that i hardly know where to begin addressing them.
In addition to becoming monotonoushow many ways can a woman in sunglasses be drawn. Its a kind of nebulous line that makes it not as easy to define, but just as urgent to detect and develop. A couple years ago, the ya trend pretty much revolved around gorgeous girls in fancy dresses. I receive a commission if you buy books from the book depository using that. Well update this post as soon as they are ready to be shared with the world. What readers want from book covers, the top cover design trends across major genres, how to use book cover creation tools. Notable ya book covers of 2016 the casual optimist. The cute cover of her malemale romance has everything that ya readers have been itching for. Dec 16, 2018 the number of young adult titles published more than doubled in the decade between 2002 and 2012 over 10,000 ya books came out in 2012 versus about 4,700 in 2002. And although all publishers, including prh, seem to have reduced their ya fiction lists, of those fewer books, there are quite a few debuts.
I always judge books by the cover literally speaking of course sometimes, i dont even bother to read the blurb. This is an outstanding visualization made by ya writer kate hart. In fact, a 2015 study found that young adults were more likely to have read a book in the last twelve months than any other age group. The official list of harpers summer 2019 young adult book covers. A brief and incomplete survey of young adult cover trends. Kate gathered more than 900 young adult fiction books released in the united states and researched the color. If youre an author publishing your next book or an aspiring author writing your first book, here are six compelling book cover design trends. We discussed cover trends she expects to see in 2020, and she said designers are creating technicolor covers with washes of psychedelic textured rainbow patterns that almost appear to be moving across the cover or jacket. The official list of harpers winter 2020 ya book covers. The book cover must, at a minimum, display some or all of this information in a clear, engaging way. We see a lot of books here in the literary hub offices, and after a while, its impossible not to start noticing trends. Oct 26, 2011 i have an iron in this fire, obvs, given that my book is one of them with headless.
Books, where the mc main character is asian, should have an asian picture on the cover. I was in a strategy session once about the cover for a baking book. So to help you attract the love of bibliophiles everywhere, weve compiled a list of the 7 best book cover trends for 2018. The ballad of songbirds and snakes will revisit the world of panem sixtyfour years before the events of the hunger games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the tenth hunger games. Despite the continual exponential growth in the ya. Jun 24, 2019 the official list of harpers winter 2020 ya cover reveals as dedicated book nerds, we operate on so many timelines at once that even doctor strange is bound to be jealous. Kate gathered more than 900 young adult fiction books released in the united states and researched the color distribution, as well as demographics of the books. Mar 07, 2012 the issue is not the cover of the book, but the content. Having an awesome book resting on your shelf is always a satisfying feeling, but having an awesome book with an equally awesome cover is just awesomeer. Jennifer armentrout imagines teens finding love when a library book goes. Spam or selfpromotional the list is spam or selfpromotional. Beautiful and engaging covers do sell books, and especially in this era where readers love to share their recent reads on bookstagram.
A large python winds its way down a bare female leg. Ya book covers that make you look twice published april 30, 20. I talked to emmanuel nataf, ceo and cofounder of reedsy, to learn more about which types of indie books have the best odds of getting past the bookmarketing bottleneck or at least which ones. The official list of harpers fall 2020 ya cover reveals gather round, because youre going to want to feast your eyes on the most glorious list of the season.
If 2017 was the year of the pink book and it was, 2018 is the year of the allcaps typographyor to be more precise, big, blocky, sansserif type treatments, usually somewhat condensed or at least more vertical than they are horizontal, usually in. Please dont add mg or na there are other lists for those. Cover design for the ocean in my ears is the upcoming challenge for team meri, and im looking forward to findingor creatingits niche in the world of ya covers. Ya novels of 2017 1099 books meet your next favorite book. These images appear as artwork on covers of recent young adult novels. This doesnt mean authors and designers are left with few creative options. If you are writing a book that has a vintage feel, 2019 is the perfect time to get it out into the marketplace. Dec, 2017 as the world of ya grows in scope and popularity, we thankfully. What is an example of a current trend going on with book covers. One of the most satisfying book cover design trends in 2019 is handwritten and drawn elements. It was flat and you could not tell what the image was the cover did not match the book.
We know that ya book purchases are mostly adults and that certainly theres significant crossover readership between ya and romance, but the illustrated cover trend suggests something. Dec 18, 2014 this is just a two cover coincidence, but strange that theyre purple covers with spools of thread on them. In honor of halloween sort of, and of our recent cover conversation, i want to talk this week about a ghastly, gruesome, and growing trend in ya book covers. We are okay by nina lacour cover art by adams carvalho. Im sure youve immediately settled on which cover is better than the other. Five key trends in the book market news for authors. They come and go and come again, as peoplereaders constantly indulge in waves of new interests and preferences.
Aug 10, 2015 having an awesome book resting on your shelf is always a satisfying feeling, but having an awesome book with an equally awesome cover is just awesomeer. Where are all the people of color on young adult book covers. This octobers data revealed that trade publishing revenue book publishing excluding education was down slightly. Just like books themselves, covers have trends that come and go. Trends in ya book covers by olivia rivers team rogue ya. Anticipated book cover design trends for 2020 book riot. But it would be hard to argue with any of these 30 best ya book covers on the.
Feb 15, 2018 slam poetry, traveling carnivals, 17th century roman art. Well, now that youre a grownup, you get to pick the curriculum which naturally still includes a bunch of young adult titles, because theyve gotten so, so awesome. Dec 08, 2015 no matter your taste or style, the young adult books this year had a book cover that would catch the eye of anyone. I think figs cover might be my favorite so far of 2015, though i dont think its a ya book cover at all. It feels more like its either middle grade or adult and to be fair, i think valiant may be a middle grade book, not ya. Give your new book an unfair advantage invest in a professional book cover design that will inspire people to read it. The reduction comes primarily from childrens and ya books, which were down 12 percent, in contrast to adult books, which rose 3 percent. Ebook trends are more uncertain as the world in which they exist is more volatile and iridescent. Jun 18, 2018 if 2017 was the year of the pink book and it was, 2018 is the year of the allcaps typographyor to be more precise, big, blocky, sansserif type treatments, usually somewhat condensed or at least more vertical than they are horizontal, usually in white or black but sometimes in warmer colors against either a riotous, blackbased. Cassandra clare seems to be particularly fond of such a trend, lopping off the head of every character in her books at least once, for the sake of it looking good on a cover. Nocturna by maya motayne, the exact opposite of okay by laura steven, the final book in the lorien legacies reborn series, and more must reads. Nov 29, 2017 a good book cover needs to be both timeless and trendy. Young adultfantasyscifi premade book covers rocking. This is where i say something i didnt ever expect to say in one of these blog posts.
Its always interesting to spot trends going on in design. The official list of harpers summer 2019 young adult book. We asked a number of agents and scouts attending this years bologna book fair to talk about the trends theyve been noticing. I recently wandered the ya shelves of powells to take note of the latest cover trendspartly as research for the cover design of the ocean in my ears, and partly because thats the kind of thing i like to do with my friday nights. The official list of harpers summer 2019 ya cover reveals. Here are 8 ingenious book cover design trends we see dominating in stores and online in 2018. So, lets just be real here, people absolutely do judge books by there covers. Jun, 2019 if you are writing a book that has a vintage feel, 2019 is the perfect time to get it out into the marketplace. A good book cover needs to be both timeless and trendy. This book of romantic stories by a range of popular ya writers is a sweet read. In bastards, we follow tilla, an intrepid but surly castoff of lord kent of the western province, who raised her as a baby but more or less shrugged her off once he discovered his trueborn. Collection of premade book covers for fantasy, young adult, urban fantasy and scifi genres. For example, perhaps your book was written about a specific historical event that took place in the town, or maybe youve moved back to your hometown just so that you could write the book. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book.
Look out for big book design, new sansserif fonts, orange and yellow color schemes, floral elements, overlapping design, crossedout text, hyperreal compositions, midcentury illustration, and the lydian typeface. Color distribution of young adult fiction book covers. Slam poetry, traveling carnivals, 17th century roman art. Dec 15, 2014 its always interesting to spot trends going on in design. You can take a beloved character and follow himherit through various misadventures. I guess all the books that you found on the ya books shelve have a white girl as the mc, so the cover was appropriate. Most book covers have a title, an authors name, a subtitle or some other promotional text as primary elements. Each cover is original and only sold to one author. Ya book cover trends to look for in 2019 batch of books. The editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting 4.
Publishing trends in young adult literature cat yampbell a tiger is superimposed on a womans face. Book design competition is shaping up to be fierce in 2018, especially for cover designs, as book cover design can increase buyer interest by 51% or more. Now a little caveat here, i tend to focus on ya in most of my stuff, like on here or on my youtube channel, so naturally these bookish trends for. How to create a bestselling cover written word media.
Posted by dan december 7, 2016 december 7, 2016 1 comment on notable ya book covers of 2016 hot on the heels of my annual covers post, here is my look back at the years young adult book covers. Winners were chosen based on site design, authoritytraffic, nominations and unique voicecontributions to the genre. In prior years, handwritten graphics were seen primarily on book covers targeting women. By the way, create a press kit and make it available as a downloadable from your website. Although the figures represent a dip from last year, this figure is still in line, statistically speaking, with polls since 2011. Im getting older and having more trouble remembering things like the names of ya books ive read. Theres no overarching trend, no genre eclipsing all other genres, no theme so prevalent as to even call it a theme and thats a good thing. Beautiful and engaging covers do sell books, and especially in. As 2019 comes to a close, were taking a moment to reflect on the cover design trends of 2019, and predict what we might see on the covers of books coming out in 2020. We were fortunate to be in the seattle audience for the 2019 youth media awards. On monday, i highlighted some of the trends showing up in the 2015 ya book covers that have popped up so far. Literature purists claim the death of the ebook, but theyre still very popular. As in previous years, this list is a somewhat crowdsourced affair, so i must thank all the designers and twitterfolk who made suggestions and.
Having some reallife examples at your side, you should get a better sense of. We discussed cover trends she expects to see in 2020, and she said designers are creating technicolor covers with washes of psychedelic textured rainbow patterns that almost appear to. Dec 07, 2016 posted by dan december 7, 2016 december 7, 2016 1 comment on notable ya book covers of 2016 hot on the heels of my annual covers post, here is my look back at the years young adult book covers. The young adult ya fiction genre is a category aimed at teens, but many of the books have an adult following, as well. But as i ambled over to the coffee shop where i write these posts, something about the sight of winter branches and the feel of warm air that lies of. If you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the reedsy book editor allows you to do so for free. The official list of harpers winter 2020 ya book covers epic reads. In order to focus only on the latest trends and limit. Covers are a big part of the marketing of a book, and this is especially try in ya trends for book cover design tend to come and go in waves, hoping to capitalize off what looks are doing particularly well. Trends in ya book covers june 1, 2014 by wordnerd227 in geeky opinions. Why the pretty white girl ya book cover trend needs to end. As the world of ya grows in scope and popularity, we thankfully. If you have published your book as an ebook and have seen a dip in sales, you should consider investing in a new cover, book description, and marketing campaign. There are just a few of the diverse topics covered by this springs best new ya books.
I will never grow tired of looking at and talking about ya book covers. There you have it, the hottest 6 book cover design trends that are rocking the book world in 2019. This trend transcends genres of all types from childrens fiction to nonfiction, fantasy to mystery. Ya cover trends and the fairy tale archetype there were so many fascinating comments on my post about the deadgirl trend in ya book cover design that i hardly know where to begin addressing them. Creating a series of books is like builtin marketing. The old saying is you cant judge a book by its cover, but honestly, we all do. Like other forms of fashion, styles in illustration, typography, and visual approach change from time to time, and just by looking at recent covers you can see that the designs tend to replicate across the genre, with.
Oct 15, 2018 the official list of harpers summer 2019 ya cover reveals yes, we know, summer just ended, but thats no reason we shouldnt already be looking forward to the time next year when well be able to kick back on the beach with a big stack of books. But as i ambled over to the coffee shop where i write these posts, something about the sight of winter branches and the feel of warm air that lies of springtime turned my thoughts to fairy tales, and from fairy tales back to this discussion. I can sometimes remember them by their distinctive covers, but lately, thats gotten harder because of the trend to make all the books look similar to one another. A book that is as beautiful inside as its gorgeous cover is outside, the beauty that remains has been called a stunning. Nov 07, 2019 nicole caputo is the creative director of catapult and counterpoint press and the cofounder of she designs books, an organization that celebrates women in book design. Inappropriate the list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow goodreads member or author. Over the past decade, the young adult ya fiction market has grown so much, its a wonder authors are still writing adult books at all. The legacy of ebooks is starting to rise and rumble. The paperback design is a study of contemporary cover trends.
The issue is not the cover of the ya books, but the content. Aug 20, 2019 mcquistons book isnt the first, nor will it be the last adult romance book to be consistently given the inappropriate ya label. Because there are so many, i had to break them up across two posts. Jun 02, 2017 book cover trends are just that trends.
Book covers used to be dominated by photographs and photo composite artwork. Dec 19, 2018 weve got 9 book cover design trends that youll find on shelves in 2019. For authors wishing to publish a book in the ya arena, here are some facts and figures about the marketplace for these books. We always look forward to these cover reveals because its fantastic to see all the hard work our designers have put in finally come to fruition in the form of these beautiful. No matter your taste or style, the young adult books this year had. Teen and young adult books 10 most interesting infographics. Whatshername made you read seven million books for english class. Most beautiful ya covers 2017 these covers are brilliant, colorful, and make me want to dive inside.
Aug 27, 2019 what readers want from book covers, the top cover design trends across major genres, how to use book cover creation tools. Jan 20, 2017 i recently wandered the ya shelves of powells to take note of the latest cover trendspartly as research for the cover design of the ocean in my ears, and partly because thats the kind of thing i like to do with my friday nights. Author shvarts may be making his ya book debut but he also works and writes as a video game designer. Fortunately, the ya genre lends itself to series quite easily.