Cover Brief

Step 1: Trim & Spine Specs

Standard KDP Trim Sizes

Spine Width Calculation

Spine width = page count x paper multiplier

Paper multipliers:
  White paper:  0.002252"  per page
  Cream paper:  0.0025"    per page

Example: 200-page book on cream paper = 200 x 0.0025 = 0.500" spine

Books under 100 pages: No spine text allowed by KDP. Use a solid color or minimal design element.

KDP Cover Template

Download from: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/cover-templates

• Enter trim size, page count, paper color
• Downloads a PDF template with bleed marks, spine boundaries, barcode placement

Step 2: Genre Signal Analysis

Critical rule: Genre fit > artistic quality. A beautiful cover that signals the wrong genre will kill sales.

Process

1. Go to the Amazon bestseller list for your target category
2. Screenshot the top 20 covers
3. Identify the patterns:
   • Dominant colors (religious = gold/burgundy/navy, self-help = bright/white, thriller = dark/red)
   • Typography style (serif = traditional/literary, sans-serif = modern/business)
   • Image treatment (photographic, illustrated, abstract, text-only)
   • Layout (centered, asymmetric, full-bleed image)
4. Your cover must MATCH these patterns while standing out within them

8 Cover Mistakes That Kill Sales (from Kings of Kindle Ch 6)

1. Wrong genre signal — romance cover on a business book
2. Too many fonts — max 2 font families
3. Unreadable at thumbnail — title must pop at 120x180px
4. Cluttered composition — one focal point, not five
5. Stock photo cliches — avoid the obvious Shutterstock picks everyone uses
6. Bad color contrast — title disappears into background
7. DIY look — screams amateur, signals low-quality content
8. No series branding — books in a series should look like siblings ("Pringles Principle": same designer, shared palette, consistent layout)

Step 3: Art Research (Public Domain Focus)

For reprints, compilations, and classical/religious books, public domain art is ideal: free, beautiful, high-resolution, and genre-appropriate.

Public Domain Rules

Safe sources for high-res PD art:

Art Research Process

1. Identify themes from the manuscript (contemplation, light/dark, sacred spaces, saints)
2. Search by theme on Wikimedia Commons, Met, NGA
3. Search by referenced figures — if the book mentions St. Bernard, Teresa of Avila, etc., find classical depictions
4. Search by period — match the book's era (medieval manuscript illuminations for medieval texts, Baroque for Counter-Reformation, etc.)
5. Evaluate each candidate:
   • Public domain status confirmed?
   • High-res available (minimum 300 DPI at cover size)?
   • Crops well to book dimensions?
   • Mood match? (contemplative, serious, luminous — not saccharine or kitschy)
   • Passes the thumbnail test?
6. Present 10-15 options with links, artist/date, rights status, and notes on why each fits

Art Categories by Book Type

Step 4: Palette & Typography

Palette Generation

Start from the dominant colors of your chosen artwork, then build a 4-color scheme:

1. Primary — background or dominant field (from artwork)
2. Secondary — title text color (must contrast with primary)
3. Accent — subtitle, author name, decorative elements
4. Neutral — spine, back cover base

Catholic/religious palette families:

• TAN Books: Cream + burgundy + gold
• Ignatius Press: Navy + gold + white
• Sophia Institute: Forest green + cream + gold
• EWTN/Ascension: Royal blue + white + gold

Typography

Step 5: Design Brief Document

Output a markdown document with all of the above, structured for handoff:

# Cover Design Brief: [Book Title]

## Specs
- Trim: [size]
- Spine: [width]" ([page count] pages, [paper color] paper)
- Template: [KDP template download link or note]

## Genre Context
[2-3 sentences on what covers in this category look like]

## Art Direction
[Mood, tone, era, specific imagery direction]

### Artwork Options
1. [Title] by [Artist] ([Year]) — [link] — [why it fits]
2. ...

## Palette
- Primary: [hex/description]
- Secondary: [hex/description]
- Accent: [hex/description]

## Typography
- Title: [font recommendation]
- Subtitle/Author: [font recommendation]

## Comp Covers
[5-8 Amazon links or cover images to study]

## Thumbnail Test
[Specific criteria for this book]

## Series Branding Notes
[If part of a series, how to maintain visual consistency]

Workflow

1. Get manuscript + niche data (from listing-optimizer or niche-scout output)
2. Calculate trim/spine specs from page count
3. Analyze top 20 covers in target category
4. Research public domain art (10-15 candidates)
5. Generate palette from chosen artwork
6. Recommend typography
7. Compile design brief document
8. Run thumbnail test on mockup

Integration

• Input from: niche-scout (category data), listing-optimizer (title/subtitle), Vellum (page count)
• Output to: Designer (Fiverr/Miblart brief), Canva (self-design), or future Canva MCP automation
• Series connection: When doing multiple books, reference the first book's brief for "Pringles Principle" consistency