Guide · 5 min read
Covers that work as thumbnails
How to design a cover that stays readable at the tiny size buyers first see on Amazon, with a quick test you can do now.
Most buyers first see your cover in search results, at about the size of a postage stamp. If they can't tell what the book is at that size, they scroll past. A cover that looks lovely full size can still fail as a thumbnail.
The squint test
Export your cover as a PNG, zoom out until the front is about 2 cm (under an inch) wide on your screen, then lean back. Ask yourself:
- Can I read the main title?
- Can I tell what kind of book it is (word search, coloring, maze)?
- Can I tell who it's for (kids, adults, large print)?
If any answer is no, the cover needs work. Put it next to the top books in your category and look again.
What makes a cover readable small
- Few words, big type. Keep the series name, title and one short line. Put everything else in the description.
- Strong contrast. Dark text on a light background or light on dark. Thin, pale or busy lettering disappears at small sizes. Our cover editor's outline ("edge") option helps titles stand out from pictures.
- One clear picture. A single bold image, or a few real puzzle pages, says more than a busy collage.
- Show the inside. For puzzle books, a tilted page or two of real puzzles tells the buyer exactly what they're getting. For coloring books, a half-colored page does the same.
- Put the audience on the front. "Large Print", "Ages 6–8" or "For Adults" in a clear spot answers the buyer's first question.
Rules to follow
- The title and subtitle on the cover must match the ones you enter in KDP.
- Keep text away from the edges. KDP can trim up to 1/8 in (3.2 mm) on each side. Our cover editor shows the safe line and warns you in Preflight.
- Leave the barcode area on the back cover empty. KDP prints its barcode there.
- Only use pictures and fonts you're allowed to use commercially. The built-in fonts in our builders are open-licence fonts that allow this; if you upload your own font, check its licence first.
- Don't put claims on the cover that you can't back up, like "bestseller" or "award-winning", and don't use other brands' logos or characters.
- Spine text needs about 80 pages or more. Below that, the spine is too thin for text to print safely.
Back cover
The back matters less for online sales, but it's what people see when they pick up a printed copy or a gift. A short headline, a sentence about what's inside, and a couple of sample pages are enough.
Keep a series together
If you plan more books in the same series, use the same layout, fonts and series line on each cover, and change the colors and pictures. Buyers then spot the next book as part of a set.