Typography Tips for Indie Authors Designing Their Own Covers

(aka: fonts matter, friend! Let’s not sabotage your gorgeous cover with Comic Sans.)

Designing your own book cover? First of all—GO YOU. That’s a huge step, and I’m already proud of you. But let’s talk about something that can make or break your entire design: typography. Yep, the fonts you choose and where you put them have just as much impact as the art itself.

So if you’re elbow-deep in Canva or Photoshop and wondering why your cover still feels a little off, this post is for you.

 

1. Pick a Font That Matches Your Genre

The vibes have to match, okay? A dreamy romantasy novel probably shouldn’t have a gritty typewriter font. A dark academia murder mystery might look out of place with bubbly hand-lettered script.

• Fantasy/Romantasy → Elegant serifs, flowing scripts, or decorative fantasy fonts

• Contemporary Romance → Clean sans-serifs, playful hand-written styles

• Thrillers/Sci-fi → Sleek, sharp, modern fonts (bonus points for high-contrast all-caps)

The goal? A reader should get the feel of your story from the font before they even read the title.

2. Keep the Layout Balanced

Typography isn’t just about which fonts you use—it’s how you use them. Where you place your title, your name, and any subtitles or taglines should feel intentional and balanced with your imagery.

A few tips:

• Avoid crowding everything at the top or bottom.

• If your art is centered, your title might look better justified left or right to balance it out.

• Leave space for your text to breathe—don’t let it sit on top of a busy part of your art without a shadow, blur, or shape behind it.

3. Use Two Fonts… MAX

Pairing fonts can be a power move—but it’s also where things can get chaotic fast. If you’re not sure how to mix and match, here are some go-to combos that rarely fail:

• Serif + Script – classic and elegant (think title in serif, author name in script)

• Block + Skinny – one bold attention-grabber and one minimalist contrast

• All-Caps + Italics – for subtitle/tagline variety without adding a whole new font

⚠️ Don’t go font-happy and start throwing five different styles on there. Keep it cohesive and readable!

4. Hierarchy is Your Best Friend

Make sure it’s easy to tell what to read first, second, and third. Usually:

• Title = biggest

• Author name = medium

• Subtitle/tagline = smallest (if it’s there at all)

Use size, weight (boldness), and color to help guide the eye through your design.

5. Test for Readability (Especially in Thumbnail Size!)

Before you call it done, shrink your cover down to thumbnail size. Like, Amazon search result size. Can you still read the title? Does it pop? If not, try:

• Bumping up the size

• Adding contrast between the text and background

• Using a drop shadow, blur, or solid shape behind the text

Because even the prettiest font won’t do much good if no one can read it.

Bottom Line?

Typography is a design superpower—and when it’s done right, it’ll elevate your cover in ways you didn’t even realize. If you’ve already got killer art or a gorgeous premade, the right fonts are what turn it into a finished, professional-looking book cover.

And if you’re still feeling overwhelmed? Deep breath. You’ve got this. Or hey, feel free to browse a few of my premade covers where I’ve already done the font matching for you 😉