Guides
An ebook cover that sells, even at thumbnail size
Readers see your cover as a thumbnail next to twenty others, on a phone, for a second. That is the whole brief. A cover that sells is not the most beautiful one; it is the one that says what the book is and who it is for at 100 pixels wide. Everything below follows from that.
Specifications
| Value | |
|---|---|
| KDP ebook cover | JPEG or TIFF, 1600 × 2560 px ideal (ratio 1:1.6), under 50 MB, RGB |
| Minimum | 1000 × 1600 px; below that Amazon warns about quality |
| Kobo, Apple, Google | Same file works; Apple prefers at least 1400 px wide |
| Paperback | A separate full-wrap PDF with spine and bleed, sized to the page count |
The three-element rule
Title, one image or graphic idea, author name. Nothing else at thumbnail size. Subtitles and taglines can exist but must be readable at full size only; do not let them fight the title. If the eye does not know where to land, it moves to the next book.
Typography
- The title takes at least a third of the height. Test by shrinking to 100 pixels wide: if you cannot read it, it is too small.
- Two fonts at most: one for the title, one for everything else.
- Strong contrast between text and background. Light text on a dark area or the reverse; never text over a busy photo without a band or a shadow.
- Non-fiction: clean sans-serif or a confident serif. Fiction: the font signals the genre, look at the top 20 in your category.
Genre signals
Readers recognise categories by colour and layout before they read a word. Business books: white or dark backgrounds, one bold colour, big type. Self-help: warm colours, a single object or shape. Romance: people or couples, script fonts. Thrillers: dark palette, high contrast, sans-serif. Copy the conventions of your category and stand out with one element only.
The thumbnail test
- Export the cover at 100 × 160 pixels.
- Place it in a screenshot of an Amazon search page for your category, next to real competitors.
- Ask three people what the book is about and who it is for, in five seconds.
- If they hesitate, the title is too small or the image is too busy. Fix and repeat.
Where to get one
A designer on a marketplace costs $50 to $300 for an ebook cover; a premade cover $30 to $100; Canva templates are free but overused. AI ebook generators such as create-ebook compose a cover from the title and subtitle with a painted background and typeset text, which passes the thumbnail test by design; you can regenerate it three times per book. For a flagship title, a designer still pays for itself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use an AI image on a KDP cover?
Yes. Declare it as AI-generated images at upload. Check that the text is real typography, not painted letters.
Should the cover show my name?
Yes, small, at the bottom or top. It builds recognition across books even if nobody knows you yet.
Same cover for ebook and paperback?
Same front; the paperback adds the spine and back with the blurb and a barcode area.
How often should I change it?
If the book does not sell and the blurb and category are right, the cover is the next suspect. Many authors relaunch with a new cover after six months.