cover-brief

name	cover-brief
description	Generate a cover design brief with art research, genre signals, palette, typography, and trim/spine specs. Use when preparing a book for KDP and need cover direction — whether for a designer, Canva, or AI image generation.

Cover Brief Generator

Generate a complete cover design brief from manuscript + niche data. Includes public domain art research, genre-appropriate palette, typography, trim/spine calculations, and comp cover analysis.

When to Use

• Starting a new book and need cover direction
• Briefing a designer (Fiverr, Miblart, Reedsy, 99designs)
• Self-designing in Canva/BookBrush and need specs
• Researching public domain art for a reprint/compilation

What It Produces

1. Trim & Spine Specs — dimensions, spine width from page count, bleed, template download link
2. Genre Signal Analysis — what covers in your category look like and what readers expect
3. Art Research — 10-15 public domain paintings/images with source links, rights status, crop notes
4. Palette & Typography — color scheme, font recommendations, hierarchy
5. Comp Cover Gallery — 5-8 successful covers in your category to study
6. Design Brief Document — ready to hand to a designer or use as self-design guide
7. Thumbnail Test Criteria — will it read at 120x180 pixels?

---

Step 1: Trim & Spine Specs

Standard KDP Trim Sizes

Name	Size	Best For
Mass market	4.25" x 6.875"	Fiction, devotionals
Pocket	5" x 8"	Short nonfiction, spiritual reading, reprints
Trade	5.5" x 8.5"	Most nonfiction
US Trade	6" x 9"	Business, self-help, longer works
Large	7" x 10"	Textbooks, workbooks

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

Condition	Status
Artist died 70+ years ago (most countries)	Public domain
Published before 1928 (US)	Public domain
Photo of a 2D artwork (US — Bridgeman v. Corel)	No new copyright
Museum restricts downloads but art is PD	Legal to use, may violate museum ToS

Safe sources for high-res PD art:

Source	Quality	Notes
Wikimedia Commons	Variable (some excellent)	Always check license tag
Metropolitan Museum Open Access	Excellent	CC0, download button on qualifying works
National Gallery of Art (DC)	Excellent	Open Access program, high-res TIFF
Rijksmuseum	Excellent	Rijksstudio, CC0
Art Institute of Chicago	Excellent	CC0 on qualifying works
Rawpixel PD collection	Good	Curated, already cleaned up
Google Arts & Culture	Variable	Good for discovery, download from museum site
Library of Congress	Excellent	Prints & Photographs division

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

Book Genre	Art Direction
Catholic mysticism/theology	Renaissance/Baroque religious art, monastery scenes, contemplative saints, gold leaf illuminations
Catholic devotional	Sacred Heart, Marian art, gentle pastorals, warm tones
Church history	Historical scenes, manuscript illuminations, portraits of popes/saints/doctors
Philosophy/apologetics	Classical architecture, symbolic still life, text-heavy minimalist
Biblical studies	Old Master biblical scenes, archaeological imagery
Prayer/contemplative	Landscapes, monastic interiors, candlelight, soft focus
Lives of saints	Portraits, hagiographic scenes, attribute symbolism

---

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

Element	Recommendation
Title	Serif for traditional/literary (Garamond, Caslon, Minion, Cormorant). Sans-serif for modern/practical (Montserrat, Lato).
Subtitle	Same family as title, lighter weight or smaller size
Author name	Same family, small caps or regular weight
Max fonts	2 families absolute maximum
Hierarchy	Title 3-4x larger than author name. Subtitle between.

---

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